Living more environmentally aware or ‘greener living’ has become practically mainstream. Many people are concerned about reducing their carbon footprint or perhaps just reducing their waste stream in general. We are familiar with the three sided recycling icon symbolizing Reduce->Reuse->Recycle. What if you could reduce your waste sent to the landfill, recycle your kitchen waste and produce one of the best organic fertilizers! Organic gardeners know how important the right fertilizer is to grow HUGE plants. Many scientific studies are being conducted at universities indicating that using vermicompost can also increase disease resistance right along with promoting huge growth. You can do all this with amazing vermicompost you create at home by using Worm Fancy red wigglers (Eisenia fetida). Worm Fancy would like to get you started on your path to greener living and an amazing garden. Vemicompost can be added to houseplants, garden plants, lawns, and shrubs. It can be added to just about anything without worrying about burning.
Composting worms need just a few things to thrive… A safe place to live with plenty of air, bedding, moisture and food. Fortunately these little guys love your shredded paper, cardboard and kitchen scraps. No need to look into fancy bedding or ‘hotels’ to make them happy. Worms are light sensitive so they need a container that doesn’t allow light to penetrate, but plenty of air holes to keep an aerobic environment. Worm Fancy will set you up with a ‘working bin’ that has an active microbial community and plenty of active happy worms ready to gobble up your kitchen waste.
Many people ask us how many worms do they need to keep up with their kitchen waste. As a general rule of thumb, red wigglers will eat approximately their weight in food per day. This is under ideal conditions of course… if you keep your worm bin outside in winter they are not going to be eating as much as they would if the temperatures were more ideal, around 68 degrees F. So if you are looking to start vermicomposting in your home, begin by doing your own food audit. Collect your kitchen scraps for a week… please make sure you DO NOT include animal products (like meat and dairy) in your food audit. If you have ever caught a whiff of decomposing meat you will know why we don’t want this stuff in your worm bin. It is also a good idea to keep citrus and bread products to a minimum. Once you have established your volume of kitchen waste generated you are ready to go! Contact Worm Fancy and we will be happy to answer all your questions and help you get started vermicomposting!
