Worm Composting by PaulaWalla

I learned a few things from my last experiment… I had thrown some old lentil soup (not too liquidy) into the first bin, then added the second bin (with some moistened shredded newspaper and just a little bit of kitchen scraps).

First of all, the second bin fits inside the first bin completely, so it rests on top of the contents of the first bin — so my question about how the worms climb up to the 2nd bin when the  contents of the first bin keep dropping is answered.  No problem there.

Second, worms love lentils! When I lift the 2nd bin up to get a look at the 1st bin, there are tons of worms right on top – looks like they’re enjoying the lentils and are multiplying like crazy!

Third, I could have easily taken the good vermicompost out of the 1st bin to use, but since I piled all that new food in there, I should wait till more is converted to vermicast before I try to harvest it. I can’t bear to disturb the worms – they just look like they’re in heaven!

I did, however, take the finished compost from my outside compost pile and use it to top dress the peas and garlic in the garden. I just dumped some compost around each plant, not too thick, before a rain so the nutrients will start to leach into the soil and benefit the plants. It was the first time I’d used compost from my own compost pile so it gave me a thrill to know that my composting endeavor is really working!

Meanwhile, inside, sprouts are sprouting – we have lettuce, broccoli, pumpkins, zucchini, basil, a few chives, and more coming up finally inside. Still waiting for rosemary, green beans, cucumbers, etc. I’m trying to get the garden ready – did some more weeding today. I’m trying not to rototill or dig too much as they say it disturbs the beneficial insects, bacteria, etc in the soil.