Apartment Vermicompost

Hi folks!

Today, I'm going to talk about vermicomposting. What in the world is that? You might ask that question of me. I'll save you from googling it, and we shall get down to the nitty gritty on composting in your apartment. I know a lot of people do not have the time, space or money to watch over a compost heap for their gardens, nor do they understand composting. I have plenty of time to compost, but I'm just as clueless as your average Joe Schmoe about the science of dirt. I wish I could tell you the molecular structure, but if it weren't for constant help from the teacher in high school, I probably would have failed chemistry miserably.

Vermicomposting is basically allowing worms to break down your food waste into nutrient rich organic fertilizer. These little dudes will munch away at your left overs and produce what is known as castings (worm poop). No pesticides, no man made chemicals; just rich earthy smelling fertilizer created by our wiggly slime covered friends. I've also just learned that vermicompost is vital in protecting your germinating seeds from diseases. I love research! Who needs school when you have YouTube and Wikipedia!? (NOTE: As a college graduate, I prefer to use credible resources for most of my postings. Although Wikipedia may seem credible, the information can be changed by your average asshat troll. With YouTube, it's a matter of experimenting/experience and research.)

Wasn't that educational? I was seriously pleased to have found that video. I learned a bit more about vermicompost just researching for this blog. I love that I will have a ecosystem right in my kitchen. It will be like having an ant farm that some people had as children, but more geared towards SCIENCE! FOR SCIENCE! I'm getting excited just thinking about this.

I think I need to calm down.

Anyway, the most common used worms for composting is the red wiggler or the European nightcrawler. I ordered the red wiggler from recommendations at a prepping forum I am a part of. Most of the folks on my forum are experienced gardeners, and I'm definitely glad that I have their help! Since I ordered the red wigglers today, I can't give you the fine tuned results of an apartment compost yet, but I can show you what I've done so far to prepare for my new little family.

SUPPLIES FOR WORM COMPOST BIN

• 3 ten gallon bins. (You'll only need one lid, but I took all three. I'm sure I'll find use for the other two lids)
• Newspaper or other dry bedding. (ie: Paper towels, paper plates, etc. I will get away from them eventually!)
• Water (to moisten the bedding)
• Drill or means of punching holes in the bins (I don't have a drill. I used a lot of different sized screw drivers to get the holes in my bins to a size I think the worms will fit through. I need to invest in a hand-drill.)
• Soil (other means of maintaining moisture balance of the compost)
• A bowl you don't use from your kitchen, or a dog/cat bowl. (This will be for the bin without holes that holds the compost tea. Don't want the other bins sitting in the tea.)
• ALL OF THESE SUPPLIES COST ME: $18.00 at Dollar General. I already had water, a bowl and means of punching holes into my bins.
  

Since I don't have a drill, I punched holes into TWO of my bins. The holes need to be 3/16" large on the bottom so that worms can pass through. I got a little nuts with the holes. I don't know off hand as to how big the holes really are since I don't have my drill, but if the worms cannot pass through one of the holes, I will just switch out bins and make the holes bigger with my hand tools, and repeat. The video I followed recommended the holes be 2 inches apart. on the bottom around the edges of the bin and in the middle. No specific amount either. My holes look to be about 1 inch apart. Oops.

See what I did? That's what I'm doing with two bins. On the top part of the bin, I punched smaller holes to allow oxygen through to the worms. Also, make sure you punch some holes in the lid that will be snapped onto the compost bin.

For the bedding, I get a lot of junk mail in my mail box. I'm using the junk mail paper that is non-waxy or shiny, tearing it into strips, and making it moist with water. I will show you what that looks like once I get the worms. I started my compost bucket before I learned that it would be easier to break down the left over fruits and vegetables if you make a slurry out of it with a blender or food processor. I'm not going to blend up already rotting food, but for now on, the compost bucket will be emptied, shredded up and slathered into  compost bin to make breaking down much easier.

To see the three tiered vermicomposting system that I created, go to Simple living skills how to video. If it weren't for their video, I probably would have sat on my butt and played some video games instead of building my awesome worm bin. More pictures and results to come later!

Salek