At $1-2/bag, it is expensive to throw away trash in Houghton. You can easily reduce the number of bags you use by simply composting your food scraps, yard waste and other organic material. A series of compost bins in your yard can easily handle all of your food and yard waste during the summer but what about winter? As we all know, Houghton has some LONG winters! An easy and cheap solution is vermicomposting (aka. worm composting).
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| Happy Tiger Worms by Tim Musson@Flickr |
Worm composting can be done year-round indoors. It is neither messy nor smelly. The result is worm poop or what I like to call: "Black Gold". This soil can be used to enhance nutrients to plants as well as enhance soil structure and drainage.
Worm composting requires 5 items:
Bin
Bedding and Water
Worms
Food Scraps
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| By Tim Musson@Flickr |
Worm Bins: Bins can be wood or plastic. A lot of people convert plastic bins that can be easily purchased at Walmart. The size of your bin depends on the amount of waste your household produces. The general rule of thumb is 1 sqft per 1 lb of garbage generated. Worms like it dark, warm and moist but not hot or cold. So keep your bin where the temperature remains between 55-77F.
Bedding: Worms like a fluffy material to burrow through and for you to bury the garbage in. Newspapers, paper bags, cardboard, leaves, sawdust, and dry grass clippings can be used. A handful of soil or sand should also be tossed in to assist in digestion. The bedding should be slightly damp.and fluffed to create air space. This allows the worms to move, as well as control odors.
Worms: Redworms should be used. These can be obtained online, at bait shops, nurseries or, in my case, free! from the soil in my outdoor composting bin. For approximately 1 lb. of food waste, you will need 2 lbs. of worms. 1 lb. of worms will eat about 4 lbs. of food scraps every week.
Food Scraps: Feed your worms only non-meat organic waste. Such as:
Vegetables
Fruits
Eggshells
Tea Bags
Coffee Grounds
Paper Coffee Filters
Shredded Garden and Household Waste (leaves and newspapers)
Limit citrus fruits as it makes the soil very acidic and encourages fruit flies to breed. Worms also dislike the over-powering smell of onions.
Do not add meat, oils, dairy or pet/human waste.
The end result:
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| Compost by lindsy.dee.bunny@Flickr |
Here are some additional in-depth resources on how to make and care for you own worm bins:
http://www.bae.ncsu.edu/topic/vermicomposting/pubs/ag473-18.html
Update 04/25: I saw this very amusing article on TreeHugger about worm "towers". These towers allow the worms to spread the compost for you! Sounds good in theory. I may put it to the test in the garden this summer. Found another in-depth article from Milkwood.net, where a worm tower was put into practice in a garden.
Update 04/25: I saw this very amusing article on TreeHugger about worm "towers". These towers allow the worms to spread the compost for you! Sounds good in theory. I may put it to the test in the garden this summer. Found another in-depth article from Milkwood.net, where a worm tower was put into practice in a garden.
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