Adventures in Vermicomposting.... The Beginning

Several weeks ago I randomly stumbled across a video where Martha Stewart was demonstrating how to set up a worm bin for Vermicomposting. Yes, that's right- not just composting- VERMIcomposting. Most people don't know what that means, so I'll explain.

They're worms people. And they eat your garbage. And it's awesome. Basically, you feed them your dicarded veggies, pastas, rice, fruit, coffee grinds, papers, newspaper, bread, cardboard, etc... they eat it... then you get gardening liquid gold... super enriched soil fertilizer. Even if you don't garden (I don't...yes), you definitely know people who would be estatic to take your compost off of your hands for you. Or you can just feed some plants in your complex.

One of the many advantages to using worms to eat your garbage is that apartment dwellers and people without a yard don't have to miss out on composting, which is a huge important step towards sustainaibility. Some majorly important reasons to compost, in any form, are: Reduce waste sent to landfill, reduce greenhouse gases, reuse organic materials, recycle natural nutrients, improve soil without chemicals, produce rich humus for plants, and you save money on chemical fertilizers.

There are all sorts of set ups that you can buy online or at your local green store. But they're a bit expensive. I went the DIY route by building my own 3 trayed vertical flow system, all for about 20 bucks total! However, you can do it even cheaper or if you have a rubbermaid bin or two sitting around, you can make it for free

I made one similar to THIS ONE, but I did it with an even smaller bin so that it could fit underneath my sink. Plus, April and I don't have alot of leftovers so I didn't want to overdo it. I do want to eventually get the Worm Inn, which just look adorable compared to my ugly bins. I just have to budget for it. It's really one of the cheaper vermicomposting retail options out there. Or you can DIY! I would, but in this case, I'd rather buy one, as I'm concerned about my sewing skills when dirt and worms are involved

Right now I'm just trying to figure out if the bait shop gave me the right kind of worms or not!!! They said that they were wigglers but they also had a red worm price (but none available there). I thought red worms were the same as wigglers!? Anyways, I'm just going to watch them and try to see if they're making any progress. And I'm planning on posting on vermicomposters.com and once I can find my camera and get some pictures of my new little buddies.