vermicomposting
A few people, namely Elaine and Kathryn, have expressed interest in my vermicomposter (aka worm composter) - What does it look like? Where do you keep it? What do the worms eat? Does it smell? So I'm dedicating a post to the worms. It's the least I can do. They do eat my garbage after all.
What it looks like and where I keep it
The photos speak a thousand words. It's in our bathroom tucked between the toilet and the sink. We don't have a balcony, otherwise that's where I'd put it. It's a black plastic container with a lid and vents and a drip tray underneath to catch the leachate that may seep from the drain holes.
What the worms eat
The worms eat a wide variety of organic materials, including vegetable peelings, apple cores, paper, tea bags, coffee grounds, egg shells, and soggy lettuce that gets forgotten in the back of the fridge. I've been advised that grains, breads, citrus, and banana peels should not be placed in the worm composter as the worms don't particularly like these items. They either negatively affect the worm habitat (e.g., citrus increases the acidity in the composter) or they are not a dietary preference for the worms so they take awhile to decompose, resulting in a smelly composter.
What it smells like
Dirt. If you open the lid, all you smell is the odor associated with moist soil. If you dig around it it, which you need to do to add new items, it's stinky but not horrible. A bit sulfery. I'm careful to limit the items I feed to the worms to the stuff that they like, so I haven't had any issues with smell or fruit flies. I add more paper periodically to help absorb excess moisture - my composter doesn't generate much leachate (which is apparently great plant food).
The worms
I couldn't post about the vermicomposter without including a photo of the worms themselves. They don't like the light and are quite shy so they don't photograph very well. To find out where to get the worms for the composter (a variety known as red wrigglers), I called the composting hotline (seems like this type of service might be unique to Vancouver) and was referred to a website where I proceeded to place an order. The worms arrived in the mail a few days later. I set them up in the bin. They didn't like their new habitat at first. A few escaped and, to my horror, I found them dessicated on the floor. Over a few days, they acclimatised. Now they're as happy as ... worms in dirt
The photos speak a thousand words. It's in our bathroom tucked between the toilet and the sink. We don't have a balcony, otherwise that's where I'd put it. It's a black plastic container with a lid and vents and a drip tray underneath to catch the leachate that may seep from the drain holes.
What the worms eat
The worms eat a wide variety of organic materials, including vegetable peelings, apple cores, paper, tea bags, coffee grounds, egg shells, and soggy lettuce that gets forgotten in the back of the fridge. I've been advised that grains, breads, citrus, and banana peels should not be placed in the worm composter as the worms don't particularly like these items. They either negatively affect the worm habitat (e.g., citrus increases the acidity in the composter) or they are not a dietary preference for the worms so they take awhile to decompose, resulting in a smelly composter.
What it smells like
Dirt. If you open the lid, all you smell is the odor associated with moist soil. If you dig around it it, which you need to do to add new items, it's stinky but not horrible. A bit sulfery. I'm careful to limit the items I feed to the worms to the stuff that they like, so I haven't had any issues with smell or fruit flies. I add more paper periodically to help absorb excess moisture - my composter doesn't generate much leachate (which is apparently great plant food).
The worms
I couldn't post about the vermicomposter without including a photo of the worms themselves. They don't like the light and are quite shy so they don't photograph very well. To find out where to get the worms for the composter (a variety known as red wrigglers), I called the composting hotline (seems like this type of service might be unique to Vancouver) and was referred to a website where I proceeded to place an order. The worms arrived in the mail a few days later. I set them up in the bin. They didn't like their new habitat at first. A few escaped and, to my horror, I found them dessicated on the floor. Over a few days, they acclimatised. Now they're as happy as ... worms in dirt
