Worm Composting

Do you ever feel guilty because your peelings end up in the garbage?  How about when some grapes get a little past prime in your fridge?  I know, I know, you're supposed to have a compost outside doing it's job.  I must admit, I'm lazy by nature, I just hate laziness so I force myself to be productive.  Walking out to the compost pile is just such a bother!  I'm in the kitchen, I've got all this stuff that needs to be turned into something useful and I don't want to walk outside in the snow and dump it in a pile.  I've read about compost heaps, I've had compost heaps, and I think they are an awesome idea and I will probably have one again; however, they are a lot of back breaking work and I like things done the easiest method available to me.  At first I gave the vegetable scraps to my chickens, problem fixed.  But then I had to sell my chickens.  Now what??  I found my answer in worms.  Yes, squiggly, wiggly, delightful worms.  Now this is my idea of composting.  You put all your veggie and fruit scraps into a container, you close the lid and you ignore it while the worms do all the work!!  GENIUS!

So I started my research and found the perfect worm composting system.  Until I saw the price tag!  Oh my gosh, I'm housing worms here not a registered, show worthy hog.  Back to the drawing board. I surfed the internet (my favorite version of surfing as it requires no ocean) and got some good ideas.  Then it all came together.  A good friend of mine has a worm farm and she decided to help me out.  All it took was a tupperware type container and lid (think walmart).  We drilled holes in the lid and the bottom and the top of the sides for air.  Worms, obviously need oxygen but they like dark moist areas so the lid keeps out the light.  We added some gone by the board grapes and some other veggie matter and some damp strips of paper.  Poured in the worms and presto I'm a worm farmer.

There's no smell that comes from it but I must admit there is a fruit fly problem.  If the lid is closed no issue but when you open the lid to add stuff they swarm you.  Nasty little critters.  Maybe some of you have some suggestions on how to eliminate these little pests? 

Harvesting the castings is messy and time consuming.  It's not really gross though.  It doesn't stink and all you are doing is separating the worms out of the castings.  I just grab some and pick out the worms.  Then the castings are ready for use.  It is messy though and some folks might get grossed out by the whole dark gooeyness and worms concept but I just figure it washes off so it's no biggy. 

And the those castings!  I tell you what they are worth the gooey factor.  WOW!  I added this to my houseplants and they sprung out of the ground.  I swear they doubled in size from the castings.  Happy plants.  I only have the one container so I'm not worm farming on a large scale but my houseplants are happy plants and I don't have to slug outside in the heat or snow to get rid of my scraps.  The worms do all the work and multiply so they can do the work faster.  Win, win.  

You can add a second container to it by just setting it inside the first and putting the lid on it and then the worms in theory crawl up through the holes you drilled to get to the new scraps and leave the castings in the bottom one all worm free and easy to harvest.  I've never had enough scraps and castings to really do this but it's a good idea and takes away the ew factor of separating the worms from the castings.

Worm farming makes me feel better about not wasting and it's a great thing for the kids.  My children are proud worm farmers out here In The Middle Of NoWhere!