Worms on the Move

Worms on the Move

About 200 worms moved into the new outdoor worm composting bin Chris built.   We filled the lower and middle beds with piles & piles of shredded newspaper and papers that had soaked in non-chlorinated water. The top "drawer" is our working bin where the worms will live and be fed.

The top bin was also filled with piles and piles of wet, shredded papers (great recycling project for the kids!) then the contents of our indoor bin were carefully dumped onto the shredded bedding. Additional worms were also added. There was still food in the indoor bin so I simply placed a small piece of cardboard over that food area and nice damp, dry, brown leaves added to fill to the top.

The worms will feed on the finely chopped vegetable scraps and crushed egg shells as well as their shredded newspaper bedding. As the population grows they will get to where they will require about one cup of produce scrap per week and then some.  Just add the food matter, cover it back up with the cardboard and you're done! And there is no smell. If it does get funky it may be because it's been overfed or the wrong type of kitchen scraps have been used. I won't feed them until the current food source is almost gone.

The worms' waste (yep, I am talking 'bout worm poop, folks!) is called castings. These castings essentially
look like soil. Worm poop is like black GOLD if you are into gardening, farming, or growing any type of healthy plants. Vermicastings are the best fertilizer you can get and it's all natural! You don't need much space to practice worm composting at your house and it's a great way to compost your basic kitchen scraps while creating your own fertilizer for your flower beds, potted plants, herb garden, or anywhere. Or maybe you just want tons of worms to go fishin'! :)


One of this blog's dedicated readers, Alysha from PA, wrote in to ask if we could double or quadruple our worm population by cutting the worms in half (or fourths). I actually wondered this too but the way worms are designed if they are cut in half at the "right place" the body area that contains the vital organs could grow a new tail. However, the tail portion would not be able to regenerate a new head. So you get baby worms the old fashioned way, Alysha! They do it. Woms are hermaphrodites, meaning each worm has both male and female reproductive parts so each worm can mate with any worm in the colony. I do wonder why they need another worm if one worm has all the necessary parts...but I guess that a worm's sex life is just none of my business! ;)

If you'd like to learn more about worm composting or vermiculture, come on over or drop me a message (or comment below).  Let's build your worm bin together! We will be more than happy to share all we know even if it's isn't that much! :)