Last week, Seedtime hosted their Seed to Harvest summit. I finished taking my notes on Thursday and believed myself to be done with webinars for the time being. Then Marcus shows me an email showing there are three bonus videos to watch from the summit. One of those videos is a deeper look at vermicomposting- using worms to break down scraps.
Last year, I built a worm tower using three 5-gallon buckets and a drill following a design I saw online. The trickiest part seemed to be worms. I was being cheap and didn’t want to spend money on worms. I bought a single cup from the store for fishing. Then I would add worms I found while digging the plots. Here and there, I’d add kitchen scraps, (like the compost salad below) cardboard, and paper towels.
Yesterday I found out that was NOT the way to make worm castings. Turns out, the worms that pop up in your backyard when it rains are solitary creatures. They aren’t fans of being stuck in a bucket with 30 plus other worms. (Sorry guys!) I also learned worms share a trait with chickens- eating grit and having a crop.
I also learned more space than a 5 gallon will offer is a more ideal setup. Presenter Steve Churchill advises either a 10- or 18-gallon tote for a DIY project. Though they both offer the same surface area for the worms to do their work. This year, I’ll probably upgrade to a larger bin or buy his advertised Urban Worm bag. The idea of “free” fertilizer sounds worth the investment. Wish us luck!
