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Worm Bins: composting at home with help from a hundred friends
Vermiculture, or worm composting, is a simple way of turning organic household
waste into a useful soil conditioner and fertilizer for houseplants,
gardens and lawns. This can be done year-round and is particularly
useful for those who want to compost their food scraps but don't have space
for a backyard compost bin.
Supply List
Container. Use an opaque plastic storage bin that is at least 20-30cm deep
and provides 0.2 m2 of surface area for every kilogram of food waste produced
each week.
Worms. Red Wigglers (Eisenia foetida)
are best for composting because they
thrive on organic material such as food
scraps. These can be obtained from a
friend's worm bin or purchased from various
distributors around the province.
You?ll need 0.5 to 1kg to get you started.
Bedding. Suitable materials include
shredded newspaper and cardboard,
chopped up straw and dead plants.
Vary the bedding in the bin to provide
more nutrients for the worms and to
create rich compost. A couple of
handfuls of sand and potting soil will
also provide necessary grit for the
worms' digestion.
Organic food waste. Worms will eat
food scraps such as fruit peels and cores,
vegetable trimmings, bread scraps, tea
bags and coffee grounds. To avoid
potential odour problems, do not compost
meats, dairy products or oily foods.
Instructions
Fill the container 1/2 to 3/4 full with
damp bedding and add the worms.
The worms will eat the organic material
and bedding, producing rich
compost to be removed every 4-6
months. To do this, move all the
material over to one side of the bin
and add new bedding and food waste
to the space created.
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