Hello worms, goodbye kitchen scraps

I’m neck deep in compost research and am yet to actually compost a darn thing. I know that I should be doing it for a variety of reasons. The two main reasons are keeping food scraps out of landfills and putting a hault on the purchase of commercial fertilizers.

One bit of information came as a surprise to me (maybe everyone else already knew this but just humor me), when you through your biodegradable or compostable food waste into your regular garbage, chances are it will never break down in the manner that one assumes. Landfills create an oxygen-deprived and chemical-laden environment, one that is not conducive to composting.

The basic idea of composting, to someone like me who doesn’t know any better, may seem simple. Save your kitchen scraps that are plant based, put them in a pile or a bin, turn the pile on occasion and voila…you have compost!

Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. The average household doesn’t generate the right mix of materials to successfully create compost. The mix should be 25% green (kitchen scraps, cut grass, etc) and 75% brown (dead leaves, straw, etc). The pile should be kept damp, by watering it about once a week. Damp, but not soaked. The pile should also be turned or fluffed once a week. This mixture and process create the environment needed to break down the items. Sounds like a lot of work, especially when it’s raining. Oh…and the compost pile goes dormant during the cold months. And, if you live in the city, where do you put the darn thing?

So, what’s a well intentioned, composting newby to do? Well, this sounds really gross to me, but all well seasoned, city composters are pointing to worms. That’s right, slimy, yucky worms.

I consulted my two male roommates, who are usually very supportive of my dirt inspired adventures, on the idea of bringing a worm compost system into our house and they looked at me like I’d just said I was going to let a bag of cobras loose in the living room. Apparently they’ll take some convincing.

Worm composting is said to be clean and odor free. There are a variety of pre-made worm composting bins that make it easy to separate the worms from the compost they’ve created and keep them contained in the bin. Worms can compost all the same material that you would put in a regular compost pile. It takes about 1/3 of the time and you don’t have to worry about keeping the correct mix of materials in the bin.

But, do the worms escape? I DON’T KNOW!!! But I haven’t read or heard of any horror stories yet.

So, I’ve ordered a worm bin. Sorry roommates. But, I promise it’s going to be the coolest experience you’ve ever had with worms. Just wait until I get a 10 pound bag of worms delivered via USPS….woohoo!

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