Making a Worm Composting System
The Basics of Kitchen Waste Recycling by Vermicomposting
Learn how to construct and run your own wormery to recycle your kitchen waste cheaply, cleanly and efficiently whilst getting some of the best fertiliser available!
In natural systems, there are a very important group of organisms known as decomposers. These may be bacteria, insects, fungi or various kinds of worms. They may live and feed above or below the soil, but all perform the same function, to break down dead matter and return it to the beginning of the food chain as nutrients. Instead of buying in compost and fertilisers to grow our gardens, we can save money, grow healthier gardens and decrease waste in landfills by home composting.
Many local authorities now offer recycling facilities for vegetable food waste however this service isn’t daily and few of us really want rotting veg hanging around even if the authorities have provided special bins. Although these bins help ensure that rodents don’t become a problem they can still be unpleasant but what are our other options?
In the average city home there is often insufficient space for a compost heap and open heaps can not only be an eyesore but may be smelly, hard work and attract vermin. Worm composting is also called vermicomposting and may be the ideal alternative as kitchen vegetable waste can be disposed of daily and a well built worm composter looks much better than a heap (they can even be used indoors!) and is rodent proof. Wormeries can be purchased easily, however they are often very expensive and this means that they are still far from common in our homes. They can however be easily and cheaply self constructed and are a great way for getting kids interested in recycling, wildlife and gardening.
The most important features of a wormery are good drainage and surface area. A large shallow one is far better than a tall thin one because the worms need space to come up to the surface to feed. More surface=more worms! Drainage is important as worms quickly die in waterlogged conditions with no air. Worms also like to be kept dark and moist (not wet) so laying a damp cloth over the soil surface (and your food waste) will mean that your worms enjoy their home. The simplest wormery can be a cheap storage container with a lid and ventilation/drainage holes drilled in it. When the worms break down your waste they produce worm casts which are fantastic fertiliser. In a simple container system you can remove your free fertiliser as needed and return any worms to the wormery. In more complicated systems, the container bottom can be removed and replaced with a mesh grill through which the fertiliser will drop. This cuts out the need for picking out worms and stops your container from filling up and needing to be emptied although you may lose some worms out of the bottom and so should stand it in a tray to collect escapees. To start a wormery, construct (or buy) a container, add a 3 inch layer of damp sawdust/shredded paper mixed with soil to give the worms some initial bedding. You can then start adding waste and put your worms in. If the waste builds up, feed the worms less or you will end up with a rotting smelly mess! If they eat it all…add more! For each square foot of surface area, your worms should be able to dispose of around a pound of waste a week (It may take a while for your worms to breed up and get up to this rate). Garden worms (Lumbricus terrestris) can be used but are not the best species as they reproduce slowly. Avoid expensive wormery packs and instead try looking in your local fishing bait shop or even on eBay for species such as Eisenia fetida (brandling or tiger worms) or Eisenia hortensis aka Dendrobaena veneta (European nightcrawler) in colder climates or Eudrilus eugeniae (African nightcrawler) in warmer climates.
