Let worms do the work! … Composting with redworms or “vermi-composting”, is great for apartment dwellers who don’t have yard space, and for homeowners who don’t want to hike through snowdrifts to a backyard compost bin.  Many kids love keeping hundreds of wigglers for pets.  There are several companies in Canada now who can sell you bins, bedding, worms and all.

Covered Bin

            Your worms can live in a plastic bin or wooden box, with plenty of air holes punched in the sides and top… Some people move their worms out to a balcony or yard in warm seasons.  You may find it more convenient to have several smaller more portable units rather than one large one.  The size of the box will also depend on how much space you have, and how many people are in your family.

Bedding

            Bedding can be shredded newspaper, soaked to soften the edges (the worms will eat this too, or a mixture of sawdust, peat, shredded leaves, and soil.

            Fill the bin with about a foot of bedding, about as damp as a wrung out sponge – not soggy and not dry.  With a lid on the bin and regular feeding of the worms, maintaining the correct moisture level shouldn’t be difficult.

Worms

            It’s true the redworms aren’t pets for the squeamish, but they are great little composters!  Red wigglers worms are the only worms that compost – not the ordinary field worms from someone’s garden.

            Your valuable little redworms will live quietly in their dark box and multiply rapidly.  Just bury your leftovers in their bedding after each meal.  It is unlikely that you will have too much waste to compost: redworms will eat their own weight in kitchen scraps and bedding each day.  The castings they produce are incredibly rich fertilizer and look like fine-textured soil.  For each cubic foot of worm bin, plan on using a half-pound of red wigglers (about 500, depending on their size).

            Coffee grounds, vegetables and fruit are the recommended food for worms.  A varied diet is important.  Avoid bones, dairy products, meats, garlic and potato peelings – what doesn’t cause odours or attract insects will simply take a very long time to break down.  Eggshells are essential to keep the bedding from becoming too acidic for the worms.  Dry them well, crush them, and sprinkle the tiny pieces over the top of the bedding.

Temperature

            Redworms will survive in temperatures from 5^oC to 32^oC (40 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit) but prefer it at or above room temperature.  If you keep the worm bin outside in good weather, be ready to bring it in promptly when the temperature drops.

Harvesting the Castings

            Removing the worm compost couldn’t be easier.  You will notice that redworms hate the light – they’ll wiggle down into their bedding whenever you take the lid off the bin.  Every few months – when the castings outweigh the bedding that remains – place the open bin under a very bright light and give the worms ten minutes to get well away from the surface.  Then the coast is clear for scraping the worm castings from the top layer.

            When you start to see the worms again, keep the light on them and give them another ten minutes to go deeper still.  And remove the next layer of compost.  Keep going in this way until the harvest is done.  Then fill up the bin with fresh bedding and start again.

Outdoors

            Some people build special worm pits to take advantage outdoors of the worms’ natural talents.  To make a worm pit, all you have to do is dig a square-hole a couple of feet deep and set a bottomless box over it.  The compost materials and worms are tossed in here.  You can keep adding organic waste as it accumulates.

            Keep the pile damp and dark, and the worms will do the rest.  Remember to harvest your compost carefully – in bright sunshine – to save the worms from an unpleasant fate.  They won’t live long if they’re stranded in ordinary garden soil, dumped there with a forkful of compost.