You might have heard about the possibility of composting your household vegetable scraps and other food waste using worms. Called worm composting or vermicomposting, this process is fairly simple, and good for the environment. However, you can't just put any worms in any box and expect it to work. There are special methods used in composting with worms. Here's what you'll need to get started, and how to do it.
Worm Containers
Wood and plastic are common containers for worms. You can buy something, build a worm container, or recycle an old dresser drawer or other item. Just be sure that "wood" items are real wood, and not particle board or other manmade materials. They tend to disintegrate when damp, and may leach toxins into your worms' home. Wood is often preferred as a material, since it keeps the compost dryer and better insulated, but some people have made plastic work quite effectively. Look around and be willing to experiment.
Container sizing is a little tricky, but not too hard. Weigh the food waste from your household for a week, and figure out how much you produce in pounds. Provide a square foot of surface area for your worms for each pound you produce, in a container that's eight to twelve inches deep. If the amount of waste you produce would create a single, heavy container, consider splitting it up into several smaller ones. You'll need to drill eight to twelve holes in the bottom of the container so it will be adequately drained, and place a tray underneath the raised worm box. Plastic containers need more drainage. The liquid that comes out should be saved and used to fertilize plants. Remember to cover the worm box so that your worms will be able to live in the dark, but ventilate this lid.
Worm Bedding
Damp bedding for the worms to live in and for food waste to be buried in is important. You can use shredded cardboard and paper, leaves, chopped straw, sawdust, aged manure, compost, or just about any other inert, organic substance that holds moisture. A varied bedding offers more nutrients and richer composting. A little bit of sand or soil will help the worms digest their food. Before you put the bedding in the bin, moisten it to the point where it's like a damp sponge. Fill the bin about 3/4 fill of bedding, and "toss" it to make air spaces.
Worms
Regular night crawlers or earthworms out of the back yard probably won't survive the conditions in a worm compost box. You need one of two specific types of worms: Eisenia foetida (red wigglers or manure worms) or Lumbricus rubellus (a small type of worm that often turns up in old manure or compost). Never use big worms you find outside, because they're unlikely to live. Adventurous people can try finding their own worms, or you can order worms or get them from someone else with a large population in their worm box. You'll need about two pounds of worms (a couple thousand) for every pound of food waste you produce a day. If you start with fewer worms, feed them less.
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