Worm Composting
Worm composting is essentially creating a box that is full of moistened bedding and red worms, which in turn will create a wonderful compost pile for you. This is a great project to bring into a classroom or an office, or you may simply start one at home to nourish your own garden. What can you do to start worm composting yourself? The first thing that you are going to need is a box. Make sure that it is made out of wood or plastic, and that it has holes in the bottom. Plastic is easy to clean and watertight, but it might not have the drainage that you need it to have. If you find that it is not draining well, just drill a few more holes in the bottom. Wood has an advantage because it is a natural insulator as well as being absorbent. You can locate your worm box in your basement, your shed, your garage, or even just under the sink. Remember that it should be kept out of extreme temperatures and that unless it is well insulated, the box should be brought inside when it drops below forty degrees. You should put a tray underneath to catch the excess water, but remember to throw it out where it can do the most good; it is a great liquid fertilizer. Let's consider the kind of worms that you are going to need. The kind that most people use for worm composting are known as red worms; you are not going to get any results at all if you go out and dig up a bunch of night crawlers! Red worms, which are also known as red wigglers, brandling worms and manure worms, tend to live in aged manure, compost heap and leaf piles. They are the worms that thrive the best on organic material, and since you are largely going to be feeding them food waste, they are ideal. You can order your worms for a compost pile online, or you can see if anyone with a good compost pile or some aged manure has worms to spare. How many worms will you need? If you are looking to chuck about one pound's worth of food waste a day into the box, you are going to need around 2000 worms. When you can only get a fraction of this number, start by feeding less and then adding more as your population grows up. You may be pleasantly surprised by how fast your worms start breeding. They are sexually mature within two to three months, and after that, they are going to be able to produce baby worms that mature within twenty-one days. When you want to make a warm home for your worms, think about the bedding that they are going to need. The bedding should be damp, and there are lots of great choices out there that just happen to be wonderfully cheap and easy to get. Shredded newspaper can be used, as can dry grass clippings, shredded fall leaves, chopped up straw, seaweed, sawdust, aged manure or shredded cardboard. Peat moss can also be used, but because it is fairly acidic, it should be soaked thoroughly and then mixed with other bedding. Then throw in about two handfuls of sand or soil to give your worms the grit the need to digest well. The bedding should be slightly damp but not soaking, and remember that the bedding should be turned to make sure that the proper air flow is getting in. Finally, what are you going to need to feed your worms? Most people find that their worms will eat anything that is of vegetable or fruit origins, but you can also throw in things like used tea bags, crushed egg shells, and coffee grounds. If you want to make sure that you don't attract pests like rodents, don't toss in meat or dairy products. Keep non-biodegradable materials like plastic and tin foil away. When you want to put your worm food in, pull aside the bedding and bury it in deep before covering it with the bedding again. Bury food in different locations every day. Remember that your worm box should have about one square foot of surface area for every pound of food you want to put in per week. There are lots of reasons to use worm composting, so consider what good it can do for you! With worm composting, you can recycling your food waste and turn it into a great compost pile that will serve your plants and garden well To receive automatic updates whenever changes are made to our site visit our BLOG PAGE today. This page listed under Composting _________________________________________________________________ |