ALC is not all about birds

How many of you have vegetable waste that you either 1) send down the plumbing through the food grider; or 2) toss onto a make-shift compost pile? The first option works, but you know that you can do better with this sort of waste, such as composting. But, the trouble with composting such small amounts of leftover scraps is that it isn't really composting -- the waste just dries up and withers away on top of the pile. Normally one would create a compost pile with the correct nitrogen/carbon ratio, mix it up, and let it sit for a few months. This sort of arrangement doesn't exactly allow for incremental additions of small bits of kitchen waste. What to do, then?

This is where vermiculture fills a void, that is, giving your kitchen scraps to red wiggler worms. Many months ago I responded to an ad on craigslist, a woman whose name I have forgotten said she had an abundance of worms and they were free for the taking, provided they be used for the same purpose. Kerrie and I went and gathered maybe 1000 worms, by hand, and I tossed them into a box with holes and set them to the task of eating the kitchen scraps. It is working better than I ever imagined. They were slow to start at first, because the population was small, but after a few months they have become so dense that I need to either make a bigger container or give some away. Here they are chowing down:



It's easy to manage. Put any non-animal waste into the box, mix it up so the food isn't on top of the pile, and ever other day or so give it a good mixing. There is no smell provided you keep it mixed. If you give them too much at once, some of the food rots. No big deal though, just keep mixing it up. It is really that easy. The population will adapt to the amount of food intake. If you toss in a lot, they will reproduce. It is that simple.

Let me know if you want a starter batch of worms, I have plenty.