Worm composting - does anyone do this?

[KateD]

I've been thinking about doing this for a while, I've done some research, and I think I'm about ready to take the plunge and start. I worked with a guy a few years ago who did worm composting in an outdoor pile. I'm thinking about using something a bit smaller that I could actually keep in the house. Has anyone done this? Would you recommend it? Or do you think I'm completely crazy for even considering it?

[Jenn Barrette]

I actually just started this a few weeks ago! I ordered a tray unit from Wood Worms Farm and am happy with it so far. I really doesn't smell much (maybe a little "earthy" but not like rotten food), it is smaller enough to not take up too much space, and is cutting down on our food waste.

[Jenn Barrette]

Oh, and wanted to add that it is so not smelly that I actually have ours in our living room right now. LOL We only have a one room AC unit and was worried my little worms would be too hot in the rest of the house.

As long as you only feed them certain things (not too limited, just no meat, onions, dairy etc) it doesn't smell.

I am excited to have some worm compost in a few months for my garden.

[KateD]

I'm thinking about putting it in the kitchen, but I'm not sure I really have room for it there. I'll probably have to put it downstairs in the laundry room.

This is the one I'm thinking about getting, from redwormcomposting.com.

It comes with everything except the pvc pipe (the corners are included). I was looking at the ones with bins, but this looked simpler to me. My concern is that it won't be big enough to handle all our compostable waste. I guess if it works well I can always get a second.

[Jenn Barrette]

That one seems a little pricey for what it is. The think I like about mine is that with the different trays, when one is turned into compost, you put the second one on the bottom with waste in it, and the worms travel down into the bottom tray. You don't have to try and get the worms out to use the compost.

[Keely~B]

We've had worms for a few years. Right now we have two small bins going. We just use cheapy Rubbermade bins. It doesn't smell. I think getting the moisture content right is the hardest part. We have a separate standard compost bin too. We can't feed it all to the worms.

[KateD]

Originally Posted by Jenn Barrette

That one seems a little pricey for what it is. The think I like about mine is that with the different trays, when one is turned into compost, you put the second one on the bottom with waste in it, and the worms travel down into the bottom tray. You don't have to try and get the worms out to use the compost.

Theoretically, once the worms exhaust the food supply at the bottom of the bag they'll go up to get to the fresh food. The bag opens at the bottom to get the compost out and there shouldn't be any worms in the compost that's ready to be taken out. Also, since it's made of cloth, there should be more air flow than with a plastic or wood bin (again, theoretically). I'll probably look around a bit more before I buy something.

Part of the reason I decided not to make my own with a plastic bin is that I'm also trying to eliminate BPA's and I have no idea if there are any BPA's in the plastics in those bins. Even if there were, I'm not sure if they got into the compost and I used it for growing food whether any would get into the food. Now that I'm writing this it really seems like the amount (if any) would be negligable, so maybe I will try to make one if I need a second bin.

[Jenn Barrette]

Very cool, keep us updated on the one you choose. We just started, so I hope I end up liking ours! There are definitely a lot of worm castings in ours already.

The kids love to watch me "feed" the worms. My husband on the other hand is kinda frightened of it...LOL