Vermicompost, or vermiculture, is the process of using earthworms to break down organic waste. Simply put, the worms eat your kitchen wastes, digest it, and the end result is worm castings. (Aka poop, or black gold to the gardeners!)
So Let’s Get Started…
Like compost, worms need a carbon-rich material (bedding) and a nitrogen-rich material (worm food). Once established you can tend to them daily, or weekly – they are pretty self sufficient little helpers! They will multiply as fast or slowly as you allow them, adjusting to your individual family’s needs.
Worm Food
Worm food sounds complicated – but it is just your plant based kitchen waste. If your worms are kept inside, it is best to stick to plant-based waste only, avoiding citrus and fats. An egg-ception is crushed eggshells, which provide fiber to help the worms digest your waist, calcium to help regulate the pH, and nutrients your plants love!
The smaller the waste is, the faster it will be turned into rich humus. Some families like to freeze the fruit and vegetable cuttings, and then blend it to turn it into a slurry and re freeze. This way they always have worm food around. However, chopping it roughly and adding it under the worm bedding each evening is perfectly acceptable too!
Bedding
On the subject of bedding – worms love to eat their bedding too. Start with a nice fresh layer of damp shredded newspaper, cardboard, or paper. This helps keep the carbon to nitrogen ratio balanced, and gives the worms a chance to retreat once they have eaten their fill.
You can save time by using a paper shredder, but doing it by hand works wonders too! If you don’t have a shredder, Newspaper forms neat strips when pulled horizontally, and cardboard pulls apart easily if it is damp.
Burying the worm food in the bedding helps control odors, fruit flies, and temperature.
Time
Once you have filled one layer of your worm bin, you add another layer on top and begin filling. Worms will move in between the layers, eating away. A layer is ‘done’ when most of the worms have migrated upwards in search of new food and fresh bedding.
Your first layer will take about three months to be fully broken down, but after that you should be able to harvest a layer a month.
Fresh worm bedding and food .
The mix is right when there is no odor. It should be about as damp as a well wrung out sponge.
In the beginning you may need to monitor frequently and mist with water (or add more dry bedding), but eventually you will find the right mix to keep it evenly moist.
Half Way There
There might not be much food left to see, but the worms are still munching away happily on the remaining food, bacteria, and fungi.
Some seeds might be too tough for the worms to eat right away, so these might sprout providing even more fresh food for the worms!
Harvested Worm Castings
Here are some harvested worm castings, a bit damp from their compost tea!
This can be used directly in potted plants and in the garden, although volunteer plants will come up from all those seeds. Sometimes these volunteers become prized plants!
Vermicompost Gear
As with many things garden, you can make your worm farm as complicated or as inexpensive as you want. The products listed below do make vermiculture simpler, but you can also use an old bucket or tote or re-purposed PVC pipe worm towers buried in the ground.
Amazon lists three types of worm farm – a stacked tray (worm factory) which is great for getting started, but the capacity might not be enough, depending on how much green waste you produce. They also have two main flow-through types: an Urban Worm Bag, and a Hungry bin. The capacity is much greater, and they require less frequent maintenance. You can also find many DIY flow through bin instructions online. (Bonus points if you build it out of scrap or reclaimed wood!)
Buying worms is necessary, if you want a contained worm farm (Or consider trading with a generous neighbor!).
You can also encourage earthworms to your garden by providing lots of organic matter, encouraging soil diversity, and limiting the use of pesticides.
Some Reservations with Vermicompost
There are reservations about adding a non-native species to our environment from any source. We have found live bugs and worms in imported plants, soils, bagged compost, and even fresh produce. Introduced worms have caused changes to North American forests, but there are conflicting reports on the actual ecological impact. Caution should still be taken to allow our natural areas to remain as nature intended.
Never throw vermicompost, live worms, imported commercial compost, diseased plants, garden trimmings, or potted plants on undeveloped land!
Red worms (Eisenia fetida) are surface dwellers, poor diggers, and quickly perish in dry conditions. They are therefore unlikely to survive in most soil, however, they will survive in sufficiently damp areas with rich leaf litter. Avoid using near natural waterways. Sve your vermicompost for potted plants and vegetable gardens!
Vermiculture is a cold composting process – therefore weed seeds will not be sterilized and broken down the same way they are in a well managed hot compost pile. Vermicast also contains viable fruit and vegetable seeds. Don’t be surprised if tomatoes start popping up everywhere you use it. If you want to use your vermicast for starting seeds, keep unwanted seeds out the bin!
Worms thrive by eating microbes, including bacteria and fungi. As with any compost or soil product, care should be taken to avoid cross contamination. Wash those hands and tools!
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