7 Vermicomposting System
Equipment and Materials:
- Worm bins
- Options include:
- Plastic Tubs with air holes drilled around the top inch. (Tubs must not be clear)
- Premade flow through bins such as the Hungry Bin or Worm Tower or other flow through systems
- Options include:
- Red wiggler worms
- Calculations regarding volume of waste to be processed and the amount of worm bins and worms needed will be provided in accompanying report.
- Thermometer for air temperature
- Meat Thermometer for bin temperature
- Protective gloves and aprons (as needed)
- Spray Bottle
- Cardboard and paper cut into strips (And a place to store it)
- Grit (Sand or Crushed Egg Shells)
- Optional – Weigh scale to collect total weight diverted
Plastic Tubs set up as Worm Composters
The Hungry Bin Flow through Worm Composting system
Setting Up the Vermicomposting System:
- Select an appropriate location for the vermicomposting system, considering temperature, ventilation, and accessibility.
- Choose a well ventilated, temperature-controlled area that is easy to access in order to process the material.
- Assess the amount of material that will need to be processed. (Red wiggler worms will eat half their weight in a day)
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- Determine how many bins will be required to process this material. Keeping in mind that the same bin will only be fed every 3 -7 days.
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Bedding
____________________* Stable Compost,
* Coconut Coir
* Shredded Paper
* Shredded Corrugated Cardboard
* Shredded brown leaves - Purchase appropriately sized bins or flow through system.
- We utilized Plastic 10-gallon totes, 20 gallon totes also work well.
- Drill small holes (1/2 inch) around the top inch of the totes for aeration
- Line the bottom of the totes with 4 inches of moist bedding.
- We utilized Plastic 10-gallon totes, 20 gallon totes also work well.
Vegetable Scraps Collection:
(Please refer to Collection Section of this toolkit for more information)
- Set up
- Designate a food waste collection container in the kitchen.
- Educate kitchen staff about the importance of separating vegetable scraps and depositing them in the designated container.
- Collection
- Kitchen to deposit vegetable scraps in designated container.
- Remove Vegetable scraps and move to worm composting area
- Optional – Record overall weight and weight fed to each bin
Feeding the worms
- Pull back bedding material at the top and place vegetable scraps into worm bin. Ensure that:
- Vegetable scraps are evenly distributed to the vermicomposting totes.
- No more than 1 inch of material to each bin at a time.
- Food is only added if most of the feed stock has been consumed.
- Add and mix in 2 parts “brown” material (such as shredded paper or shredded cardboard) for every part of food scraps.
- (Shredded Cardboard is preferred as it soaks up moisture, plus it has a bit of structure in order to hold air space throughout the bin).
- Cover the food with bedding material.
- Add grit once a month to the worm bins (¼ cup/month)
Avoid over