So we’ve been composting for years now… You know the little
stainless steel bin that sits on our counter that collects all the compostable
kitchen waste? Then we have to take it
out to empty into the big compost pile out back and turn the pile from time to
time. Eventually it provides us with
some great garden compost.
But then we recently caught up with some friends of ours who
live in Alaska and they introduced us to Vermiculture – composting taken to the
extreme! The practice of vermiculture
simply uses Red Wiggler worms (thousands of them) to do your composting for you
– and in a very efficient, semi-automated way!
Yes, it’s just a modified Rubbermaid garbage can! We cut an access door in the bottom. Caulked
in evenly spaced PVC tubes to form a shelf and viola!
Start by layering a few moist newspaper and cardboard scraps
on top of the shelf, then add a layer of compostable scraps, then a few hundred
worms, more newspaper and cardboard, more scraps, worms and etc. until your at
the top or out of worms. As the worms
eat through the mass of scraps, they form castings (poop) which is GREAT for
your garden! As they eat, you add scraps
to the top. Castings make there way to
the bottom (between the PVC tubes) where you can collect it. Castings then go directly to the garden as
top dressing! And the beauty is that the
worms constantly migrate to the latest uneaten scraps (toward the top of the
bin) living in a suspended environment.
We’ve learned everything we know to this point from our
friend Sandy. She has a web site packed
with information you should all check out at www.wormsandstuff.com
We’ll let you know how the project progresses as time goes
on.
...Now let the castings fall where they
may!
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