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Robert Jake
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Garden Compost Worms - Little Critters That Make Rich Compost

 

Compost worms are an amazing resource for your compost pile. These wiggly creatures help break down the material in your pile even faster than fungi and bacteria alone could. Best of all, you can compost with garden compost worms indoors-no need for a smelly outdoor pile. Just build or buy a worm box and start putting in vegetable and fruit scraps.

Note that raw fruit and vegetable scraps are really all you should put into your worm compost. Fats and rich oils take a long time to digest, so avoid these. Also avoid dairy products for the same reason. Don't feed your worms foods that have been cooked, either, as they often contain lots of fats and oil. Don't feed them any meat or bones, because, like in other piles, these materials tend to draw in unwanted rodents. Finally, stay away from throwing citrus fruits like tangerines and oranges into the worm bin. Fruit flies like to eat these foods, so the less you use them, the batter. As a rule of thumb, stick to vegetables and non-citrus fruits.

Red compost worms thrive in warmer temperatures between 50 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Note that with worm compost, you don't have to continually feed your pile kitchen scraps, but you will still get very good compost. You can keep your worms inside your home or classroom. Worms will quickly turn your waste into compost in the form of castings, which contain a wealth of valuable nutrients.

Start your worm compost by buying a bin or a box. You can also build your own, if you choose. Line the bin or box with a bedding made from moist paper or torn-up cardboard. By moist, it is meant that the material should contain roughly 70% water. When considering the size of your bin or box, factor in how much kitchen waste you'll want to put in it for composting, on a weekly basis.

When worms start getting food, they either breed or die off. Lots of food makes them breed; not enough causes them to die. Too much waste at a time might also draw in fruit flies-be sure to increase the amounts of waste you put into your pile gradually. Ideally, you want a large population of worms that will eat up to six pounds of food (or kitchen scraps) each week. Then, feed the worms for 5-6 months, and your scraps and bedding will have been converted into worm castings.

Harvest these worm castings and use them as compost, then start the process all over again. Harvesting itself is a special process that takes a little bit of strategy. Before you harvest, don't feed your worms for two weeks. Then, separate the worms from their castings by pushing all of the digested compost material to one side of the bin. Fill the other side with food scraps and bedding. Put all of your new food waste into this side of the bin. After a few weeks, the worms will completely move to the side with the fresh food and bedding, leaving all of their wonderful worm compost behind.

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Robert Jake
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