Vermicomposting, again...

I finally transfered the pictures from my camera from the month of July, so now I can blog about my adventures in vermicomposting.  Soon after moving into our new house, I bought a a fancy worm bin for composting.  When I first learned about vermicomposting, I wanted to go all natural and just use a plain box made out of scrap wood (there are several websites that give directions for making your own vermicomposter).  But after my failed mini-experiment, I read some more about the daily maintenance of the worms and the harvesting of the compost for use in the garden, and I decided that buying a special worm bin would be best for our family.

I bought a worm bin starter kit from Happy D Ranch.  First, they sent the worm bin and a bunch of information about vermicomposting.  Coulson and I set up the worm bin so it would be ready when the worms arrived the next day. 

 

The first week was probably the most difficult.  For the worms to thrive, the conditions in the worm bin need to be suitable - not too hot, not too dry, not too wet, not too much food, not too little food, enough bedding (shredded paper, dirt, old leaves, etc.) enough air, etc.  So I fretted for the first week about whether the conditions were just right because I didn't know if my worms were acting right or not.  But now in retrospect, I think they were just getting used to their new home.  Now they seem to be doing very well and are busy composting my kitchen scraps and shredded paper and Chester's hair and coffee grounds, etc. 

It's a bit grosser than I anticipated.  I was envisioning "feeding the worms" as a chore Coulson would do after dinner each night, but I'm not ready to let him be in charge of such a messy task just yet.  I'll spare you the pictures (the above pictures are from when we first put the worm bin together - it doesn't look so nice now), but I will only feed the worms when I have my big rubber gloves on so I don't have to sink my hands into the slimy half-composted food from last week.  But it doesn't smell bad (they advise against putting meat into the bin because it will rot and stink.)

So in all, I am still excited about composting and I am glad that I decided to buy a special worm bin.  Of course with my timing, our first bin of compost will be ready just as the growing season ends, so I'll either save it for next year or do some major indoor plant projects. 

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