Feeding the Worms

We collect food scraps in a large Crisco container (3 pound) under the sink during the week.

When possible I try to keep the scraps of food small. For example if I’m chopping a green pepper I’ll chop up the core a bit before putting it in the container. This makes it break down much faster.

Then every Saturday I empty it into the worm bin. Our container is almost always full, sometimes I feed them 1.5 containers a week.

Warning: see our notes on “how much to feed the worms”

Each week I bury the food in a different corner of the bin. You gently dig into the bin to pull up the bedding and soil from that soil. (If you find this unpleasant just wear rubber gloves.)

Next I dump in the food. Here is a photograph at this stage in the process. ( hmmm lettuce, carrots peels etc…)

Next, I completely cover the food scraps, using the newspaper and soil from the rest of the bin.

The total process literally takes just 1 minute.

I don’t want to disturb the worms too often, but I also make sure to mix things up a little bit from time to time, just to move the newspaper in with the soil as it forms.

This is a good chance also to make sure that your bin isn’t too dry (too much ventilation? too much fresh newspaper?) or too wet (Not enough drainage? Not enough ventilation)

Food Tips

Overall I don’t want you to think that feeding the worms is complicated. Mostly it is just a question of feeding them your vegetable scraps. However it is also useful to have some tips about the best and worst foods….

· Citrus is acidic and slow to break down. Meat is not recommended. However see the comments in the FAQ: “What about Citrus? Meat?”

· You must completely bury your food, otherwise it will smell. The worm castings and newspaper don’t smell bad at all, just like good soil.

· Some plant material, by its very nature, is resistant to breaking down in the bin. They don’t do any harm but don’t expect them to completely disappear: fruit pits, avocado skins. Potato skins will tend to sprout, but as long as you don’t let the sprouts grow and steal the nutrients there is no harm in this.

· Egg shells are good for reducing acidity but they don’t really compost, at least not quickly. Hence the more you crush them the better. Joseph recommends a blender, they can be reduced right down to a sand like consistency.

· The interesting challenge is to try to get the right moisture level inside the bin. Newspaper and ventilation help it from getting too dry. I don’t know the exact ideal moisture level for a worm, but clearly they need it moist enough to not dry out, but not too slimy such that they would drown. The newspaper is also important to keep things from getting too dense – the oxygen needs to get in. That’s why, when all the newspaper has disappeared you need to harvest.

· Things like bread and couscous can easily get moldy and smelly. Bury them very carefully.