composting worms

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

OK this is weird, but DH kept asking what i wanted for my upcoming birthday...and today I decided I wanted a worm composting bin.

So I shopped around and ordered a nice one and when it arrives I'll order a couple of pounds of red wrigglers (special super composting worms).

I used to have a 'regular' compost pile in my garden years ago but it never worked very well and was a big mess. I researched the worm composting method and it seems tailor made for our lifestyle. Plus, I happen to like worms!

I like the neat efficiency of the whole worm composting concept.
I'll probably be the only woman in the Northeast to get WORMS for her birthday.

Anyone else here on TE do this?

[Zen]

Well, I know this is not exactly the right way to do this but I just keep my kitchen scraps in a coffee can on the counter, save them all over the winter, then just dump the waste in my little sunflower patch and work it into the soil

[Dianyla]

Ooh, me! I'm into vermicomposting. I've had a Can O' Worms set up in my garage for the last, hmm, 2 years now. I love it.

[OakLeaf]

Keep us posted on how it goes eh?

I can't do regular compost in Florida because we're in town, with nearby neighbors and a large population of raccoons and rats. Professional gardeners assure me that temperatures are too high for an above-ground closed compost bin to work properly. It just KILLS me to throw kitchen scraps in the trash.

If it works well for you, I'm also going to need to find out whether I can get locally native worms to do the job. I'd plan on releasing them each year when we go North, so I wouldn't want to use a potentially invasive species or one that can't survive locally.

[sgtiger]

Well, I know this is not exactly the right way to do this but I just keep my kitchen scraps in a coffee can on the counter, save them all over the winter, then just dump the waste in my little sunflower patch and work it into the soil

That works. It's how mother nature does it. It attracts worms and beneficial soil microbes to your sunflower patch. I think it's called honey pot composting or something like that. Most people who do it dig a hole in a spot in their planting bed and cover it up when it gets full.

If it works well for you, I'm also going to need to find out whether I can get locally native worms to do the job. I'd plan on releasing them each year when we go North, so I wouldn't want to use a potentially invasive species or one that can't survive locally.

If you want you can keep a plastic container under your sink and vermicompost in your home. There are instructions for making your own container on gardening forums.

[sgtiger]

Lisa - I've really started to get into gardening this year and I don't think it's weird or unusual that you want a worm bin for your birthday. You should see what people do over on the garden web forum. There's a thread about compost wackos that's pretty funny. I'm finding that I'm doing more and more of things mentioned in that thread.

[OakLeaf]

I think it's called honey pot composting or something like that.

Eh... I've always heard "honey pot" refer to the kind of composting that I'm too timid to try. The kind that says NOTHING gets wasted...

[OakLeaf]

I think it's called honey pot composting or something like that.

Eh... I've always heard "honey pot" refer to the kind of composting that I'm too timid to try. The kind that says NOTHING gets wasted...

you can keep a plastic container under your sink

That's how I'd do it, if I did (better moisture control), but taking them halfway across the country twice a year is a little more than I want to sign on for.

[shootingstar]

I knew a couple who had a worm box on their apartment balcony.

[7rider]

Why would you want to buy worms to compost them? Wouldn't it be better to compost your yard and kitchen scraps??



We have a large compost pile at the bottom of our hill in the back woods. It really doesn't get used a lot. Just added to. Bunnies are generally good at producing lots of good stuff to compost. We used to use a metal container (with a charcoal filter) for kitchen scraps - but all it did was get moldy and gross if we didn't get it outside often enough. And DH and I just never seem to get to the bottom of the hill frequently enough with stuff to make it worthwile. Anyone want to buy it? I got loads of extra filters, too!

I saw a compost tumbler at the local food co-op. Kind of like this...only different. Something like this might be good for folks without much space, without a lot to compost, and with critter issues....