Vermicomposting

Jeff went to a class on Saturday on how to do vermicomposting. That is composting using red wiggler worms in a container. No smell, and they produce wonderful worm castings to nourish gardens. The class was held at the Oshkosh Correctional Facility, a medium security prison in Oshkosh, a few miles south of Appleton. They have been doing this for years and have it down to a science. The inmates have built the sifters and turners, and feed the 330 containers made out of 55 gallon drums once a week. Each compost container starts out with shredded cardboard and 1 pound of cofee beans. To that they add 4 pounds of red wiggler worms. Weekly the worms are fed kitchen scraps, avoiding oils, meats and bones. After four months, the wigglers have increased to 8 pounds of worm, and lots of wonderful castings to add to gardens. The inmates use the castings to nurture the gardens that they grow on site to help feed the prison population, as well as other plants used for landscaping the prison grounds. They also bag up the worm castings and sell them to gardeners. Jeff said it was so interesting, the plants in the greenhouse the inmates built were absolutely incredibly lush and beautiful. We are planning on doing this on a much smaller scale (not 330 containers!) and display at Kindred Spirits Organics to help teach others vermicomposting techniques. Jeff picked up a rubbermaid container that we need to drill a few holes in and cover with screening to allow air to get in. He chose a clear container as the instructor noted its good to have some sunlight enter through the sides. Now we need to order the red wigglers. I found them in Backwoods Home magazine, $42.00 for 10,000 which will be more than enough. I am also trying to come up with a way to shred cardboard. I thought running it over with a lawnmower but perhaps there is a better way. I am so looking forward to creating more soil amendments for the gardens. It will be a nice complement to the other compost piles we have, and help teach people how to nurture Mother Earth and also cut down on scraps ending up in the landfill.