2 November

Well, here we are over a month in and all is going well.  I've been putting a 2litre ice-cream-tub-full of waste in the wormery (spread over one half of the surface area) about once every week to ten days, and that seems to be working well so far.

I had to go away on business for a week mid-October and they suffered no ill-effects while I was away - good job too, as I'll be away several more times before the end of the year!

We've had a couple of frosts already (although it's warm again now), so I'm ready with the bubble-wrap to give them a bit of insulation, stop them from slowing down in the cold, and keep them wriggling and munching ...

They're making great compost, although still little to no 'worm tea' - I'm being careful not to put too much wet waste in, so that may be affecting it.  I don't mind, the tea is a bonus really, and I only expected to get it over the summer. 

I'm hoping that the worms will do well over the winter, and may decide to split them to start a second wormery next summer - I'll have to see how they breed over the winter though.

Pictures

Got the camera out and took some pictures, now that we're into the fourth week of feeding.

Here's the wormery with the lid and the top layers of paper off:

The worms you can see on the top were in the top layers of paper.  The next layer is ripped up cardboard (from the base of a box of wine - gives the same effect as eggboxes).  To the left you can see my old wormery, which is now growing peas!  They had germinated after being thrown away...

To the right is the lid of the wormery and the papers that were removed.

Here's how it looks with the cardboard removed:

You can see the remains of each week's waste, with this week's in the bottom left corner.  Top left was week 1, and the lettuce and carrot stumps are growing in the compost, rather than being broken down and eaten.  Top right was week 2 and the bananas are all but gone, a few bits of skin that were attached still remain.

Bottom right was week 3, and the teabags and bigger bits of carrot are clearly visible.  Of course all of this week's waste is still there, although there is plenty of mould growing on it already.

Now, here are some (slightly fuzzy, admittedly) pictures of worm eggs...

This one was on the top layers of paper...

This one at the top of the wormery, between week1 & 2 waste...  This one looks more developed, and I can see at least two baby worms in it...

This one is in amongst week 3's waste, and looks fairly new.

I'm really happy with the way it's going so far - hopefully it will continue this way through the winter!

Week 6

Another good week - it's all going well so far!

Added quite a large amount of waste this week - made tomato soup with some of the produce from the lottie.  After the first cooking, the soup gets passed through a sieve to remove the skins, seeds etc, and this pulp all went into the caddy.

I've been putting each week's waste into a different corner of the worm tray, as per the instructions, so thats the last corner filled.  Will take a picture later to show the processing of each week's waste - what's still left and what has been transformed into lovely compost...

Worms are still nice and active, although we did have a night that dropped to 7C this week, so I've saved some bubblewrap from a parcel that I will use to insulate the wormery when the weather cools down a bit more.

Week 5

Third week of feeding - a handful of kitchen waste, inlcuding the mouldy end of a loaf of bread, went into the wormery today.  Have started keeping two pots for waste in the kitchen, one with softer stuff, and the other with harder stuff and worm-averse items like onion and citrus.  Not sure how the worms feel about my 'green tea with lemon' teabags, so am limiting how many go into the wormery caddy.

There are still lots of carrot stumps and the cut ends of the fine beans left from the first week of feeding - in fact the carrot tops have started sprouting!  The bananas have mushed well and are being processed quickly though.

Now seeing quite a few worm eggs, and the original bedding has been turned into lovely 'black gold' compost.

I am however, finding a few slugs in the top of the bin, usually in between the layers of paper.  I pick them out and get rid of them when I find them. I think they have either come in on the wet paper (which was left outside for months) or in the soil that was added on the first day, rather than climbing in after the bin was set up.

Any liquid collecting in the sump still seems to be rainwater dripping through rather than 'worm tea' as it's clear in colour.  I'm just draining this off to prevent the level rising too much and drowning the worms (who are still occasionally popping into the top sump levels for a visit).

Week 4

There was still a fair bit of waste left from last week - not unexpected as some of it was a bit 'hard' (carrot stumps etc) and not as soft as the wrigglers like.  Only added two very soft bananas (not the skins) on Wednesday so as not to overfeed.  This morning there are lots of worms crowded around the mush so they seem to like that....  :)

The top layers of paper tend to dry out a bit, especially at the edges, so I've started using a water sprayer to damp them down a bit every few days.  Basically when I check them every couple of days, I peel back the papers, and if they feel dry I give them a few squirts of water.

Found my first worm eggs this week!  Very exciting...  :)  Also found some worms mating on the top shelf in the sump...  Moved them carefully back into the tray - hopefully not interfering too much with what they were getting up to...  The 'earth' definitely moved for them though!

Week 3

Gave the worms their first handful of kitchen waste yesterday morning - mostly lettuce stumps, carrot, kenya beans and tomato stalks, with a few breadcrumbs from the chopping board.  I carefully picked out most of the onion peelings as there were quite a few in there (I'd had burgers in the week, and frankly you can't have a good burger without fried onions).

We've had some cold nights here the past few days, so I'm not expecting the worms to be too active, although the days are nice and warm still.  I'll check them tomorrow and see how they're doing, but according to the instructions, that handful should last them all week (or longer)...

Monday, Week 2

Checked the wormery this morning after leaving it alone for 3 days.  All looks well - there were 8 worms on the top 'shelf' of the sump (water only reaching the bottom shelf) so I returned those back into the tray and checked the food situation.  Almost all of the cereal feed is now gone, so on Wednesday I'll give them their first kitchen waste.  All is going according to the instructions so far!

Friday, Week 2

Gave the worms a quick check today - we'd had a lot of rain again and I just wanted to be sure they hadn't suffered.  The previous wormery unit I'd been using suffered very badly from letting water in when it rained, and would often have up to 2 litres of water in the sump after a hard rain.

No worries - the worms were all snug and damp, but not drowning.  There was a bit more water in the sump but nothing too concerning.

I peeled back the top layers of damp paper to see how much of the cereal they had consumed in the past couple of days.  I was quite surprised to see most of it still there, although the edges had certainly been munched on, so I guess the instructions really are right and a couple of handfuls will last the the week...

I soaked off some ripped up egg boxes and put a layer on the top of the compost to make sure they still have plenty of air, then replaced the damp paper layers.

Will check them again in another couple of days.

Start of Week 2

All was well this morning - no worms found hiding under objects I had carefully placed (just in case), and no worms in the sump.  Over the previous week fewer and fewer worms had been found in the sump each morning, which I have taken as a good sign that the habitat was becoming more to the worms' liking.

I opened up the wormery and carefully removed the top layers of damp paper, putting them in the upturned lid for safekeeping.  There was a fair amount of bits of compost and I didn't want to lose any potential worm eggs that might be included in this 'litter'.  Only a few worms found lurking between the layers of paper.

As I'd been extra careful not to poke the worms about during the first week, it all looked a bit compacted under the paper so I carefully ran my fingers through the compost and shredded paper to aerate it a bit (and to check for worms!).

Plenty of little (and big) wrigglers in there so I'm now confident that the gaffa tape did it's job last week.

Sprinkled over a couple of handfuls of the supplied worm food and put the damp paper layers back on, then replaced the lid.

Will check it again in a couple of days and make sure things aren't getting too compacted.

End of Week One

It's been an eventful week, taping up the wormery every evening (having to dry it off first in the wet weather), unsealing it again every morning, and checking for escapees...  The new gaffa tape was clearly inferior as in the very wet weather it didn't give a very good seal, and there were a few absconders for a couple of nights.  I found a fair few hiding under the wormery itself, and a few more under a patch of weeds close by.  Some more were under some trash by the wall, so hopefully I didn't lose too many in all.

Tonight I plucked up the courage to not seal the wormery...  How would it go?  Would they all make a bid for freedom the minute the sun was down?

I checked just after sundown and there was no sign of escaping.  I held my breath (not literally) and cooked my dinner.

After dinner I checked again - still no sign of escaping!  I breathed a sigh of relief...

Looks like they have finally settled in and are happy with the surroundings.

Tomorrow they get another couple of handfuls of the supplied feed - it'll be another week before the instructions say I can start putting food waste in for them to chomp on.

So far, so good!

Day three

I remembered to seal up the wormery before heading out yesterday evening, thank goodness.

First thing this morning I was out the back door, gently taking the tape off again and checking for escapees.

As usual there were a few trying to get out through the gaps, but not able to quite make it all the way.  There are some small holes in the corners of the lips of the trays and lid, and some worms generally hide in there if they can, although I'm careful to have enough gaffa tape to cover the corners well.

More worms in the sump again, although less than yesterday - all transferred safely back into the bedding tray along with the ones in the lid and round the edges where they tried to escape.

I think sealing with gaffa tape is working, although I'm hoping that the worms settle down soon and I don't have to keep this up for too long.

It's a little hurtful that I've spent all this time, money and effort to provide a lovely home for them all, and all they want to do is bugger off and find somewhere else...

Day two - the first morning

Out the back door promptly this morning to check on the worms.  The seals all looked good and there were no worms stuck to the gaffa tape, so I peeled it all back carefully and check for signs of escape.

No sign of escape except for two worms under the lip of the front of the top of the tray - they seem to have made it through the gap but been kept in place by the gaffa tape, so hopefully none lost last night.

Still quite a few in the sump, so these were transferred back into the tray.

Worms all seem nice and active and healthy, so it's back to 'leave it alone and don't poke it' for the day.

Have bought more gaffa tape for the sealing process tonight.  I'm out this evening so must remember to do it before I leave!

Night One - not quite the Great Escape!

Having made sure that I read and re-read the instructions carefully, I remembered that the worms usually try to escape from the wormery during the first few nights....  During the day they will stay put as they don't like light, but once the sun goes down, they will start investigating and looking for somewhere more to their liking - the wormery will still be a bit 'sterile', rather like a brand new house that smells of paint and new carpet.  Some like this, some don't - those that don't will start looking for somewhere else.

So, just after sundown I popped out the back door with a big torch (my outside light isn't working right now) and checked the wormery.  Yes, the little wrigglers were making a bid for freedom!  Dozens of them were up on top of the paper and in the lid - thankfully none had actually made it out of the unit yet.  Quite a few had also managed to make it past the barrier at the bottom of the tray and were in the sump.  There are 'steps' in this sump tray as it's quite normal to have a few worms in there when things are working normally and the worms can crawl back up into the tray.

Out with the gaffa tape and the lid was sealed onto the tray and the gap between the base tray and the sump was sealed too.  That should keep my little soldiers in their new home for the night...

If my outside light was working, I'd have left that on all night as that would also have stopped the worms from trying to escape.  I considered bringing the wormery indoors for the night, but was dissuaded by my housemate, who didn't fancy dodging escaping worms during the evening of early morning...

Fingers crossed...

Day One - setting up (18 August 2010)

Two days after ordering, the kit arrived.  Marked 'URGENT - LIVE WORMS' the courier bloke seemed quite amused that I was taking receipt, and commented on girls handling worms, and whether I was a keen fisherman...

I immediately opened the box and got out the instructions for setting up.  The website I'd ordered from was incredibly useful and I had been able to not only download the same instructions but also look at a slideshow of the setup process, so I was already prepared and felt comfortable that there would be no problems.

First job - soak the coir block (compressed coconut fibre) in warm water.  This is the first bedding material the worms will live in while they settle in.  Next, a small bucket of my own garden soil.  This helps to create the right environment for the worms as it has all the normal bacteria, insects and other life that the worms like in their habitat - a bit like providing them a nice sofa and comfy cushions to furnish their new home with.  Hope they like the colour scheme - my local soil is quite red!  The last pre-prepared item was a bag of shredded paper - I always have some anyway as I shred all my sensitive paperwork.

I followed the instructions, which went just as the slide show, and very quickly had the unit set up.  I had chosen a stacking system with 3 trays.  Each tray has a mesh base to allow liquid to drain through into a 'sump' at the bottom of the unit, where there is a tap to drain off the liquid (worm tea - a good liquid fertiliser).  New trays are added on top of each other as the wormery progresses and compost is formed.

One of the tips I'd read on the website was that the worms often descend down through the drainage holes in the bottom tray.  To prevent this, the first tray should be lined with something that dissuades the worms from going down, but still allows liquid to drip through.  Typically this is done with damp newspaper or cardboard, but weed control or landscape fabric has also been used to good effect by some users.

The worms are sent in a large bag maded of a material similar to weed control fabric, so as I had two bags, I transferred all my worms into one bag, and cut the now empty bag down the side and base to give me a flat piece of fabric.  This fitted quite nicely into the bottom of the tray.

Next, the soaked coir, which by now has swelled up and disintegrated as it should.  I made sure it was all broken up, then took big handfuls and squeezed out the excess water, and spread it out over the base of the tray.  Worms like it damp, but not wet, so it's important to squeeze out the excess water.  Once the coir is out of the bucket, the prepared shredded paper goes in for a soaking.

With most of the coir now in the tray, I added a few handfuls of my garden soil - I noticed a few creepy crawlies which is apparently a good sign, so was hopeful that the new worms would like it...

The worms then got put on top of the soil - they come in the bedding they've been living and breeding in, which looks like lovely black compost, with sme shredded paper mixed in.  Despite being in a bag in transit for at least 24 hours, they still looked good and healthy.  I spread them out gently - thankfully I am a keen fisherman and have never had issues with handling worms!

Next in the tray is a handful or two of the supplied 'worm food' - basically a fine cereal mix.  This is what the woms will eat for their first couple of weeks while they settle in.  They can't be fed kitchen waste at first, according to the instructions.

Now, my prepared shredded paper.  This was now damp, so like the coir, handfuls get squeezed out then spread over the worms.  The instructions say to give a good thick layer, up to two inches deep.

Lastly, a layer of damp unshredded paper - I happened to have an old yellow pages that had been left out by the back door and had got very damp, so I used that.  Found a few worms living in between the pages, so that's a good sign.  Again, a nice thick layer.  Worms don't like light, so it's important to ensure that it's nice and dark in their home.  When waste food starts to be put into the tray, it's a good idea to cover it quickly with a thick layer of damp paper as it helps prevent fruit flies laying eggs on the waste, and therefore reduces the amount of fruit flies that congregate around the wormery.  We'll see how this works as things progress.

On goes the lid and that's it - leave alone and don't poke it...

The First Failure and the start of the Big Project

I bought a wormery some months ago and like many first-time womery-users, completely failed to follow instructions, interpret warning signals or take remedial action, and so almost all of my worms died and I ended up with a soggy, smelly mess of rotting waste in my wormery.

Thus begins the Big Project.

Wormeries are quite expensive, so having spent this cash I wasn't about to see the money wasted due to my  own incompetetence - at least not until I'd given it a proper go...

I first investigated the options - should I buy more worms and then either a) add them to the existing mess, or b) clean out the existing wormery and start again with the new worms? 

I looked at how much waste I was expecting to compost - I live with a housemate who runs a small bistro, so although we as individuals don't have that much food waste, when we added in the amount that was being brought back from the bistro, we had rather more than the average family of four!

Most wormeries are designed for a maximum family of four, so I decided that I was going to need a second kit.  I researched the available styles and sizes, and chose the one I thought would suit my needs best.  All wormeries come with enough worms to get you started, but since I was having to replace worms from the first wormery as well, I added a second batch of worms to the order, and sat back to await their arrival.