How do vermicomposting worms breathe in their bins? Why do their skins need moisture? How can we make the most of their environment to keep it airy and moist enough for them? Unlike humans, composting worms don’t have noses and mouths to inhale air. Nor do they have lungs. Yet, they do breathe. In fact, their entire skin acts like lungs where they absorb oxygen into their bloodstream. And, they release carbon dioxide the same way. But that’s not all. Their skin requires moisture to breathe. Worms, like humans, are made of a high percentage of water. That’s why moisture is crucial. The best way to take help your worms breathe is to use the following time-tested practices:
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Five Ways to Prepare the Soil with Organic Worm Compost
When spring is coming, how do you prepare the soil for planting? Your garden has been dormant during the cold winter season. Hopefully, you have been composting with worms. The resulting organic fertilizer will help get your garden ready for spring planting. How do you prepare the soil for spring using all-natural worm castings?
Read MoreSpringtime and Vermicomposting
Spring is the perfect time to prepare your vermicomposting worms for the upcoming warmer weather. You need to make sure the worms are breaking down accumulated scraps. When do you need to add fresh adult worms to speed things along? When should you harvest the worm castings, and how? How do you use organic compost? Do you need a different compost bin? Should you add bedding, and how? Find out the answers to these questions and more below. What is the First Step? Once it gets warmer with no chance of frost, check out your composting bin. It’s the best way to plan for the revival of your mostly dormant composting worms. You need to take stock of your worm inventory.
Read MoreBest Bedding for Your Composting Worms
What is the best bedding for your composting worms? At Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm, we want you to enjoy your vermicomposting experience. For that reason, we recommend Red Worms. They’re the best worms for composting. That’s because these worms love devouring kitchen scraps. In return, they produce humus, the prized organic fertilizer perfect for gardens. To start your composting bin, you need to make bedding. Bedding is your worms’ world. It needs to simulate their natural environment. How do you do that? We prepared several simple guidelines. Follow these guidelines and your worms will be very happy.
Read MoreDo Not Feed This To Your Composting Worms
What should you NOT feed your composting worms? At Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm, we supply our customers with the finest composting worms. We recommend our quality Red Worms or European Night Crawlers for vermicomposting. Vermicomposting is a great way to get rid of organic waste. It’s good for the environment and produces valuable compost for plants. We want to make sure that not only are our customers happy, but also our worms. Healthy worms make for the most effective composting.
Read MoreHow Do Composting Worms Survive the Cold Winter?
Composting worms help break down food scraps, but how do they survive the cold winter? Any vermicomposting bin set up in a northern state is likely to freeze. Will all the worms die? Should you try to save them? If the worms die, will there still be worm castings for fertilizer in the Spring? Should you bring them indoors?
Read MoreWorm Bin Acidity: Best pH for Composting with Worms
Successful composting with worms involves keeping the worm bin low-odor and safe for the worms. One crucial factor is worm bin acidity. The worm bin bedding needs a pH level within a specific range. Too acidic, and the worms can get sick or even die. Composting worms thrive in a neutral pH. How can you help maintain a neutral pH in the composting bin? Is it necessary to measure bin acidity? Which food scraps raise bin acidity?
Read MoreHow Composting Worms Fight Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Humble composting worms are unknowingly fighting greenhouse gas emissions. When food rots in a landfill, it produces methane. Food put into a worm composter does not. In fact, aerobic composting results in organic fertilizer that helps green things grow. How big an impact would composting have on greenhouse gas emissions? What are the benefits of composting? And what can a household do to make their trash better for the environment?
Read MoreHow to Feed Left-Over Holiday Food to Composting Worms
When the holiday season is underway, feasting is inevitable. So are left-overs! When the big day is over, what can you do with left-over holiday food? Start by making new meals using left-over ingredients. Eventually, some of the food may be too old or too small to keep anymore. That’s when you can feed left-over holiday food to your composting worms. What are the best ways to compost food after the holidays? How can your worms comfortably convert holiday food scraps into valuable fertilizer?
Read MoreAirflow in Composting Worm Bins
Composting worms need oxygen, but how much airflow do their bins need? While starting a worm bin is quite simple, the reasons for the bin design are more complicated. All worm bins need air holes, proper drainage, and suitable bedding. Without a proper design, a worm bin becomes a coffin for sick worms. And the smell! Thus, using a standard worm bin design is important to composting success. If you want to turn kitchen scraps into valuable fertilizer, find out about airflow in composting worm bins.
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