Invite worms over for a garden party

Worms can improve the soil for your garden. Enlarge

Do you ever run into a few worms when you are digging around in the dirt? If you do, then thank Mother Nature for blessing you with good soil. Those wiggly buddies make tunnels to create better air circulation in the soil and then, leave their waste droppings behind to feed the plants.

You can create a worm compost operation just about anywhere: your garage, office, classroom, and even under the kitchen sink. Recreating the worm's favorite place is the easiest way for them to start making some beautiful gourmet compost. It will need to be moist, soft, dark, and cool, so let's get started.

Wormville

It only takes a few ingredients to create your own habitat for worms. A plastic or wood tub with drainage holes works best, with shredded newspaper or cardboard, and a few leaves. Then top it off with about a cup of sand or soil, and toss on fruit and vegetable waste from the kitchen. And the most important ingredient is the worms. Red worms work best. A large container can hold anywhere from 500 to a couple thousand worms to do their business. They really love munching through food waste. You can find them online or at an outdoor supply store. You can figure you will need about 2,000 worms to go through a pound of food waste per day. Those are some busy worms!

Start with a container at least 12 inches deep and 2 inches wide, and 3 feet long. Keep the bottom of the container off the ground with blocks and catch the extra moisture with a tray or extra container lid.

Setting up the ranch

Leaves, shredded newspapers, and cardboard create the bedding. You can also add some peat moss and grass. If you add in different types of bedding, you will boost the gourmet factor of the finished product. About a cup of sand or soil will help keep the worm's digestive tract in sync.

Keep the bedding moist, but not too wet. Think of a sponge that has been rung out. Now, you can add fruit and veggie scraps to the ranch. Even egg shells,

coffee grounds, and tea bags can go in the ranch, but that is it. Don't add meat or dairy to the worm's haven. Just bury them in the soft newspaper.

What's that smell?

Sometimes your little composting project will smell a bit ripe. If the bin starts to stink, stir it up a bit to give it more air. You need to let your new little friends

and the micro-organisms catch up with you, so hold off adding more food waste until the pile has disappeared. Unplug the drainage holes to be sure you don't have extra moisture sitting in the bottom of the bin.

Wormy black gold

In about two months, the worms will turn the bedding darker with their waste. After

three months, push some of the compost to the side and add new bedding mixed with food waste to help the worms do their business. Your little buddies will move to the new bedding and you can take out half of the fi nished compost and sprinkle the fresh black gold on your garden.

Contact Kelly Heidbreder at:

kheidbreder@theblade.com