Let the Vermicomposting Begin

Red wigglers getting settled in their new bin.

I have wanted a worm bin for years, ever since I read Amy Stewart’s great book: “And the Earth Moved: On the Remarkable Achievement of Earthworms,” to be exact. Yesterday, I finally bought one while attending “Burst Into Spring,” an annual lecture series put on by the Isanti County Master Gardeners.

I was invited to the event to speak about my new book, “Decoding Gardening Advice,” and over the lunch break I got to talking with Roger Welck from Princeton, Minnesota. He’d heard my talk and wanted to know why I’d discussed compost, but hadn’t covered vermicompost.

Time was the only reason, I told him. Vermicomposting is touched on in the book. But I’d removed those slides from the presentation for that day because it was kind of an involved topic, and I worried that I wouldn’t be able to fit it in. “Damn you!” he joked, gesturing toward his vendor table laden with bagged vermicompost, worms in buckets and worm bins.

The worms quickly snuggled down into their bedding of shredded newspaper.

I’m not originally from Minnesota, so the reserved nature of the natives is tough for straight-talking me sometimes. Roger’s “Damn you!” won me over right away. I asked him to tell me about his products. He and his wife Gina run Twisted Suri Alpaca Ranch and recently they’ve begun offering vermicompost too.

Not familiar with the term vermicomposting? It means worm composting, and it works like this. Unlike the usual compost pile of yard waste and food scraps, this process involves a bin filled with worms (red wigglers) that, through their natural digestive process, turn the coffee grounds, banana peels and other food scraps you give them, into “castings” or more crudely, poo. All by themselves these castings help boost soil structure and water-holding capacity. But when worm poo is combined with organic matter, it is called vermicompost, and it’s even more beneficial for the soil. On their website, Roger and Gina sell vermicompost that contains castings, alpaca manure, coffee grounds and eggshells.

When I bought a worm bin, Roger gave me a bag of vermicompost to try, so I’ll report back on how it works in my houseplants. The bin is a simple setup made from two plastic totes. Roger put feet on the tote the worms are in, so any moisture that builds up can drain down into the tote below. He drilled holes in the totes so the worms can get air, and he told me to make a bed of moist, shredded newspaper in the bottom. That’s where the worms will hang out and make babies when they’re not eating and digesting.

You’re not supposed to feed them for the first couple of days, but I can’t resist going down to the basement to peek at them in their new home every few hours. Fingers crossed that everything goes well. If you have any vermicomposting tips to share, I would be grateful for your thoughts. What have you learned? What should I definitely NOT do? Is your house full of fruit flies?