VERMICOMPOST: WORMS DO IT - Fairfax County Master Gardeners

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compost materials a little stir each time that food is added. The helps with aeration and also keep the moisture evenly distributed. When I first got my stacking bins set up, I lined the working bin with shredded newspaper, added the worms and food and covered the food with another layer of newspaper; either shredded or several several unshredded sheets work, but in either case make sure that they are wet but not dripping. The worms will eventually eat the bedding and that is a good measure of when the vermicompost is ready to harvest. The first time I harvested the compost, I waited too long. The bottom bin still had a few worms in it, but the compost, rather than being granulated looked just like a sloppy mess of mud filled with too much liquid. I had stumbled on to vermicast. Now I watch the bins more closely, putting the new trays on when the “working” tray is half-full and the bedding starts to be composted. When a bin is ready to be harvested, I remove it from the stack and let it cure in the open air. Harvesting the vermicompost The vermicompost is ready to harvest when the bin load looks dark and crumbly and it is difficult to see any recognizable bits of organic matter. Depending on the worm population and the size of the bin, this process can take from 3-6 months. Often the harvest is more frequent, as is the case at Meadowlark bins, where a bin is often ready for harvest in as little as 4 weeks. It is a good idea to rest the compost before using it. The resting allows any eggs to hatch so that the new worms can be added back to the compost bin. At Meadowlark the policy is to keep the worms in the bin doing their job rather than releasing them into the garden beds where they might disturb the local worm populations and where they are likely to die in winter freezes. Feeding the worms A half a pound of kitchen scraps a day can feed a pound of worms. When scraps are added to the bin, more shredded bedding or pages of wet newsprint should also be added to cover the food. This keeps down odor and also reduces or eliminates the presence of flies. At Meadowlark, staff members bring in kitchen scraps for the worms on a weekly basis. The scraps include all kinds of vegetable peelings, bread, cereal grains and oatmeal, spoiled vegetables and fruit/vegetable rinds. Paper products can be added if they are free of dyes or other harmful chemicals. Tea bags and coffee grounds can be added. Scraps can be cut into small pieces to hasten the composting process. Some who
pamper their worms have been known to put the scraps in the blender prior to feeding the worms, and I confess that I put kitchen scraps into the freezer, thawing them to room temperature before adding them to the bin. With a little observation it is easy to determine the worms’ favorite food stuffs and it quite common for me or any worm lover to eye food scraps and to say, ”my worms would LOVE that!” The Eisenia Fetida need calcium to reproduce. Most food scraps contain some calcium but if the worm population in the bin does not seem to be renewing or expanding adding some calcium to the scraps is a good idea. One easy way is to mash or grind up clean empty egg shells. The worms never completely compost egg shells but they can remain as part of the vermicompost. Another option is to add a ground up teaspoon of a calcium based antacid pill to the bin or adding a teaspoon of garden lime (calcium carbonate, or calcium-magnesium carbonate). Be sure to avoid adding construction lime (slake lime or quick lime) as that will poison the worms. Since the worms have a gizzard to help grind the ingested food material, many suggest adding, ground egg shells, rock dust or soil in small quantities to provide grinding materials for gizzard health. I usually add one egg shell which I mash up in my hands until it is in tiny pieces. The egg shell turns brown and reduces in size only slightly but I think of it as helping the worms and adding texture to my vermicompost. I am cautious about over feeding my worms, and when I do feed them I check to see what is gone and what is still there. I can adjust the amount of food according to how fast it disappears. When I travel for a few weeks I add a bit of food before I leave and I know that my worms can survive on the bedding materials after the initial scraps are gone. I have not left them for more than three weeks at a time. If I were to be away longer than that I would probably find a “worm sitter” to occasionally add food to the bins. What to avoid. According to Short, citrus fruits and rinds may be harmful to the worms. Although onions can be added to the bins as scraps, the staff at Meadowlark have noticed that the worms will not eat onions or any type of protein, which tends to be smelly. Do not give worms salty scraps such as chips. The Meadowlark worms also have had difficulty with really hard substances such as pineapple cores. My worms, seem to prefer the same sweet fare that I eat, although in “scrap form.” For example, they like fruit cores with a bit of flesh hanging on them and sweet potato peels. The
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VERMICOMPOST: WORMS DO IT - Fairfax County Master Gardeners

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