Make a Compost

Space to feed and space to bed down and rest
Originally uploaded by dalbhat

But do give it a try with your kids, because it as fun as all get out. I love my little worms and taking care of these pets is so easy and utilitarian... your topsoil will be the talk of the town.

Start with a big container. For the past year, I have been breeding worms in an old bucket but have been eyeing other containers to expand to something larger. I found terracotta and cement flower pots and chose to make the new vermi-bin in the cement one, mainly because of its size.

Step 1: Make a bed for your worms to rest in when they are not eating. You can take big sheets of newspaper and form tightly wadded balls to make about two layers of bedding at the bottom of your chosen bin. Now dampen this.

Step 2: Throw a bit of sand on top.

Step 3: Add your worms. You will need to get worms from another vermi-composter (that will be YOU soon enough). The type you need are called red wigglers. To be honest, my worms found me and asked me to start a vermi-compost for them. They were delivered in a load of cow manure for my garden; and when I looked at them I just knew they'd be happy in my bucket. They were reddish and wriggling...but are very, very tiny. THere are tons of them now because I feed them every few weeks.

Step 4: Don't become too attached to your worms...

Step 5: Now, in one area of the bin place your kitchen waste (tea/coffee grounds, rotten veggies, banana peels, eggshells, fruit peels, etc). This can pretty much include anything except dairy, meat and fish scraps. Almost everything else goes. My worms are currently working on the waste scraps from an untreated wooden dinosaur kit. You need to add waste in bundles so that there is always a resting area for the worms (the bedding and soil).

Step 6: Cover the whole thing with a little more dirt and shredded newspaper. Dampen this just a bit too.

Step 7: Now cover the entire compost bin with a big board or burlap tarp. SSssssh. THe worms like it to be dark and I presume quiet.

MAINTENANCE
The trick to maintaining things inside is to take peeks and see just what's happening in there. It isn't good if the bin gets too wet and mushy (a big mess, in fact) so you may need to move everything to one side and put in new newspaper bedding balls to absorb excess moisture. On the other hand, it shouldn't be too dry either, so add water in small amounts if needed. Soon you will figure out just the happy medium.

Add your waste in small heaps by digging a hole in the compost and adding the waste in one place. Cover it gently. The next time you add, dig in a different place and bury the waste. It takes about 3 weeks to fully decompose one bundle.

You should get some very dark, rich soil to add to your garden or houseplants -- all from what came out of your own kitchen scraps (that's the part I like the most)

The world just wouldn't be the same without its earthworm recycling systems!