Vermicompost
Vermicompost is composting with a special species of worms to breakdown organic material such as vegetable and food waste. This produces the richest, most nutrient dense fertilizer... ever.
I attended a Seedy Saturday at a local middle school in Toronto. It is a mini festival of local farmers, landscapers, gardeners and so on, that come together to sell and educate on everything to do with gardening, seeds, worms, and soil. I got the pleasure of meeting a woman named Robin. She gave a 45 min presentation on Soil which enlightened me to Vermicompost. Robin was a master vermicomposter and taught me the basics to creating my first worm bin. She sold me Red Wigglers to start my new project. Here is everything you need to know to get you started.
The anatomy of a worm bin:
Worms
Red Wigglers, White worms, Eiger worms, European nightcrawler etc.
These are special worms that can eat their weight in food scraps. They also need to be in a warm, not hot or cold, space.
Reproduce fairly quickly
Bins
Plastic tote with a lid (any size can work, I used a 20L bin from Canadian Tire)
Holes either drilled or cut-out on the lid.
Cut about 3 medium sized holes at first. After the second or third day you can determine if it needs more holes based on the condensation inside. (There should not be any!)
Bedding
You need "brown" material meaning cardboard box pieces, dried leaves (excluding oak leaves), wood shavings (untreated), shredded egg cartons, shredded paper etc. They should be added regularly.
Worms need brown material to live in. They cannot live in only food waste. This should be around 4 to 6 inches to start.
The brown material needs to be moist. Only enough moisture to wet the material but not too much for there to be puddle. A dry worm bin can kill the worms as well (use a spray bottle)
I add 2 cups of soil to the mix, which helps create a better environment for the worms.
Before mixing the bedding in and burying the food scraps
Organic Material
Can be any food scraps, however meat and bones, citrus, deep fried foods and dairy should be limited. Greasy foods can kill the worms, meat and bones can rot and would be best left out if you are using the compost for vegetables gardens.
Tea bags, napkins, coffee grounds, and crushed egg shells can be used as well.
The organic material will break down and turned into rich fertilizer.
Feeding the worms
Add about one cup of organic waste and break it down as much as you can for the first few weeks.
When feeding the worms, lift some of the bedding and put one cup of vegetable scraps and top with the bedding.
Every time you feed the worms, bury the scraps in a different location than the last.
The breakdown of the organic material can take a little bit of time at first. Once the worms start reproducing this process will take much less time!
The bin should NEVER smell. If it does, you may be feeding too much or not covering the food scraps enough.
This may seem like a lot of information but it is very simple to do and not a lot of work to maintain. It actually helps reduce the amount of compost sitting in your house and its kind of like a low-maintenance pet!
