Creating your own worm farm can be a fun and rewarding way of getting rid of food scraps and reducing waste going into the landfill.
Composting with worms or vermicomposting is the process of adding worms to a bin or other container to speed up the process of organic material decomposition and create a nutrient rich compost.
Redworms or red wriggler worms are a type of earthworm most commonly recommended for bin composting indoors. This type of composting is ideal for apartment dwellers and other situations where outdoor composting is not appropriate.
Do not be tempted to use the larger garden nightcrawlers which prefer cooler soils and need the ability to tunnel through the soil.
Redworms used for composting need the following to survive and reproduce.
- Moisture
- Warmth
- Food
- Bedding
- Darkness
- Oxygen
Additional Resources:
West
Nevada – Starting a Worm Farm
Washington – Cheap and Easy Worm Bin
Midwest
Missouri – Worm Composting Reduces Household Wastes
Nebraska – Vermicomposting: Composting with Worms
Southeast
South Carolina – Worm Composting