Vermicomposting...all the cool kids are doing it!

When I was a little kid, I used to love walking outside after a good rain storm and picking up the little worms that got soaked out of their homes and were residing on sidewalks to dry out. I thought I was helping them by putting them back on the grass so they wouldn't get stepped on, but later I realized that's exactly where they didn't want to be...oops! Sorry worms....

I've always liked these little creatures and appreciated their hard work in our soils! They help aerate the soils, they help break down biomatter and their waste is our compost! So not only can we appreciate worms in their natural habitats, but we can also put them to good work helping us break down our own biowaste!! Yay for worms!

Vermicomposting is the process of food waste breakdown by worms (and other microbial organisms) with the awesome byproduct of their munching on our food wastes as rich, nutrient-full compost! And the best thing is that we can do this indoors, right under our kitchen sinks! (or wherever you'd like to put your bin)

Here's how you can start your own vermicomposting factory:

1. Setting up your worm home (the bin)
I used a blue rubbermaid bin for my worm home. There are several ways of setting it up...I drilled air holes in the top of the rubbermaid's lid and some around the top of the bin itself (along the sides). This allowed for plenty of ventilation for my worms. Others choose to drill some holes on the bottom of the bin to allow for excess water to be drained - in this method you'd have to elevate the bin slightly and put a tray underneath. I didn't have a problem with moisture in my bin, but everyone's will turn out differently. So I would suggest trying it out for a few months without the holes on the bottom and if you develop a moisture problem (ie. too much moisture, which can drown the worms), drill some holes on the bottom.
It has also been suggested to glue plastic screening over the holes to prevent any bugs from getting out of your bin (click here for details on what kinds of other organisms might show up).

2. Worm comforts (the bedding)
Worms and their counterparts are most active when they're in a dark, damp and warm environment - temperatures ranging from 15-30C, so keeping them inside in the winter/fall is ideal (mine stay inside all year). Since their homes are so important to them, when starting off a vermi bin, the bedding is super important! And this is one of the things I like most about these little critters - they love carbon-rich materials, so bedding can be made from shredded newspaper, computer paper, pizza boxes, etc. Just make sure you don't add anything with too much colour and nothing waxy or plastic. To set up the bedding, shred your chosen material into strips if possible (this is super easy with newspaper). The bedding must be damp, but not soaking, so get a bucket and dump your shredded material in for a few seconds. Take it out and squeeze out excess water. Make sure the bedding is 8-10in deep in your bin, but don't pack it down - your composters need lots of air to breathe, so you want to make sure you're giving them a fluffy home with lots of airflow.

3. Getting worms
Typical vermicomposting worms are red wigglers, not earthworms. Red wigglers are typically found happily squirming around in manure piles, but you probably don't want to be looking through that for some happy composters! You can get these from friends' bins, from online vermicomposting stores, or check out your local grassroots green movement for workshops and supplies. In Vancouver, check out City Farmer for some more info. But all over the country little vermi stores are popping up so check it out online.

4. Feeding time!
What they like: fruit/veggie peels, egg shells, teabags, coffee, bread, pizza crusts, plate scraps
What they don't like: too much citrus, too much salt, meat/dairy products, fatty foods
It's important not to feed your worms too much, but not too little either...getting into the rhythm of things with your composting friends will take some time, so be patient! One of my friends decided to treat her worms by blending up her compost before adding it to her bin and they really seemed to like that! It helped them break down the food wastes quickly and kept her bin active...I just broke things up into small-ish pieces and that works well too. It's up to you!
In terms of how to feed them - it's best to do it in a pattern around the bin. If you're looking at it top down, start by burying the day's food waste in the top left corner. The next day bury it in the top centre, then the top right, then the bottom right, etc...this will keep the worms moving from food source to food source and make sure there isn't too much food in one section at a time. If you split the bin into 6 sections, you can feed the worms 6 days in a row, take a day off, and then start again. But you'll find your own rhythm.

5. Worm poo for the garden! (harvesting)
Harvesting is important because the worms can suffer living in their own poo without enough food/nutrients to keep them going. Once you start seeing lots of soil, keep an eye out for what's happening in the bin because you'll have to do some harvesting soon!
There are several ways you can harvest your worms:
i) Worms don't like light, so you can dump your bin on a table or on the floor (protect it with a plastic sheet/bag first) and shine a light onto the compost pile. The worms will naturally move towards the bottom and bury themselves to get away from the light. Once you've gotten most of the soil out, redo the bedding (in step 2), put your worms and remaining soil back in the bin and start all over!
ii) An easier way to go about this is to start separating the soil from the bedding once you start seeing soil appear - you can move it all to one side of the bin and add extra bedding to the other. When you feed, only feed on the bedding side and once all the food waste has been eated from the soil side, the worms will all move to the other side and you'll be able to harvest the soil fairly easily.

6. Now you're ready!!! Get composting! :)
There are tons of great resources online if you any have questions/problems - you can post them here as well. I hope you enjoy your little worm habitat and the wonderful rich compost you'll be making! It's easy, safe, and helps reduce waste going into our garbage dumps.
Have fun!