Food Scraps = Compost

So last week found out how we could turn out food scraps into veggie broth, but the real solution here is composting, or vermicomposting if you like pets. I’ve been vermicomposting for about 3 years now and I will never stop. I have seen the light and will never return to the dark. Ignorance is not bliss! And so forth. Anyway, speaking from personal experience I know the idea of having a bunch of worms around sounds smelly, messy, inconvenient, and just plain gross, but the reality is they’re almost the opposite of those things. Once you get the kinks out there shouldn’t be a smell issue, it takes little time and effort to keep it up, and it’s incredibly rewarding. Just by starting our vermicompost we’ve cut our trash by at least half, not to mention the stink that comes from rotting food waste in your garbage.

So, how do you do it? Well here’s a good guide to starting things off, via The Herb Gardener:

http://theherbgardener.blogspot.com/2008/05/how-to-start-vermicomposting-bin.html

All you need is one or two plastic bins, a drill, some newspaper and, of course, some worms. Keep in mind that they are not the kind of worms you’ll find in your yard but ones you’ll either have to find at a bait shop, pet shop or maybe through your local cooperative extension office (http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/ – a great resource in general, BTW). The latter is how we got our last batch of worms, after having moved to Portland, Maine and passing on our first batch to neighbors.

As for follow-up questions, here’s a good FAQs page from Santa Cruz County:

http://www.compostsantacruzcounty.org/Home_Composting/Worm_Composting/worm_faq.htm

And, as always, feel free to ask any questions in the comments.