Composting

Composting at Home

Fertilizer is an essential component to any successful home garden, however purchasing commercially produced fertilizer can be expensive and you run the risk of using brands that are non-organic and non-sustainable in their production methods.

As an alternative, consider producing your own compost to reduce your fertilizer needs for your plants. Producing your own compost has many other benefits as well, including:

• Reducing your waste output
• Healthier landscapes
• Fewer pest and disease problems
• Savings in disposal costs.

Even if you don’t have access to an outdoor area, you can still make your own compost out of household food waste.

Follow these simple steps for Indoor Composting with a Worm Bin

• Construct the worm bin
• Make the bedding material
• Wash kitchen scraps
• Add kitchen scraps
• Add worms
• Cover the food scraps
• Keep the bedding material moist
• Harvest your worm bin

Step 1 | Construct the worm bin Obtain a plastic container with a lid that serves your size needs according to the amount of food scraps your family produces daily. Two pounds of worms are able to process roughly a pound of food scraps a day. For each pound of worms one square foot is needed. Size your container accordingly. Once you have acquired your container, drill at least 10 ¼” holes in the top and around the sides to allow air to circulate through it.

Step 2 | Make the bedding material Your bedding material can be composed of a number of different substances. Leaves, potting soil or strips of newspaper are all suitable. The worms will require about 8 inches of bedding. The bedding material itself should be fairly well moistened.

Step 3 | Wash kitchen scraps Before you add any fruit or vegetable scraps to your container, take the time to thoroughly wash them and scrub the skins. Doing so will remove any fruit fly eggs that the scraps may contain and reduce the risk of fruit fly infestations

Step 4 | Add kitchen scraps While fruit and vegetable scraps work best, you can also add coffee grounds and filters, tea bags, egg shells and dead plants and flowers to your bin. The worms will function best when fed a varied diet. Do not feed your worms meat or fish as these substances will attract flies and produce odors.

Step 5 | Add Worms You should use red worms (Eisenia fetida or Lumbricus rubellus) to your bin. Do not use nightcrawlers . You can find a list of worm suppliers in the NYC area here

Step 6 | Cover the food scraps Any food scraps you add should be well covered by the bedding material you are using. Do not leave them exposed on top of the bin or they will not be consumed by the worms.

Step 7 | Keep the bedding moist Use a plant mister or spray bottle to occasionally moisten the bedding. Worms depend on a moist environment to survive.

Step 8 | Harvest your worm bin When the bedding starts to resemble soil, you can harvest your compost. This process usually takes 1 to 4 months depending on the size of your bin and the amount of food scraps you go through. When the bedding is ready, move it all over to one side of the bin. Add new bedding to the empty side begin placing food scraps on that side. Most of the worms will move over to that side of the bin allowing you to scoop out worm free compost. Make sure to remove this completed compost in a timely manner, as it will become toxic to your worms if left in the bin too long. You can now use this compost to enrich the soil of your home garden!

References
“Indoor Composting With a Worm Bin” nyccompost.org