Vermicomposting - Plans for a Worm Bin

bin:

How much leachate does this bin generate, and how is it drained off if you use the bin indoors instead of outdoors on a deck?

Leachate is excellent fertilizer, even more so after adding molasses and aerating for 24 hours to boost the microbe count several *thousandfold*. If used immediately after brewing, it'll green up plants overnight. Not even Miracle-Gro works as fast, and it won't load up your garden with salt.

bin:

That also sounds like a good start on making some homebrew worm casting flavored beer. I might have to try that...

There is virtually no leachate from the vermicomposting. The worm bin I built does not drain at all. The holes in the bottom are only if you accidentally add too much water to the mix. Usually the kitchen waste has enough liquid that water never has to be added. In fact shreaded newspaper is added to absorb some of that liquid.

You really don't want to add so much water that the worm bin drips, that is too wet for the worms.

Mmmmm .... Tasty. I think the composting microbes that produces might be a *little* dangerous :-) ...

From what I understand the Worms feed on the bacteria that is formed, not the actual food itself. That is why Vermicomposting does not stink. But please feel free to verify that.

Ken

--------------------------------------------------------------- Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards for they are subtle and quick to anger. Ken Hollis - Gandalf The White - snipped-for-privacy@digital.net - O- TINLC WWW Page -

I was reminded that I live in a climate that is wetter, so for drier climates you might need to add water to the worm bin.

Ken

--------------------------------------------------------------- Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards for they are subtle and quick to anger. Ken Hollis - Gandalf The White - snipped-for-privacy@digital.net - O- TINLC WWW Page -

Too anaerobic, at which point they stampede.

Charles Darwin did exhausting research on earthworms, at one point seeing if they could be drowned. They could easily survive several months submerged.

microorganisms:

Their diet is mostly protozoans, which do the actual work of decomposition. You've seen that fresh veggie scraps will be untouched until they start to rot. Interesting thing about the molasses-fed tea is, you no longer smell the molasses the next day. That indicates that there are microbes present in the tea, consuming the molasses at a fast rate.