• Food Waste Composting
• The Materials You'll Need
• Setting Up the "Farm"
• Sources of Worms

Last Updated: 10/13/04

Flowerfield Enterprises
Kalamazoo, MI 49002
616-327-0108

Clausen's
Mc David, FL 32568
904-256-2845

Gardener’s Supply
Burlington, VT
800-876-5520

Smith & Hawken
Mill Valley, CA
800-776-3336

Big Bear Bait
Rathdrum, ID 83858
208-687-3232

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Kitchen wastes (fruits, vegetables, coffee grounds, tea bags and egg shells) are a nutrient rich source of organic material and can be easily composted.

Food waste composting keeps these materials at home and converts them to a valuable source of organic material. This compost can be used to start seeds, mix with the soil before planting trees, shrubs, flowers or vegetables or used as a mulch.

All this can be done with the help of a few little worms.

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• A Worm Bin - this can be an old dresser drawer, a wooden box, a spackle bucket or other similar container. It should be at least 8 inches high and have holes drilled in the bottom for aeration and drainage.
• Bedding - this can be shredded newspaper, cardboard, leaf mold, humus, horse or cow manure or a combination. We recommend a mixture of shredded newspaper and leaf compost.
• Red Worms - you'll need 75 - 100 live, healthy red worms (Eisenia Foetida).

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1. Place the bedding mix in the container chosen, mix and fluff thoroughly.
2. Add enough water to dampen the bedding mix, but do not make it soggy or saturated.
3. Add red worms (be sure not to use earth worms-they don't do the same job as the little red worms). The healthy worms will crawl into the bedding away from the light and the dry atmosphere.
4. Add a small amount of food waste (never any animal products). A 2 foot by 2 foot box eight inches high will use 3 to 3-1/2 pounds of kitchen waste per week. A spackle bucket will use 1 to 2 pounds per week.
5. Cover the farm loosely with plastic or newspaper to help keep the system moist. Even so, the moisture content should be checked occasionally and sprinkled as needed. Do Not Allow Your "Farm" To Freeze - Worms Are Not Winter Hardy.

After 3-4 months, the product from the worm bin is pure vermicompost. This is a mixture of worm castings, partially decomposed wastes and uneaten bedding. The worms should have multiplied by then, so they can be divided and the whole process started over again.

Perhaps you can set up a friend or neighbor with the extras from your "farm".

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