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Be a part of the movement!
Be a part of the movement!
Just say no to the large summer water bill! Consider performing a test on your lawn with natural compost, versus synthetic fertilizers. Synthetic fertilizers "run off" from our lawns into our water systems. Too much nitrogen in earth's waterways account for the toxic algae blooms and ultimate suffocation of life - everywhere. It is necessary to sequester carbon and methane in order to keep our waterways clean and healthy. Save money, nutritionally boost your lawn and gardens, and become a formidable earth citizen! Join us today.
While separating out your organic matter from your household trash in order to compost is a positive environmental action, it is equally important to spread that finished compost on your lawns and gardens. Spreading compost in the Spring (and also in the Fall as you prepare your soils for winter), is the best way to prep your gardens with natural, powerful nutrients, hormones, humic acids, etc. "Studies show that amending soil with vermicast causes seeds to germinate more quickly, enhances the rate of seedling growth, increases root numbers and biomass, improves root stress tolerance, leads to earlier flowering of plants, and increases plant vitality and flavor profile." (pp.33, The Worm Farmer's Handbook). Vermicast, specifically, can hold a shocking amount of water, in that you only use about 20% of the water you would normally use on your lawns and gardens.
Below is a suggested timeline to start composting now to start preparing for Spring, and save money by using significantly less water and no synthetic fertilizers, and all by repurposing your own garbage.
Suggested Timeline
Suggested Timeline
September 19 - September 26
For self-composting, start to think about where you're going to put your collection bin (for daily waste) and your composting bin (your worm habitat where you're feeding once a week). Your worm composting bin can tolerate temperatures in the range of 15° and 25°C / 59°F and 77°F. A colder bin processes slower; a warmer bin can be toxic to your worm colony.
Also noodle on what type of composting you'd like to do. I highly recommend researching composting at your local library, on YouTube or a similar how-to platform to find the system that is right for you and your home.
Take a sample weight/volume of your veggie scraps for the week. You will need to have a rough idea of that number so you know how large your collection container (the one we keep under the kitchen sink) should be and about how many worms to buy (500 worms per pound of green matter/waste).
If you're collecting your waste to give to a third party for composting, roughly knowing how much green matter waste you produce is helpful in gauging the best size of the collection container.
Think about the place you will temporarily store your finished vermicast, knowing that you will use that instead of using synthetic fertilizers for the upcoming growing season.
Start collecting your brown matter.
September 27 - October 1
Buy or build your composting bin. If you're building an indoor vermicomposting bin, research where you will buy your composting worms. (They have to be composting worms. Red Wigglers are the best and most efficient. Earthworms should not be in your indoor composting bin.)
For an outdoor composting area, you will attract worms (and other natural composting critters) so you won't need to purchase worms. An off-ground tumbling composter does not need added worms.
Gather your supplies (see RITE home page section, "What Supplies Do I Need to Start?").
Place your order for your worms.
October 2
Start collecting your green matter, and adding it throughout the day to your collection container. Also add browns to the surface each time you add to your collection container. This should not be a 60/40 ratio (like it needs to be when you feed your worm bin); just add enough browns to cover the surface. This is where I dust with rock flour. This keeps any odors at bay and any critters from discovering it.
October 9
When you have your worms, start your first tray. See Feeding the Worm Bin video.
Because an indoor vermicomposting bin has a strict timing schedule, due to spatial challenges, plan to feed your worm bin every 7 - 10 days to start. I recommend temporarily attaching a note to the tray, that lists the date of feeding so you get a better understanding of how much is being processed and the timing around it.
Notes:
There should never be a foul smell or odor coming from your bin. Ever. Even right after you just feed your bin, provided you added enough (60%+) brown matter. If you're smelling something bad, foul or strong, your bin is out of balance. Add a lot more brown matter, and do not mist it. Remember, veggie matter needs to be oil-free. Cooked is okay as long as there is no oil or butter. Moderate amounts of salt, pepper and herbs are fine. (The harvested vermicast smells like sweet forest floor and nothing like what it's inputs were.)
If you're seeing mites, or your worms are trying to escape: your bin is too wet. Add a lot more brown matter. The mites will disappear and your worms will want to stay in their habitat. Make sure you have given your worms enough free space in the bin that is free of nitrogen (green matter) and is made up of brown matter only. See Feeding the Bin video for an image of green matter in center with brown matter flanking on the sides of the bin.
If you're seeing fruit flies: you need to thoroughly wash all produce (including your bananas and avocados - with the skin on), and your bin is also too damp. Add a lot more brown matter; starve your bin of green matter until you don't see them anymore. Also, here's a recommendation for a natural veggie wash and a natural fruit fly trap. Side note: I've had fruit flies before, and I can vouch that the natural fruit fly trap is very efficient and effective. If you want to avoid the chance of any critters that like gnats or fruit flies, we recommend freezing your collection container.
October 16
Check your tray. Has most of the green matter processed? If so, go ahead and add your new green matter to the top of that, dusting with rock flour if you're using that, and then add your brown matter. Remember that you will need to add about 60% more brown matter on top of that already decomposing brown/green matter. If you can't fit that much brown matter, no worries; just go back to the bin in 3-4 days and you will have room.
Don't forget to add a note to the back of the tray with the date of the second feeding.
October 23 - February 25
Keep up your feedings in the cadence that your worms can keep up with.
If you're getting 4 feedings per tray, and you have 3 trays, your first Harvest will likely be at around 13 weeks, provided your feedings have been about a week apart. Note that you will need a strong light or fan when you harvest, so that you don't end up with a lot of worm cocoons or baby worms in your vermicast harvest.
Mindset agility is important when composting, as the temperature, barometer and other metrics are at play with how efficient your composting bin becomes. Just go with it.
Aging your compost is important when you first start a bin, as you are building microbes. You can keep a damp cloth on top of your stored vermicast to keep it living, or you can let it dry out and just "water" when you're ready to activate it again. Worms should not be in the vermicast as it ages outside of the composting bin (because they will continue to consume all of the nutritious organic matter), but sometimes it happens. Don't sweat it. Side note is that I've also found that worms learn - meaning the more you are with harvesting, e.g., not lifting the lid or bothering the worms outside of harvesting, then turning on a bright light or fan overnight, and then harvesting the next day. I have found there's rarely any worms left in the tray, once you make it less comfortable.
After your first few harvests, vermicast doesn't need to age before applying to your gardens, however, there may be times where you need to harvest a tray (because you're out of room) and the vermicast hasn't quite finished processing. In that case, you will need to age it for a bit before applying to your soils. Again, that is only in the beginning as you learn how much your composting bin is keeping up with consumption. It is not unusual to skip a feeding, because there's a lot of unprocessed organic matter and the bin colony needs to catch up.
April 1
Add your vermicast to your lawn or area of your lawn that you are testing, sprinkling and crumbling it over the top. To add the vermicast to your garden, you can place it immediately on top of the soil to prep it for May planting or mix it with soil and add the mixture as a topper.
Observe your lawns, gardens and plants through the Spring-Summer seasons. Notice their health, and how much water it is asking for, now that it is utilizing living soil. Also notice the presence, if any, of any adverse critters and how that compares to your last growing season.
Note (read ahead of application): If you're adding your compost to outdoor gardens, there is no need to test the pH, as nature will adjust your black gold as needed.
If you're adding your compost to your indoor plants, test the pH before applying your vermicast to your plants. To test, add one cup of vermicast to to 4 parts of soil. Mix. Insert your soil meter to get an idea of the pH. If you have been adding brown matter along with your green matter, and diversifying the green matter on a weekly schedule, it is not likely that your soil will fall outside of the neutral zone. But, if you've added a lot of acidic foods for instance, your pH could be off, so that's why I suggest testing it. Regardless, pH takes about a month to adjust further if you amend it, so amend to your desirable soil pH. Also, the soil meter measures soil pH, so you will not get an accurate reading of pH if you just test your compost alone.
If you have composted yourself or brought your bio-trash to a third party to compost, thank you! I hope this change has been meaningful for you, your home, your indoor and/or outdoor gardens!
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