What is Worm Composting?

• Worm composting or vermicomposting is a method of using earthworms and microorganisms to recycle food scraps and other organic materials into rich, earthy vermicompost --- compost produced by worms. Laden with beneficial microbes, vermicompost provides valuable plant nutrients and helps suppress diseases and parasites. As earthworms munch through organic material, they excrete digested matter in the form of nutrient-dense casts. These casts contain at least five times more nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium than plain soil, according to researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
  
  

Benefits of Worm Composting

• Composting with worms is beneficial to the environment and relatively easy. Recycling kitchen scraps into compost reduces the amount of waste sent to the dump or passed down the drain into the sewer system. The process can be scaled to suit a variety of needs, from small families to large commercial composting operations. Worm bins can be set up indoors or outdoors, making it possible to produce vermicompost year-round, regardless of climate. Composting with earthworms is usually faster and often less labor intensive than other forms of composting, such as compost piles or sheet composting.
  
  

Composting Worms

• Although there are many types of earthworms, Eisenia fetida is the worm particularly favored for vermicomposting. Commonly called red wigglers or red worms, these hardy, adaptable worms are often found in manure piles. Common garden worms or night crawlers prefer to live in regular soil and cannot be used in worm composting bins. Purchase red wigglers from an earthworm grower (not a bait shop) and start with at least 1 lb. or 1,000 red wigglers, advises experts at North Carolina State University. Because red wigglers eat about half their body weight daily, you will need approximately 2 lbs. of worms for each pound of food discarded each day.
  
  

Worm Bins

• Worm bins are shallow boxes, typically constructed of wood or plastic, with drain holes drilled in the bottom. Additional holes in the sides help aerate the bin. Worm bins can be homemade or purchased commercially. Fill the bin with bedding material such as shredded newspaper or cardboard, composted cow manure, shredded leaves and peat moss. Do not use paper with colored ink such as magazines. Bedding should be kept moist, but not soggy. Worms prefer moderate temperatures between 55 to 77 degrees F.
  
  

Food

• Appropriate worm food includes peels and trimmings from vegetables and fruits, leaves and grass clippings. Do not include meat, dairy or fatty foods such as vegetables coated in butter or cheese sauce. Earthworms grind their foods in gizzards, similar to chickens and need grit materials such as coffee grounds, cornmeal or dried, crushed eggshells to help digest their food.