All Request August: I’ve Got Worms!

I mentioned a while back that I'd be taking blog requests in August. Here's the first of them. If there's something you'd like me to blog, drop me a comment here, or drop me a line via social networking or e-mail. I'll do as many as I can within reason.

So. I've got worms! I call them the Dans, which if you're a They Might Be Giants fan, ought to make sense.

Not in the unfortunate medical sense (at least as far as I'm aware), but in the sense that I do a bit of vermicomposting in the corner of my kitchen where the recycling and trash bins are. I use a pair of purple storage containers, with the bottom one being intact (to catch drainage), while the upper one has drainage holes drilled in the bottom and ventilation holes drilled in the lid and around the upper edge of the bin. In general, the bin just sort of quietly exists where it is and needs only very minimal attention except for when I feed them or harvest their castings.

This general unobtrusiveness is both good and bad. It's good in that vermicomposting is a very easy way of recycling things like cardboard egg cartons, produce containers, and take-out boxes, as well as tea bags, vegetable peels, scrap paper, etc. in limited space. It's not so good, however, in that it's occasionally easy to forget about them. Sometimes that's just fine: a well-stocked worm box with moist bedding will just process all available material into castings and a forgetful composter will come back to an easier sifting job. This summer, though, things have been very warm and dry, and my bout of forgetfulness resulted in a less well-stocked box turning into a bit of a worm desert. Because worms breathe through their skin and will suffocate in dry conditions, that was not ideal for the colony. Oops.

The basic world of a worm box is composed of only a few things: damp bedding, food, worms, and worm castings.

Worm box bedding is usually paper. Black and white newsprint is usually recommended, though I've had good results with brown paper shopping bags if I soak them a bit longer, and especially good results with cardboard egg carton material. Really, most paper will work as long as it's not glossy, and the dyes are non-toxic. It should be moist but not flat-out wet. The general advice given is that it should be about as damp as a well-wrung sponge. This is the base substrate in which the worms will live and breed and respire, and it's also a food source for them. I also learned early on that used rat bedding was not a good worm substrate because of the ammonia in rat urine. That goes in the outdoor compost box.

Most food, with a few exceptions, can be vermicomposted. Animal foods in general (meat, bone, cheese, grease) shouldn't go in to a worm box because they aren't appealing to the worms, will smell, and are likely to attract other decomposers. Processed starchy things like bread and pasta can technically be vermicomposted, but have to break down a fair bit, which usually results in the same issues one sees with animal foods. Citrus, tomato, and onion are toxic or irritating to worms, and should be avoided. Pretty much anything else, though, is fair game.

Some things will take a long time to break down (peach pits, avocado skin/seeds, etc.) because they're tough, but those things can just stay in the box as long as they need to, really. I've got some remnants of an avocado that may be about as old as my bin, honestly. I just consider them worm furniture. Also, things like pumpkin and squash seeds tend to sprout in the box, which is good because it's a) more worm food, and b) it reduces the chances of random sprouting in whatever you use the castings for. Food for the worms has an effect on the environment of the box. Wet foods (like, say, pumpkin guts) add a lot of moisture to the bin. Too much food usually results in fluffy mold. I try to remember to add a little bit of dry bedding if I give the Dans anything particularly smooshy.

The Dans themselves are red wigglers (Eisenia fetida), which are one of the most preferred species for vermicomposting. They're hardy, they eat a lot, and they're relatively easy to care for. They're most comfortable and productive at human room temperatures (around 60-80 degrees Fahrenheit). And, while the photo above doesn't really showcase it, they're actually kind of pretty in their way. They dislike light, and will tend to burrow down into the bedding when I pull the bin lid off.

When the Dans eat food and bedding, they leave behind worm castings, aka vermicompost. Worm poop. Which is great stuff. It's a lot like fine soil in terms of texture, appearance, and fragrance. It's extremely nutrient rich, holds moisture well, and is a good material for plants to grow in. You can mix it with water and pour it onto gardens, or add it to soil mixes to make an enriched potting or garden soil. I've sprouted seeds in it, both indoors and by adding a spoonful of it to the hole when I plant things outdoors. It's good stuff. People also make "compost tea" with it for their plants, but I've never tried it.

And that's pretty much the basics of my life with worms.

This post has been mirrored from Christian A. Young's Dimlight Archive. To see it in its original format, visit dimlightarchive.com