Mayeb you already separate your garbage everyday on recyclables: PET bottles, galss, cans and paper, and you deliver those in their respective recylcing centers, but when it comes to organic waste, you don’t know exactly what to do with them, and in the end it gets together with the rest of the garbage and your trashcan turns into a mosquito farm. What can you actually do with all your foodscraops, then? One fantastic and eco-friendly solution to reduce kitchen waste that’s gaining popularity is worm composting, also known as vermicomposting. In this blog post, we’ll explore the fascinating world of worm composting.
What is Worm Composting?
Worm composting, or vermicomposting, is a natural process that involves using special types of worms, such as red wigglers (Eisenia fetida), to break down organic matter into nutrient-rich compost. This method allows you to recycle kitchen scraps, paper, and cardboard into a valuable soil conditioner and fertilizer for your garden. This method recycles food waste into a rich, dark, good-for-your-garden soil conditioner. It’s a simple, natural method to take your fruit and vegetable scraps and turn them into rich nutrients for your plants.
Plus, you don’t even need a lot to get started! A container, worms, and food scraps are all you need. This starts a process where worms with the help of micro-organisms convert it all into compost within a few weeks.
The Benefits of Worm Composting
- Reduced Kitchen Waste: Worm composting is an excellent way to divert kitchen scraps like fruit and vegetable peelings, coffee grounds, and eggshells from the landfill. It is better if you chop them in smaller pieces in order to make the process of decomoposition faster.
- Nutrient-Rich Compost: The resulting worm castings (worm poop) are a potent fertilizer rich in essential plant nutrients. It improves soil structure and provides slow-release nutrients for your garden. Also the resulting liquid from this compost is an excellent nutrient resource for your plants, and you can spray it or apply directly in the soil.
- Enhanced Soil Health: Worm castings promote beneficial microorganisms and earthworm populations in the soil, leading to healthier and more productive plants.
- Sustainability: By reducing the need for chemical fertilizers and landfill disposal, worm composting contributes to a more sustainable and eco-friendly gardening approach.
Before beginning a new composting project, it is vital to know the common mistakes that can occur. Diminishing your chances for success makes little sense, so why not take some time to educate yourself and learn from other people’s errors?
Mistake #1: Overfeeding
Enthusiastic worm bin owners may do their best to reduce food scraps and create nutrient-rich fertilizer for the garden, but they can sometimes take it too far. Throwing every available debris into the bin is a surefire way to overwhelm the composting process. The wiggler worms typically used in a worm bin can only digest so much material at once.
In theory, worms can eat their weight in scraps per day. However, that number might be lower, depending on air temperature and excess moisture. A foolproof method is to feed them every 2 to 3 days.
Mistake #2: Wrong Foods
Worms need a healthy diet in small pieces. Whole cabbages and watermelon rind halves will take too long to break down. Items like processed food, meat scraps, salty snacks, spicy foods, oily sauces, greasy foods, yogurt, pineapple, and pineapple are also things to avoid.
The ideal diet for composting worms is non-acidic fruit and vegetable scraps:
- Grains, bread, coffee grounds, tea bags, and pasta are also fair game. Aged grass clippings, hair, and herbivore animal manure are compostable.
- Add shredded black-ink newsprint in moderation. Torn or shredded brown corrugated cardboard is acceptable.
- Clean crushed egg shells, add grit and calcium. All items should be small.
Mistake #3: Too Wet or Too Dry Composting Bedding
The over-enthusiastic worm bin owner pours gallons of water on their worms. The negligent owner lets the bin dry out. Too wet, the worms dehydrate, cannot breathe, and can’t tunnel. If they are too dry, they will suffocate.
The easiest way to check worm bin moisture levels is by picking up a handful. Squeeze it. If water comes out, it’s too wet. Worm bin bedding should have the feeling of a wrung-out sponge. The first solution is drying out a wet worm bin, but it takes time, also why make a mistake when you can avoid it?
In addition to the humidity, it is important to use appropriate bedding materials. The type of bedding you use for your worm bin is just as important as the moisture content.
You want to ensure that the fresh bedding materials are organic and biodegradable for your composting process. Popular options include shredded newspaper, sawdust, coconut coir, peat moss, and plain old dirt. Make sure to avoid anything that is chemically treated or dyed. You also want to avoid materials like pine or cedar shavings as they are too acidic for the worms.
Mistake #4: Forget to Harvest Worm Castings
Avid gardeners eagerly look forward to removing finished compost from their worm bins. The vermicompost, aka worm poop, is fresh “black gold” and the best organic fertilizer for growing plants. Gardeners mark the days until the worm castings are ready for harvesting. This organic matter helps outdoor plants thrive.
Non-gardeners typically focus on reducing trash and odor. The worm castings are a side-effect. Their worm bin fills up with worm castings. Add more trays or get a larger bin.
Harvesting finished compost means separating worm castings. You will leave bedding behind for the worms to live in. Using a screen should only take 30 to 60 minutes. Making mounds takes a day, mostly waiting time. Tray-based composting bins might only take 10 minutes.
Compost can be harvested:
- at the start and end of the growing season
- whenever it is getting full
- as needed, if the worms have been in the bin for at least three months and there are extra worm castings inside
Worm composting is an eco-friendly and efficient way to reduce kitchen waste and enrich your garden soil. By following these guidelines and maintaining a healthy worm composting system, you can turn kitchen scraps into “garden gold” and contribute to a more sustainable and flourishing garden. Give it a try and learn how to use it with our guide on How to Get your Garden Soil Right, and watch your plants thrive thanks to the amazing work of these little composting champions.