by Matt Gibson
dirt ball composting , or vermicomposting , is a corking fashion to reprocess your kitchen rubbish while create a microorganism - friendly and nourishing - racy stain for your garden that is almost completely made up of worm castings . Not only will you be making your garden more delicious and vibrant , but you ’ll no longer have to deal with shitty food waste bins now that you are repurposing your kitchen waste . The only kitchen scraps that do n’t go in the compost bins are waste from beast products , such as meat and dairy farm products .
There are many commercial worm farm frame-up available for purchase that are already set up and ready to employ if you do n’t finger like being thrifty , but make your own louse farm system of rules is amazingly easy and cheap . Here ’s a list of all the supplies you will postulate to get started .
Vermicomposting Supplies
Two big plastic bins of equal sizing : scoot for a large control surface region and at least 12 to 18 inch of deepness when pick out bin .
Worms : One Egyptian pound ofred wigglersshould be more than enough to get you started . They multiply and determine their own population based on useable food sourcing , so you do n’t have to worry about adding or subtracting worm .
A drill : Any old drill will do for drilling hole in the plastic bank identification number . If you do n’t have a drill ready to hand , some screws , a screwdriver , and a footling elbow grease will suffice .
A little flowerpot or brick
erstwhile newspapers and dry leave : Avoid using dark ink pages as they have toxic chemicals in them that could anguish the dirt ball .
Water
A container for home solid food waste
What Size Bins Will I Need?
Though vermicomposting is not an exact scientific discipline , there is a method acting to the fury when it come to selecting the appropriate size of bins for your household . Keep track of the amount of kitchen barren you go through for a twosome of weeks in your dwelling .
utilise a small can or bucket to collect tater peels , eggshells , remnant vegetable , park , bread , coffee grounds , and any other solid food waste that you produce in your household that is n’t an beast ware . count the container to get an average amount of nutrient waste that you go through in a hebdomad , and then you will be able-bodied to approximate the size of it of the containers you will take for your worm farm .
You will take about one square foot of open area for each pound of garbage that you feed to your worms each week . A bank identification number eight inches by two foot by two feet , for illustration , will accommodate four pound of intellectual nourishment wasteland per week , which is just about double-dyed for a one- or two - person household . big family will postulate a larger worm farm . A box one fundament by two foot by three substructure will accommodate six to six and a one-half pound of waste .
ruby crawler are more comfortable near the surface sphere and not usually wonted to burrowing deep down to look for for food , so a shallow ABA transit number with a large surface domain is much more preferred than a deep , tall bin .
Step 1: Make the Worm Bins
Drill about 20 holes into the bottom of one bin and about 10 to 15 holes in the palpebra of the same bin . leave behind the other bin the elbow room it is . In the undrilled bin , place the pot or brick in the bottom of the bin , and put the drilled bin on top so that there is some outer space underneath for drain .
Step 2: Prepare the Bedding
Lay out a nice layer of deplume newspaper scrap and dried parting , and wet them down with piddle . The eubstance should be damp but fluffy , kind of like a wet parasite .
Step 3: Add in the Worm Food
Layer in worm nutrient underneath a few layers of bedding . A nice mix of kitchen combat is good . Just be sure to avoid fauna production , such as meat , bones , and dairy farm , as well as any unctuous waste material . Fruit and vegetable scraps work great , as do citrus peels and burnt umber land .
The Francis Scott Key to feed your worms well is equipoise . If there are too many citrus fight and coffee grounds and not enough other waste , the mix will be too acidulent . If there is too much other stuff , the mix will not be acid enough . To keep off unpleasant olfactory property , be sure to bury the solid food scraps underneath layers of bedding instead of just throwing it on the top of the bin .
Step 4: Add in the Worms
Now that your bins are ready , and the bedding is in office , and you ’ve added in a bit of food for thought for the worms to eat , it ’s prison term to add the red wigglers to the mix so that they can set to their novel base . The worms are draw to dingy country , so they will by nature dig under the first few layer of bang and discover the nutrient right off the bat .
Step 5: Secure the Perimeter
Worms do n’t really require to get out of a dark , stiff area with spate of food provision , but there ’s no rationality to take chances . A slight excess work will make them experience more dependable and give them less of a chance of escaping . Just a few layer of wet newspaper placed flat on the top of the bedding will also deter fruit flies from joining in with the worms and infesting the bin . For good measure , roll up a few rag of wet paper , and tuck them into the side and corners to secure the bank identification number from encroacher and escape artists .
Step 6: Making Compost
Do n’t wait your worms to recover from the move and start making lashings of compost overnight — or even in the first few week . It read a while to adjust to a new environment . However , after the first distich of weeks have passed , it ’s clip to start cranking out some compost , and you could really start to put your worm farm to work out .
If you put in about one pound of worms , you can require them to exhaust their body weight in nutrient waste per Clarence Day , so you’re able to add in about one pounding of food scraps every daylight . Do n’t worry if you are a little over or light , as worms will adjust their own universe based on the food for thought reference useable . If there is an abundance of food flake , they will reproduce . If there is a shortage , they will dissipate in number .
Step 7: Using The Compost
Now that you ’ve put your worms to work eating and repurposing your kitchen waste matter , it ’s time to reap the benefits of your harvesting . What ’s left in the bank identification number , away from your worm and their bedding , is a commixture of worm castings , humus , and decompose matter called vermicompost . This stuff is nutritive - rich and wedge - full of microorganisms that can make your garden thrive , so use it sparingly , and spread the dearest around .
A quarter - inch layer of vermicompost can be added to the topsoil of yourhouseplantsto give them a nutrient blast to keep them looking goodly and finger on top of the world . flux the vermicompost in withpotting filth mixturesto give your grime a bestow kick of nutrient to avail new plants aline to their fresh environments . you may also sprinkle it into seed rows or throw a twain of handful into holes where you are graft crops .
Vermicompost is also a great top dresser for mature plants . Just add a smattering around the understructure of the plants on the top of the soil for a alimentary boost prior to harvesting clock time .
you could also make worm cast tea for lacrimation your garden with to give your whole garden a tidy VD of food and microorganisms while hydrate with a super flora quinine water at the same time . Just flux up a gallon of H2O , a spoonful of molasses , and a pint of insect cast , and stimulate often for 24 to 48 hours . Dilute this concentrated mixture at one part tea to four parting water system , and use it to irrigate your indoor and outdoor plant .
Time is of the essence , however , when it fare to compost tea . You will want to use the intact batch within about a hebdomad ’s prison term , or it will go bad and the microorganism will pall before they have a chance to give your garden a nutritive blast .
So , why go through the trouble of starting a worm farm in your home ? Well , once the process has startle , there ’s really not that much workplace that goes into it . The worms do all the work for you , as long as you give them a healthy environment and plenty of solid food waste to munch on . The system also save you a heap of meter and endeavour take on out the trash and saves you the pain of look at with pungent drivel smells from decay food waste .
Plus , once you ’ve see the results of what the end product can do for your garden , you will know that all the effort and prison term that you put into starting your own vermicomposting system was worth every penny you spent and every second you put into it . There ’s nothing more rewarding than having the best looking garden on your street , and a couple of pounds of red wigglers and some articulatio cubiti grease is all you involve to give you a leg up on all your neighbor .
Want to learn more about worm composting?
EPA covers How to keep Indoor Worm compost Bin
Mother Earth News covers How to Make a Worm Bin
Mother Earth News traverse Guide to Vermicomposting
Modern Farmer covers How to build up a Worm Farm
Planet Natural covers Indoor Composting with Vermicomposting
