Vermicomposting
I took delivery of a new toy for the garden today - a wormery. If the manufacturer is to be believed, it will be so clean and odour-free that it could be kept indoors. Mine is set up discreetly outside, next to the wheelie bins (black is for household rubbish, green is for garden waste) and the green box (for glass, cans and plastic). I suppose I could keep it in the porch next to the boots and the green recycling bag (for newspapers) but it is rather large. However, it comes with a smaller bin to collect kitchen waste to feed to the worms. This will stand next to the kitchen bin, which will now only be used for envelopes (not allowed in the green bag), plastic bottle tops (not allowed in the green box)
and wire hangers from the dry cleaners (shouldn't be allowed anywhere).
The tiger worms have to be left undisturbed for a week, to settle in to their new home. That gives me time to study the handbook. Once established, I expect my wormery to take care of most of the household waste and to provide superb compost for the garden and houseplants.
I took delivery of a new toy for the garden today - a wormery. If the manufacturer is to be believed, it will be so clean and odour-free that it could be kept indoors. Mine is set up discreetly outside, next to the wheelie bins (black is for household rubbish, green is for garden waste) and the green box (for glass, cans and plastic). I suppose I could keep it in the porch next to the boots and the green recycling bag (for newspapers) but it is rather large. However, it comes with a smaller bin to collect kitchen waste to feed to the worms. This will stand next to the kitchen bin, which will now only be used for envelopes (not allowed in the green bag), plastic bottle tops (not allowed in the green box) and wire hangers from the dry cleaners (shouldn't be allowed anywhere).
The tiger worms have to be left undisturbed for a week, to settle in to their new home. That gives me time to study the handbook. Once established, I expect my wormery to take care of most of the household waste and to provide superb compost for the garden and houseplants.
Karin
ReplyDeleteI've been reading the book that came with the composter and am amazed at what those little worms will eat to produce that lovely compost. There is an A-Z (well, yo Y, actually) of what can be put into it, once the little creatures feel happy in their new home: all foods, (cooked as well as raw), tea bags, coffee grounds, cardboard, old clothes, garden waste, nail clippings, yeast - that is just a random selection.
Right now they are locked in tight with a handful of kitchen waste to help them settle in. Like teenagers, they just want to stay in their room and be left alone!
Sounds like those worms have had a very warm North Devon welcome, M. May they work wonders for your garden (and your household waste).
ReplyDeleteWell you know my low maintenance garden isn't in need of very much compost, D, but the failing grey cells can't cope with the complex dustbin collection system!
ReplyDeleteBTW I still can't leave comments on your blog.
I have been tempted to try one of these and will be very interested to know how you get on with it. At the moment I have a couple of compost bins but they do take a bit of muscle and loving care to produce good compost. maybe the worms could do all that for me. I look forward to updates.
ReplyDeleteUgh...what's next, a leech farm? A cockroach colony? A maggot moat?
ReplyDeleteCrinny
ReplyDeleteI gave up on my compost bin because I didn't have space for two and managing one was hard work. The wormery sounds easy in theory, I'll let you know what it is like in practice.
Brit
ReplyDeleteMrs Brit will love the bags and bottles of vermicompost she'll be getting. In fact, she'll be demanding you buy your own wormery!
I didn’t know much about this until I read an article about a school starting their own worm bin to compost leftover cafeteria food. Kids learn and are helping the environment. They’ve inspired me to at least be more watchful of my food waste.
ReplyDeleteMJ
ReplyDeleteAs you can see, I haven't got going yet. I'm hoping the wormery will make a significant impact on my household waste.
Shall look forward to hearing about this. Hope the worms will be safe from rats.
ReplyDeleteSusie, I think that this completely sealed unit will be safe from all intruders. I did have concerns about rats getting into my ordinary compost bin. I got so nervous about it that I gave up composting but this appears to be a good method. I will report progress.
ReplyDelete