Promote Global Worming

Instructions:

WHY?

• Worms can turn our old food into plant food.
• Worms are good for the Earth.
• Worms are good for fishing

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Fun Worm Facts!

• Red worms may live up to 4.5 years in the Worm Wigwam (compared to 1 year in the wild), and will grow to a length of up to 3 inches.
• Red worms can live in a wide range of temperatures. They’re happiest from 55-70 degrees, but can handle 45-80 degrees.
• Red worms are hermaphrodites — they have both male and female sexual organs — and reproduce quickly in confinement. Their population may double or triple in 1 year.

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HOW DO YOU VERMICOMPOST?

1. Make a dark house for the worms to live in. A wooden or plastic bin or other non-metal container. A bin 1.5 ft. H x 2 ft. D x 3 ft W is a good size for a household. Make drain holes near the bottom.
2. Fill the bin with moist bedding. Bedding can be paper or newspaper shredded, leaves, straw, peat moss or sawdust. Make sure the bedding is kept very moist like a sponge. Change the bedding once or twice a year.
3. Feed the worms.Yes!    Fruit, vegetables, coffee grounds, bread, leavesNo!    Milk, oil, eggs, meat, fat, dog or cat feces.

   Dig a hole in the bedding, dump the food in and cover it up with bedding. Pick a new spot each time you add food.

4. Keep them damp and warm. Add water if the bedding feels dry, but make sure the excess water can drain away. Cover the bin with plastic or a tarp during freezing weather.

Worm Wigwam Pictures and More!

Here is some general information about your worms and bin

Redworms – Eisenia fetida
(These are the worms in your bin)

Common names for the Eisenia fetida are: Redworm, Red Wiggler, Tiger Worm, Manure Worm, Fish Worm, Striped Worm, Composting Redworm, as well as many other names.
Worms are annelids, a word derived from Latin meaning “rings.” The Redworm (Eisenia fetida) is an Epigeic worm. Epigeic worms live on the surface of the soil or in the top 10 inches or so of the topsoil under the litter layer. Redworms are the workhorses of the composting world.  They tend to be smaller than Anecic worms, or “earthworms”, which build and live in deeper more permanent burrows. Nightcrawlers are Anecic worms and are much bigger than redworms.
Worms can eat about 3 times their weight a week, when their environment is healthy.  (This amount may vary greatly and should be monitored well to avoid problems).  They reduce the volume of that waste by about two thirds.
Redworms mature in 8 weeks & double in biomass every 3-4 months (under ideal conditions).

That means that if you start with one pound of worms, in three to four months you might have 2 pounds of redworms.

1 mature worm could produce 96 worms in 6 months (2 cocoons X 24 weeks X 2 hatchlings)

Healthy bin environment:

T – Temperature

Optimum is between 68° – 77°F
At 40° F the worms are less active.
Worms become stressed at 85° F.

Feeding too much at one time can cause bin to heat up and kill worms or cause them to leave.  (This is especially true of buried grain products).

H – H20 – Moisture

Optimum is between 75%-85% moisture.
Bedding should have the same moisture as damp clothes.
Drainage is extremely important in any vermicomposting system.
Dump drained leachate from below your bin regularly.  (You can use that leachate to dampen bedding or pour into planted areas.) (Excessive leachate is an indicator that the system is too wet and should be checked to avoid anaerobic conditions from developing).

R – Recycle organic material only

(Organic is anything that was once alive and is now dead).

(Cutting food into smaller pieces before adding will speed up the process but is not absolutely necessary).

Fruits (they love fruit but you might want to freeze or microwave to prevent fruit flies)
Cereals
Pastas
Egg shells
Coffee & Filters
Tea bags
Paper or cardboard—shredded
Limited citrus
Beans
Breads
Vegetables
Dryer lint
Shredded newspaper, office paper, junk mail (nothing shiny), napkins, paper towels for bedding , (dampen before adding)

No dairy, fish or meat products. (Worms will eat it, but these items take a long time to decompose and can smell bad and attract pests).
Oily or salty foods can harm worms.

Add more food only when you see that the worms are completely involved in the food that is already there.

For Indoor Composting—To help limit pests such as fruit flies, and soldier fly larvae, freeze or cook waste prior to feeding to worms.  This step is not absolutely necessary with a properly maintained, well monitored bin.

Feed in layers no thicker than 1 inch to avoid heating up the bin and baking your worms.
Start up is slow but sure.

Invertebrates & Microbes found in a healthy system

Beneficial creatures that are harmless to you, your worms, and your plants:
Enchytraeids or pot worms
Fruitflies, soldier flies and their larvae (soldier flies are not filth flies and are very beneficial to a composting system)
Bacteria (Aerobic)
Fungi
Gnats and their larvae
Millipedes
Molds (beware of allergies to spores)
Mites
Nematodes
Protozoa
Spiders
Springtails

All of the above are necessary to a healthy vermicomposting system.  Most of what are listed above are very hard to see.  As the worms do not have teeth they need help in breaking down the food to make it available to them.  So worms are not actually eating your garbage.  Worms are eating the microorganisms that are eating your garbage.

V – Ventilation
All the creatures in the system need AIR and lots of it!

E – Environment

The worms are sensitive to light, so keep it dark.
Good bedding can be any combination of aged manures, dampened shredded paper products, coir (coconut fiber), decomposing leaves, straw, wood chips, peat moss, a handful of soil or compost to seed bin with microorganisms, etc.

(Be aware that fresh peat, manure, and sawdust/wood chips will heat up quickly when moisture is added.  These materials should be allowed to cool off before adding to your worm bin.)

The more you know about worms and what they need,
the more you’ll enjoy the vermicomposting experience!

I want you to have fun and be successful.  Call or email me with any questions or concerns.

Susan Quinby-Honer
Red Hen Enterprises
redhen@nc.rr.com
910-676-0556

The following are 2 worm forums on which I post.  They are both very active with many knowledgeable, informative and fun people.

http://thegardenforums.org/index.php

www.wormdigest.org

Worm Bin Troubleshooting

The chart below is very helpful in answering many of the questions that might arise when first setting up a worm bin.

Worm Bin Troubleshooting
Problems	Causes	Solutions
Bin smells bad	OverfeedingFood scraps exposed Bin too wet Not enough air	Stop feeding for two weeksBury food completely Mix in dry bedding; leave lid off Fluff bedding; drill holes in bin
Bin attracts flies	Food scraps exposedRotten food Too much food; especially citrus	Bury food completelyCover with bedding Don’t overfeed worms
Worms are dying	Bin too wetBin too dry Extreme temperatures Not enough air Not enough food	Mix in dry bedding; leave lid offThoroughly dampen bedding Move bin where temperature is between 55 and 77 degrees F Fluff bedding; drill holes in bin Add more bedding and food
Worms crawling away (very rare)	Bin conditions not rightExcess vibration	See solutions aboveLeave lid off and worms will burrow back into bedding Eliminate vibrations
Mold forming	Conditions too acidic	Cut back on citrus fruits
Bedding drying out	Too much ventilation	Dampen bedding; keep lid on
Water collecting in bottom of bin	Poor ventilation Too many watery scraps	Leave lid off for a couple of days; add dry beddingCut back on coffee grounds and scraps with high water content

Recipes from the Green Summit

Vegan—no cheese version: Spinach Recipe for Spinach Pesto

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Makes 1 cup spinach pesto

4 Cups packed and rinsed spinach leaves
2 large cloves garlic minced
¼ cup walnuts or pine nuts
¼ teaspoon sea salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon lemon juice (optional)

Place spinach leaves in food processor with S blade in place. Begin to puree leaves until they are all crushed. Add garlic, nuts, and sea salt and begin to puree again. Gradually add olive oil while pureeing the spinach mixture. Blend until mixture is a thick, smooth paste. Add lemon juice and puree until blended.

This spinach recipe is a wonderful, quick and easy raw food. It’s also a great way to incorporate more green, leafy vegetables into your diet. We hope you enjoy it!

Traditional Pesto base with parmesan cheese

Spinach pesto sauce is made with fresh spinach, garlic, pine nuts, basil, olive oil, and Parmesan cheese.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups washed, torn spinach leaves, stems removed, well packed, 16 to 24 ounces
• 3 garlic cloves, halved
• 3 tablespoons pine nuts
• 1/2 teaspoon dried leaf basil, crumbled
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• hot, cooked spaghetti

Preparation:

Place a few spinach leaves, garlic, pine nuts, basil and a little oil in blender or food processor container. Cover and puree until leaves begin to look crushed. Continue adding spinach leaves a few at a time with small amounts of oil to blender, using a rubber spatula to help to combine pureed mixture. Add Parmesan cheese and 1/8 tsp. salt. Cover and process until spinach pesto mixture is smooth.

BAKED FLOUR TORTILLA CHIPS

2 bags fresh flour tortillas (white, whole wheat, or both)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Spice blend (see below) or chili powder

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Use a pastry brush to lightly brush both sides of each of the tortillas with olive oil. Place them in a stack as you go.

Cut the stack into wedges (a bread knife works best for this, cut gently). Arrange wedges in a single layer on cookie sheets. Sprinkle each wedge with a dash or two of the spice blend.

Bake for 8-12 minutes, switching the pans half way through baking time.

As with the pita chips, I usually move these around too for even baking. When I rotate the pans, I also move the chips that are on the outside to the center of the pan.

SPICE BLEND

1 teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon fine sea salt (or table salt)

Combine all ingredients in a small jar, an empty spice jar would be ideal. Shake to combine.

Here is where you can really get creative with this. Add some turmeric, play around with the heat by adjusting the cayenne, reduce the cumin, or add some crushed oregano. It’s up to you! Make it the way you like it.