Vermicomposting is a great way to reduce trash and make free fertilizer. Composting worms will eat most of the inedible scraps from the kitchen, as well as many left-overs. This is better for the environment than tossing it into the trash. The result is dark, rich organic fertilizer. Worm excrement is treasured by gardeners because it helps plants grow. While most composting is done outdoors, you can run a successful composting program indoors. Some worm owners move operations indoors during the winter. Others do indoor composting year-round for convenience or due to lack of suitable outdoor space. Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm…
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How to Avoid Over-Feeding Composting Worms
If you are composting with worms, you need to feed them the right quantity of food scraps. How much food is too much? Over-feeding your composting worms can cause problems in the bin, including odors, acidity, excess moisture, pests and sick worms. What should you do to prevent and address these issues? Here are Uncle Jim’s guidelines for feeding the right amount of scraps to composting worms. Quick Check: How Much Food is In There? Dig around in the bin. How much undigested organic material is in there? The worms should start working on a feeding within a few days…
Read MoreA Guide to Successful Indoor Composting with Worms
Vermicomposting can be done almost anywhere, indoors and out. Using worms to break down your food scraps is great for the environment. Composting results in a dark, rich fertilizer that is perfect for gardening. Composting indoors is a bit trickier, but it can be done successfully. Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm offers this easy-to-use guide to indoor composting with worms. Reasons why people compost indoors include: want convenient indoor access to the composting bin concern that composting worms outdoors won’t survive the winter (although they might lay eggs or could be replaced with a fresh bag of worms in the spring)…
Read MoreHow to Screen Compost – Separate Fertilizer from Worms, Sticks, and Debris
In this article and video, Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm gives you step-by-step instructions for screening compost. Screening compost is a common way of improving the quality of finished compost. After kitchen scraps and gardening waste has been broken down over several months, it’s almost ready to be applied to the garden. Running it through a screen has many benefits: removes sticks, debris, produce stickers and uncomposted food scraps adds air breaks down clumps into fine pieces removes composting worms, so they can be returned to the composting bin The finer the compost, the better. Good growing soil is loose and…
Read MoreCommunity Garden Composting: Why and How
Community gardening projects are popping up all over. Setting up a garden helps bring the neighborhood together, makes use of wasted space, improves air quality, provides food for insects and birds, and produces fresh food. If you are involved in setting up a community garden, you need to include a system for composting leftover vegetation. Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm offers these ideas and instructions for establishing functional and safe composting systems. Why Your Community Garden Needs a Composting System If this is the first time you are gardening on this scale,
Read MoreVermiculture in the City: Small-Scale Composting
Turning kitchen scraps into valuable fertilizer might sound unrealistic to a household in the city. Aren’t composters usually on a large piece of land? No! Vermiculture means using worms to break down food scraps. Their stealth and speed mean you can compost right in your kitchen, balcony or rooftop! Small-scale vermiculture is one way that an urban dweller can help save the environment. It also creates excellent fertilizer for plants, and it’s a fun project. The problem with tossing kitchen scraps in the trash is that mixed garbage stinks! It attracts pests and takes energy to get moved out of…
Read MoreWhat Can I feed my Worms?
A frequently asked question if not the most asked question I get is, “What can I feed my worms?!” So I have decided to come up with a basic list of what you can feed your worms. I will also include a list of things to keep out of the worm bin. Things to feed your worms include: Fruits Vegetables Paper Squash and Pumpkin Eggshells Coffee Bread Pasta Tea Bags Grains Hair Lawn Clippings (aged, fresh clippings may heat up and kill the worms) Animal Manure (not dog or cat) Here is a very basic list of what to not…
Read MoreHow Does Composting Reduce Trash Problems?
Separating recyclables from the trash helps the environment, but you could help even more by composting. Kitchen scraps, yard waste and even scrap paper can be composted right in your home or yard. Reducing household trash can have a big impact on the environment. You can compost in a pile or bin, and you can add Red Worms to speed up the process. When the process is complete, you can harvest fertilizer for your garden and house plants. When organic matter is separated and composted, you have less trash in the landfill, less incineration, and fewer pests rummaging through the…
Read MoreWhat Are the Different Kinds of Composting?
Composting means breaking down organic material. There are three kinds: aerobic, anaerobic, and vermicomposting. Each has its pros and cons. Households, farms, restaurants, schools, offices and places of business produce compostable materials. For example, food scraps, grass clippings, leaves, animal manure, and coffee grounds are all compostable. Composting is useful for making inexpensive fertilizer for lawns, gardens and farms. Here is a run-down of each type. Aerobic Composting With aerobic composting, air is introduced to help break down materials quickly. The compost needs to be turned every few days. This is where a “tumble” style of composter can save a…
Read MoreThe Benefits of Worm Castings on Garden Soil & Plants
Updated: June 27 2022 What Are Worm Castings? If you are looking for a safer and better fertilizer than the chemical-based products made today, you might want to use worm castings. Also known as vermicompost, it is perfect for supplementing your garden soil and plants. Castings from composting worms have been recognized as a natural fertilizer that is packed with a lot of nutrients and minerals. Worm castings contain minerals such as concentrated nitrates, potassium, magnesium, calcium, and phosphorus. Because it is purely organic fertilizer, worm castings can increase a plant’s yield, protect both soil and plants from diseases, and…
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