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Learning From My Worm Bins
This week, I’ve been learning from my worm bins. Maybe I should say I’ve been learning from my worms through trial and error (nah, let’s call it trial and improvement). I added the second worm bin to my Worm Factory 360 about five days ago with the intention of layering the “ingredients” in the tray a little differently than I did in the first tray. Each time I added food to my original tray, I was lifting up the shredded paper and placing the food below it. I added damp shredded paper on top when I added food, but seldom did I see worms crawling around in the three inches of shredded paper. Worm castings were building up and both food and paper wasted seemed to disappear, but I am so far happier with my layering system on my new tray. I started it with food waste in the bottom to attract worms to climb up from below. Then I added dry leaves and then about an inch or less of damp shredded paper. Now each time I add food waste, I add dry leaves if they are available and shredded paper. (Tip: I actually add dry shredded paper and then use the mist setting on my hose nozzle to dampen it.) The result is that many worms have climbed up and seem to be thriving in the new tray. I open the lid and see worms squirming around in the shredded paper and in the food waste below. I feel like I will be able to add food more often this way and have a better grip on how much the worms are eating.
It is strange, now that I have a second tray, to not be able to look below at the first tray and see how things are going. I could lift up the second tray, but am afraid I might squish a worm when I put it back down, so I’ll try to refrain!
Tags: Home Composter, Worm Bins, worm factory 360