Vermicomposting- I've got worms! Discuss worm bins :)

Herbicide

So, I thought I'd start a thread about vermicomposting, for anyone who does it, or is interested or curious about it! Vermicomposting is the process of feeding worms organic matter (usually food scraps), in order to break it down and create worm castings (AKA Worm poop!). Worm castings make a great fertilizer for plants that will not burn roots with repeated use.
Here's a definition for you wikipedia lovers (I heart wikipedia): May sound gross to some, but they're just earthworms and their poop smells like rain forest :P

I personally have a worm bin (called "Can-o-worms") and I love it. So do my red wiggler worms. I've had it for about 6 months now and it is working really well for me.
It's a lot lower maintenance than my aquariums :P But definitely not as fun to watch. Still, it's amazing to see my old apple cores, banana peels, broccoli stems and coffee grounds turn into very valuable and natural plant fertilizer! :)
Anyone else?

willow

my mums got a wormery compost,
not my thing,but i think it's cool.

doggyhog

Fishing bait?

LOL sorry just had to.

We've got plenty of worms in the garden. I too, think it's cool but I don't think I'd ever spend the time to do it.

aunt kymmie

Me too, I've got a worm bin. I'm fascinated by the way they break down the food and the castings that are left over. I know those castings are why my flowers do so well. And you are right, the bin smells like a rain forest!! A few years ago I would have told you that vericomposting sounded like a weird thing to do but I'm totally into it. I love that they eat all my food scraps instead of just throwing the scraps in the garbage. We are recycling, and in a very good way!

Romad

We're moving in May or June and have to give up the convenience of a garbage disposal (cry). So we will be setting up a compost bin for garbage. It will be my first so I'll have to do lots of research in the meantime.

I like the idea but am not a fan of creepy crawlies. This might become my bf's thing LOL.

tanker

I've got several worm farms but they aren't up and running at the moment. I really should see about setting them up again. Worm waste is the best fertilizer for the garden. I haven't been able to do any gardening recently so my "garden" looks like the Addams Family's. I might be able to get it back in shape soon. I hope so.

Herbicide

YAY! I'm so glad! I like it so much that I took an old food processor that my mom had and I use it to chop up big chunks of food into worm-bite-size pieces :P

You should def look into a worm bin. Compost piles (I have one for yard waste and excess food scraps like orange peels and tomatos) have to be kind of big and you have to worry about the nitrogen/carbon ratio, and you have to turn them and make sure they do go anaerobic on you. Once you get a worm bin started, it kinda does all that for you.
As for the creepy crawlies, I'm the worm bin caretaker in my apartment. My bf told one of his friends we had a worm bin and he was like "Oh man, I can't believe your girlfriend is ok with that!" and my bf was like... she's the only one who actually sticks her hands in there... lol. I don't like insects but I feel completely non-threatened by earthworms. They're just squishy little guys, and they don't even have teeth. :) But yeah, if you don't like them, recruit him.

Good luck!

aunt kymmie

You too, huh? I have an old food processor that I use for that exact same purpose, lol. When the B/F is out of town the food scrap pile gets much smaller so sometimes I have to take perfectly good food (avocados, bananas,etc) and pulverize it to feed them.

dramaqueen

Sorry but... Eeeeuuuwwww!!

willow

have to say,that's the sort of thing i would do.