Vermicomposting

Take a look at this and try to guess what it is:

If you guessed a big ole' bucket of worm poop, then you guessed right! (all the little squiggly things you see are not actually worms, but little pieces of shredded paper mixed in with the castings).

How did we come by this big bucket of worm poop, you ask? Simple: last summer we decided to experiment with worm composting, otherwise known as vermicomposting. We became interested in this due to my stepson's fascination with the worms in our square foot garden--he loves them. I had heard about composting using worms and so we decided to give it a try. It's actually really easy, fun for the kids, and great for the garden!

Our first step was to read the book Worms Eat My Garbage, which tells all about how to set up a worm composting farm and take care of the worms. Then we went to a garden show and saw how some other people had set up very simple worm farms using big Rubbermaid tubs. There are fancy worm farm set-ups available online, but they are kind of expensive--and it's much more fun to make your own! All you need is a big sturdy tub with a lid, in dark colors because worms like the dark. We drilled a bunch of airholes in the lid, filled the tub with shredded paper for the bedding, and ordered two pounds of worms on the internet! They tell us this was approximately 2000 worms.

All of this we did in October. Since then we have been giving the worms our kitchen scraps. They will eat pretty much anything, except it's not safe to give them meat or dairy products (those get smelly too fast) and if you give worms bread they will explode from the yeast. But all other fruit and vegetable scraps, eggshells, etc, they love! They also eat their paper bedding if they run out of food. One of the best parts about this whole thing is how easy and maintenance-free the worms are...we give them scraps every few days but there have been times we have forgotten about them for days or even weeks. They are almost totally self-sufficient as long as they are in a cool dark place and have enough bedding!

The one thing I was worried about was the smell---I have a very sensitive nose! But in all the months we've been giving them scraps not once has the bin ever smelled bad. We keep it in a closet in the playroom because they like dark, quiet places, and that closet is hardly used. I have never smelled anything in or near the closet, and every time we have opened up the bin I have only smelled a nice, earthy, garden-type smell, like good soil. That means our worms are healthy and doing their jobs right!

Recently we realized it was time to harvest the castings...otherwise known as poop. It's well known among gardeners that worm castings are extremely helpful to garden plants, they are so full of nutrients. Here is a great article about why.

Bless Bill's heart, due to my grandmother's illness he was left alone to the unlucky task of sorting through the bin and separating the worms from their castings. Not an easy or fun job, he tells me! But now we have a large tub full of worm castings. We can spread them directly on the garden just like regular compost, or we can make a tea by soaking them in water, then watering the plants with it. I'm also planning to use some of the castings for my gardening class this summer. I'm teaching 3rd-5th graders, just the perfect age to get a huge kick out of doing garden experiments with worm poop.

When Bill refilled the worm bin with new bedding and gave the worms fresh scraps, he noticed that there are suddenly a bunch of tiny baby worms. That's another sign that our worms are healthy and  happy....but in all honesty as much as I've enjoyed this project, I don't really want to give much thought to worm procreation. :)

If you have a garden, and if you have kids who like gross things like worms, this is an easy and educational project that I highly recommend!