Mama's Worm Composting

Bay Area Worms Pick Up

I have been sick... FOREVER. I don't know if it's my children who are to blame or my own bad habits (ahem... I wonder which is at fault here...). Anyways, I've slept enough in the past three weeks; now it's time to work, sick or not! Someday the sun will come out, this cough will go away, and I will make a million dollars selling worms. :-)

I wanted to take a few minutes here to address the concerns of my local peeps who are coming by to pick up worms from me. Many of you locals from Berkeley, San Francisco and Oakland choose to just come by instead of ordering online. This is just fine with me, but here are a few things you should know...

1. This vicious beast will meet you at the door. 

Don't worry, he's friendly, and he just wants to be the center of attention ALL THE TIME. He will meow at you. He will rub up against you. He will act interested in your bag of worms, but really he just wants you to love on him. 

2. This other vicious beast has become more interested in my worm sales of late, and he may make an appearance if you are lucky. 

His name is Cutie Pie, and this is why:

 

3. Vicious beast #3 usually hides.

4. The children are beasts of an entirely different sort. One at a time, they will probably ignore you. When paired you are likely to hear a fair amount of screaming. Screaming works best to bug mom when she's busy with clients.

5. The house will be a mess. My house is always a mess. It is my dream to one day have a maid every single day. Sigh.

6. Expect chaos, generally speaking.

Here's a couple of extra tags for ya:

berkeley worms, bay area worms, san francisco worms, oakland worms, alameda worms

Good worming, and maybe we'll see you soon!

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Worm Bin Critters

One benefit, or at least unexpected experience, of having a worm bin is the introduction of a variety of critters into your life. When I first started worm composting it never occurred to me that I might be dealing with more than just worms in my bin. The first time I saw a helper mite I was horrified, not understanding whether the critter would eat my new red babies alive or simply hang out. Of course, at the beginning of one's first worm composting project the simple process of food breaking down is completely disgusting and sort of horrifying, so the thought of other bugs being part of that process can sort of turn your brain to mush. Over time, however, dealing with a variety of bugs may still make me scream, but they are also good indicators about the health of my system. 

Now don't freak out by this next little part; these are critters I see over 700 square feet of worms in a warehouse and may not represent your personal little worm bin at home. 

Slugs, for example, are gross and trouble-causing as they can actually eat the small worms, but they indicate a healthy system for worms. White mites as well. Rolly polly bugs indicate a healthy, but overly dry, system. Maggots mean I've got some dead worms that are being feasted on by housefly larvae, a problem. Spiders are just inevitable. Mold usually occurs when the food source (usually fresh food) isn't buried appropriately; the worms don't go for it fast enough because it's on the surface and then it starts to mold. Fruit flies or fungus gnats, sadly, mean a healthy system (though I hate them with every fiber of my being and try to kill them at every opportunity). Ants mean the bedding is too dry. 

All of these monstrous critters I've seen and squealed my surprise at over my worm farming ventures. So take a look at the article here, which shows images of a variety of worm bin critters, to familiarize yourself with the possibilities. That way when you someday see an innocent helper mite you won't freak out and dump the whole bin. 

You know, all this time that I've been doing this now, I still yell and scream when I see a spider in the house. And guess who gets called on to kill it? My loving husband. I guess I'll never be TOTALLY desensitized. 

Good worming!

Buy worms here!

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Bokashi and Your Worm Composting Bin

I've been interested in learning more about using the microorganism Bokashi to aid in worm composting for some time. Of course, when you have a worm composting bin you can't feed the worms absolutely anything. Worms prefer a diet rich in fruits and veggies, and hold the onions and citrus, please. So what do you do if you produce a lot of onion, citrus, bread and dairy waste? You can use a Bokashi bucket to pre-compost these materials, and then feed them to the worms. In fact, most sites claim that you can also compost fish and meat products using Bokashi without attracting vermin. According to this article, after you add the finished Bokashi materials into your worm composting bin, the worms will steer clear of the materials for a couple of days and then come around and munch it all up. So it appears we have found a way to include some previously unwanted materials into our worm composting bins without hurting our worms. And all of this, of course, can be done during the winter months and indoors without bad smells.

One thing I have noticed is that many Bokashi start-up systems are quite pricey, though the Bokashi materials themselves are not too expensive. In addition, the use of two Bokashi bins is recommended so that the first one can ferment totally while the second one is still being filled. Cha-ching! Here are a couple of links for setting up your own homemade Bokashi bin. 

Homemade Bokashi Bin

Another Bin

Interesting stuff! I'll be setting one of these up in coming weeks, so stay tuned!

Good worming!

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Worm Compost Harvester

As the neverending quest for the perfect worm compost harvester continues, I thought I would give an update about a small bit of progress. This weekend my little munchkin, Evan, and I built a cheap and easy worm compost harvester. It's a shaker screen made with 1/4" mesh from the hardware store (we were able to have them cut it for us) and four 2' boards that were precut (I ain't so handy with a saw...). Since the boards were precut, this worm compost harvester cost a whopping $10. However, I'm sure some of you folks out there with more time and mental stamina could make it for close to free.

So here's how it works. You pile a bunch of worms and worm compost materials onto the screen. Lay down a tarp. Then do a shimmy and a shake and watch as the worm compost falls through onto the floor. Voila! You can further screen the worm compost to get pure castings by using a 1/8" screen after you collect the first round if you really want pure worm castings. 

Now, of course, I've been using this thing all morning and my back is killing me (the search continues). But for the average Joe or Jane this harvester works great (really the best method I've tried). If you're harvesting compost, you're golden with this. If you're harvesting worms you will still have some work to do by hand to remove the additional uncomposted materials from the pile. 

Onward to perfection!

Good worming!

WHERE TO BUY RED WIGGLERS

WHERE TO BUY EUROPEAN NIGHTCRAWLERS

CHECK OUT MY COMPOST TUMBLERS HERE

AND THIS URBAN COMPOST TUMBLER

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Worm Compost Challenge: How Many Worms Update

We have babies! One of my worm compost challenges has been to put two worms together in a cup to see how many times over they reproduce themselves within one year. In my tiny little worm compost cup I've seen about 5 or 6 cocoons and at least ten baby worms at this point (so cute!). I'm going to let them hang out in their little cup for a while longer, but once the baby worms start to get a little bigger I will move the whole family to a slightly larger worm compost. For now, I want them to stay close together so that they don't forget to breed! :-)

So that makes us two months into the Worm Compost Challenge, and two worms have reproduced themselves 10 times, and soon 50 times over. 

Once they are big enough to see with my camera, I will have pictures of my growing brood. Stay tuned!

WHERE TO BUY RED WIGGLERS

WHERE TO BUY EUROPEAN NIGHTCRAWLERS

CHECK OUT MY COMPOST TUMBLERS HERE

AND THIS URBAN COMPOST TUMBLER

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Worm Compost Challenge: Seedlings

Several weeks back I planted six seeds, two in pure worm castings, two in vermicompost or worm compost as I call it (in my case, part manure, part castings), and two in off-the-shelf potting soil. Now, it should be noted that I have a notoriously brown thumb, but in this case I really did make an effort to check on the seedlings daily to make sure they had enough water, enough light, no cats eating them, and enough room to grow.

Initially all six seeds sprouted and seemed to be growing well. At the beginning the two seeds that were planted in pure worm castings were far outgrowing the other four, especially as far as how high they were growing. The seeds planted in the worm compost mix were growing steadily. The seeds planted in the potting soil were growing slowly. After another week, though, I was surprised to find that the seeds planted in the worm castings were looking a little frail. This was promptly followed by one of them dying. Shortly after, one of the seedlings in the potting soil died. 

Now, a week later, the other seedling in the pure worm castings has perished. However, the two seedlings that are in the worm compost mix are thriving and much bigger and fuller than any of the other seedlings became (before they croaked). I know I don't have comparison pictures, but you'll just have to trust me on this. 

When this worm compost experiment started I was relatively certain that the seeds planted in the worm castings would be the biggest and healthiest of the lot. Live and learn. It appears that it is unwise to plant directly into pure worm castings, and that it is best to mix castings or worm compost in with whatever soil you are using. In the case of the thriving seedlings, the mixture was about half worm castings half manure and soil. 

Pictured you can see all six attempts, with the two worm compost mixture seedlings in the center. The second picture is a direct comparison (the only surviving ones) between worm compost and potting soil. The worm compost seedling is huge by comparison and obviously much healthier.

Good worming!

Where to buy red wigglers? Buy worms HERE

Where to buy european nightcrawlers? Buy worms HERE

• Comment on DIY Gardening: How to Build a Worm Compost Bin by linda ... - Impressed, surprized & tickled pink! This is my 1st visit & won’t be my last! Joyous thanks to all.

Mama's Worm Composting: 200,000 Little Voices

No, I'm not talking about the voices in my head. :-)

You might think that I already have enough to do, what with running soon-to-be-three blogs and trying to raise two children, but I decided that if my cats can have Facebook pages, then so can my composting worms.

So what will you learn from following us on Facebook? Well, I anticipate that this will be more of a mobile endeavor for me, so you'll probably be hearing from me via iPhone post as I'm working at the warehouse and discovering new helpful things and new oddities. Worm composting on this scale has yet to become boring, as I'm always finding something new when I get to work. Cats eating my worms. Birds eating my worms. Worms on the floor. Worms I forgot and left in the bucket (they usually survive this one). Adventures in harvesting worms and worm compost. The list of worm entertainment will surely go on and on.

So click HERE to see Mama's Worm Composting 's new Facebook page, and become a fan so that you can hear the warehouse rantings of a woman on the edge...

Good worming!

Check out these articles I've found interesting...

• Vermicompost: Our Worm Bin Rocks! - Vermicompost: Our Worm Bin Rocks! QuickTime vPIP. As you might remember, we made a new worm bin after our original bin failed. This new one is doing great! The drainage holes in the bottom have helped keep it moist but not too wet, ...

• Apartment Composting 101: Vermicompost with Barb Finnin - Barb Finnin is part of the amazing Freshtopia team. She’sa certified master composter- her specialty is Vermicomposting with worms. We were super excited to learn that we could compost in our city apartment with a homemade worm bin even ...

Worm Compost Challenge: How Many Worms? Update

We have cocoons! I knew it was only a matter of time before the mood struck the two worms that I isolated together. How could they not? It was so romantic for them in their own, private cup of kitchen compost and worm bedding. 

Don't know what I'm talking about? You can read about the original Worm Compost Challenge here. Basically I want to see how many worms two worms can produce in a year's time. 

Perhaps it's possible to start with just TWO worms and create a vibrant kitchen compost worm system in just a year! We shall see...

Good worming!

Where to buy Red Wigglers? HERE

Where to buy European Nightcrawlers? HERE

Reader Question: Many Questions!

I received a novel of an email the other day about worm compost and european nightcrawlers, so I will condense the questions and answer them here. :-)

Do European Nightcralwers process food as quickly as redworms?

Yes.

Can I combine European Nightcrawlers and Red Wigglers in the same bin?

Yes. They will enjoy each other's company nicely.

You can buy european nightcrawlers here. 

What temperature should a worm compost bin be for optimal conditions?

Red Wigglers thrive in temperatures between 55-77 degrees F.

European Nightcrawlers do well with temperatures between 45 and 80 degrees F.

What is the ideal ph for worms?

Worms thrive in a ph between 6 and 7. To me, ph is important because I have a lot of little lives on the line. I have read that worms can tolerate ph between 4.5 and 8, but that has not been my experience at all. I have had major losses at anything above 7.5 (too alkaline), though it does seem that the worms can tolerate a slightly more acidic environment. 

Why aren't my worms breeding?

It may take several weeks or even a couple of months for worms to adjust to their new bin and begin to breed. I have noticed in my worm compost bins at the warehouse that the worms come to the top of the bin to breed and eat, and then they lay their eggs at the bottom of the bin where it is more moist. I have had my stock for several months and I am just now starting to see what I believe is my first round of baby worms bred at home. Something I did with my kitchen compost bin was to lay very wet corrugated cardboard along the bottom of the bottom tray of the Gusanito worm bin. The worms went for it immediately and it was clear that they were breeding in there. They like the holes in the corrugation and it makes it easy for them to find each other in the wide-world to make worm babies. 

As long as your bin is thriving, doesn't smell bad, is starting to produce worm compost, is disposing of your kitchen compost, and is relatively pest-free, you don't need to be frustrated with lack of numbers. I wish my worms would double their numbers every couple of weeks, too, but it just takes a little time. The at home worm farmer using an indoor worm bin and kitchen compost who isn't having problems should be considered a success; just give it a little time! 

Where to buy red wigglers?

Where to buy european nightcrawlers?

You know the answer. Can you say google tag? :-)

Good worming!

Here's a few articles you may enjoy:

• Setting Up & Harvesting Your Own Worm Composting Bin – Passionate ... - My good rich compost! I began my own composting bin this past February using the helpful starting kit offered through Azure Standard. It is actually a.

• Verms, Baby. Verms. · miserablebliss... - Vermicomposting is a super-wicked-easy way to compost. It's fast, it's active year 'round, there's no odour and, best of all, you don't have to haul your scraps outside to do it. The first step is to build yourself a “worm bin” to house ...

• Building a compost bin - Building a compost bin is easy, makes a great family project, helps the environment, and makes for beautiful and rich gardens. Learn to build one yourself.

How To Make Kitchen Compost

As the summer starts to wind down I'm going to be focusing some of my blogging efforts to address issues that those of you living in cold parts of the world may experience when trying to make kitchen compost.

With traditional backyard compost tumblers one needs quite a lot of heat to keep the kitchen compost cookin', a situation that may be impossible to maintain as the snowy winter months approach. Backyard compost tumblers still have a place for those living in cold climates, especially if you have a large garden with a lot of garden waste to compost. I sell compost tumblers, in fact, right here. But as the thermometer drops you may be wondering what to do with all of that extra kitchen waste now that your compost tumbler is not being used again until the spring. 

This is where a kitchen compost system comes into play. Of course, learning how to make worm compost can sometimes have a bit of a learning curve; luckily for you I've taken the brunt of a lot of these hard lessons! If you decide to buy worms for your kitchen compost (or pantry compost, or garage compost bin) you can check back here often for details about how to care for your red wigglers. 

Setting up a kitchen compost system with red wigglers or european nightcrawlers is a great way to create rich fertilizer all year long. It can be as simple as an old rubbermaid tub filled with bedding and scraps, or as complex as a stacking Gusanito worm farm. Check out the Getting Started section of this site to learn more about how to begin. But bringing your red wigglers inside can present a few problems, so here are some answers.

Smell: Your kitchen compost should not smell. You should walk over to it daily and take a big whiff. If it smells like fish or anything dead, you've got a problem brewing that will NOT self correct! Pay attention immediately to fix whatever imbalance may be happening! Email me if you have any problems. 

Flies: I have found that there are two main defenses for any fly problems (fruit flies, fungus gnats, black flies) that may arise from your compost system: the vacuum cleaner and ample amounts of coconut coir or peat moss. If you find a problem with flies developing, the first thing to do is to get out the vacuum and suck up as many of the adults as you can find. The second thing to do is to spread a reasonable layer of coconut coir or peat moss on top of each layer of your stacking system, or on the top layer if you have a simple bin system. The vacuum will kill the adults, the coir or peat will keep any remaining adults out. You will have to vacuum for a few days as any new flies hatch, but after the adults are truly gone you'll be in good shape. 

An extra tip: A lot of folks process their scraps in some way (which is something I should start doing, actually). Two ways to process your kitchen compost before feeding your red wigglers are to either freeze the scraps or blend them up. Both techniques have been shown to dramatically reduce pests in the worm bin.

As I sit here looking at my Gusanito worm bin those are the only problems that I can think of that you may encounter. At least, those are the only problems I have encountered by having a worm bin/kitchen compost right here on the counter next to the sink. It is truly possible to reduce your landfill footprint all year long, no matter where you live, by using an indoor worm bin to compost your kitchen scraps. And come spring, you will have some mighty fertilizer to use in starting up your next veggie garden! 

Where to buy red wiggler worms? Why right here!

Where to buy european nightcrawlers? Why right here, too!

Good worming!