Last year, I got inspired by my friend J.'s vermicomposting bin and decided to get one of my own. I've had some experience with composting organic matter when I lived in a co-op house many moons ago. It was my responsibility to take the bucket filled with scraps from the kitchen down to the compost pile in the vegetable garden, dump it there and cover it with leaves. Given that in 2006, we generated 4.6 pounds of waste per person per day, I wanted to see if I could reduce my contribution to the landfill by turning organic waste into rich compost, which in turn is nutrient-rich food for the plants. I consider it a flaw in our current waste disposal system and a lack of foresight that it doesn't allow for easy composting of household organic waste like fruit and vegetable peels, egg-shells etc. A well-designed system based on ecological literacy should have compost bins in every community, along with community gardens.
J. had bought the bin online, but I was feeling adventurous and decided to build it on my own even though there are ready-made composting bins available for sale. It seemed a simple project and not having any prior experience with carpentry wasn't enough to deter me. So I took some measurements, came up with a design based on J.'s bin, went to the hardware store and bought all the raw materials - wood, nails, screws, staple gun, drilling bits, wire-mesh/metal sheet and wire-cutter. It took me two days to build the vermicomposting bin and I was quite satisfied with the finished product.
Next, I ordered the worms (red wiggler, Eisenia fetida) from Flowerfield Enterprises in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Then I started my online research on vermicomposting, and spent much time going through the archives of vermicomposting forum at Gardenweb, which in my opinion is one of the best resources out there. The more I learned, the more I realized what a beautiful and simple idea it is to provide food scraps to the worms and have them convert it to rich soil in a few months, instead of throwing them into a landfill. While my worms were in the mail, I caught up with the likes and dislikes of worms, the pH balance and how to trouble-shoot certain situations like fruit-fly infestation. As someone who shares the house with others, my other concern was the smell. But J.'s bin didn't smell at all, and upon further research, I found out that a well-functioning bin shouldn't smell - it starts smelling if something is off. My house-mates were supportive enough, or if they disapproved of the idea, they kept it to themselves. The location of the bin was bit of a concern but it worked out.
So the worms arrived and were introduced to their new home. I started collecting food scraps in the kitchen and added them to the bin. It worked fine for a few months and then the worms began to leave the bin. There was a periodic exodus, and no amount of changing the conditions in the bin helped. Finally, the entire population died. I was quite sad and spent some time analyzing the situation, and came to the conclusion that it was probably the wood ash that I had added to the bin. Or maybe there was some bug infestation that was incompatible with the worms.
A few months passed and J. agreed to give me some worms to re-start the bin. I'm glad to report that the worms were given their new home and seem to be doing well so far. I also came across Dr. Ismail's urban vermicomposting efforts in Chennai, India - both at micro and macro levels. What if you're not a gardener or don't have a garden? What to do with the rich soil? Well, I'd think that many of us have indoor plants and this soil makes nutrient-rich compost tea. The finished product can be a gift for friends who do have a green thumb and enjoy gardening. Or a neighbor. Once you get started, the possibilities will start appearing.
The pictures below are from the first attempt at setting up the bin, but I followed the same steps this time too.
If you're interested in some fun reading on vermicomposting, here are some resources that I found helpful:
I tried to get a highly recommended book Worms Eat My Garbage (Mary Appelhof) from the library, but the single copy was for library use only. If you've had experience with indoor vermicomposting, please leave a comment and share your thoughts. I'd love to hear from you.
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13 comments:
Wow...you have my admiration for attempting vermiculture indoors, no less! Good luck. Was surprised BF asked me the other night where he might purchase worm poop! Since I live in the country, I do lazy composting - big bin, throw in eggshells, shredded paper (but not too much), veggie waste. Don't even bother to turn the pile most of the time. The outcome is still the same, just takes longer. Dad composts, but he tends to his pile regularly, and in his warmer locale, has the most beautiful compost (black gold!). Anyways, good luck on your vermi-poop adventures :-). That is cool.
Jackie: Thanks! I hope the critters like their (new) home and the food. It is more challenging than outdoor compost pile, because the conditions have to be ideal for it to work. Glad to know you also compost - living in the country makes it a bit easier I guess. It's perfect method to get black gold! :)
Love the article. Quite an adventure. Could you share your bin plans with us? Have placed a comment on my blog - Gardeners World Online.
terri ann: Thanks for stopping by. Sure, I'll post the pics and measurements in another post. Good luck with your garden!
wow, it looks so nice-n-tidy!
emily: You mean the bin? From the outside, yeah.
You have my admiration too Amit! This is one of things I always wanted to do and I think one of these days I just might!
Nita: Thanks, but it's too early for pats on my back. :)
I'll have to wait for a few months and make sure that the vermicompost box is working fine, and I don't massacre the worms this time.
I never even heard of such a thing, thanks for sharing this info.
zen: It's not that common in urban places, though a compost pile is standard on farms. Using worms makes it possible to compost indoors.
That's a lovely indoor bin, Amit. I wish I could persuade my husband to get with this plan. As it is, he looked aghast when I said I was going to compost veg. scraps from the kitchen in the yard, an experiment currently waiting for the resumption of the warmer seasons.
I have a huge black trashbag with holes poked in it, with alternating layers of leaf mulch, grass clippings and vegetable scraps/crushed eggshells/tea/coffee grounds in it, sitting in a tiny corner of my kitchen garden.
I will wait a few more months till spring to see how this 'el cheapo' composting method turned out.
Then I will spring for a nice $200 compost tumbler, or blackmail hubby into using his woodworking skills and tools to make one for me.
Sujatha: Welcome, and thanks for sharing your experience. The misconception and knee-jerk ickiness about compost smelling bad is the most difficult to get past. I myself was a bit unsure till I saw the actual vermicompost bin and found out that it doesn't smell if everything is working fine, whereas the compost pile in the garden does advertise itself. In fact, my friend had her bin as a side-table in her living room with her guests being none-the-wiser!!
Good luck and hope it works out for you! If your husband is the adventurous type, actually it's somewhat cheaper and quite easy to build it.
This inspired today's post. I hope you take it in the spirit in which it was written :)
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