Feeding My Worms

I'm very happy and have to say that things are going better than expected with the Worm Factory! MORE importantly, my little worm buddies are very happy! Happy worms mean productive worms, and that means worms that STAY IN THEIR BIN!

I have read (several times) cover to cover the great booklet that came with my Worm Factory (from Colorado Earthworms). It's very informative and most importantly, tells you just what you need to do in order to get a good result. No more, no less. If you want to dive into worm living and worm breeding and worm history, you can find much more in the book "Worms Eat My Garbage"



One interesting thing I learned this week - I read online that worms don't like vibration and they won't be happy if they're kept in a heavy vibration area. Ah - that makes sense. Anyone who enjoyed the cult classic movie, 'Tremors', knows about worms and vibrations!

I was pretty concerned at first after reading repeated warnings to not overfeed, to keep the tray moist but not too wet or you'll drown the poor little worms. It seemed there was quite alot that could go wrong, so I peeked in once or twice a day and I hovered.

It's a good thing to chop up food into small pieces, but I don't take extra time or much effort to do this. I did put my egg shells on a cookie sheet for a little while in the oven to dry out and then ran a rolling pin across them. I used to do this regularly to feed my chicken flock, so it's fun to return to this habit. It allows the eggshells to break down easier and to be more easily processed.

We eat quite a few grapefruit and I was a bit sad to read that citrus is a no-no for worms. There is an ingredient that will kill the little wigglers, so the citrus has to go elsewhere. I've read conflicting views on coffee and tea... mostly coffee grounds and tea leaves are seen as perfect worm food but one source says it will cause the worm bin to become too acidic. I've been adding my jasmine green tea leaves daily and so far they're being received well.

A few other no-no foods - No dairy or meat, and although I've read that processed food is acceptable I would think it can't be very good for worms. It's not good for humans, and adding a bunch of chemical food additives to our nice, organic worm bin seems counter-productive. So I'm sticking to veggies trimmings and scraps, tea leaves, banana peels, a little leftover oatmeal. Along with leaves, some strips of junk mail paper, a few moistened paper towels. I have noticed that I'm throwing less away.

Here are my findings that have reassured me All is Well in my worm bin.

- The first couple of piles of food are obviously decomposing and the worms are actively involved in them.

- I added some nice old leaves from under the trees, moistened. Those seem to be well received. There have been a few worm parties in the leaves so far.

- There is no odor from the bin, or even when I open it to peek in. A nice damp earthy smell is all.

- The worms are active, they've burrowed down and are hardly visible at all, and I think I heard singing.

So far so good!

Update - 5/15/09 - Worms are bigger, more of them, happy. I believe I'm creating a Super Worm colony since I put alot of Jasmine Green Tea leaves in every day out of my teapot! Wooohooo!