Apartment Composting 101: Vermicompost with Barb Finnin

UPDATE:

We have modified this original design to a shallower, more airy worm bin. Check out our new design here, http://ryanishungry.com/2007/09/14/ve... Cheers! Good Luck!
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Barb Finnin is part of the amazing Freshtopia team. She's a certified master composter- her specialty is Vermicomposting with worms. We were super excited to learn that we could compost in our city apartment with a homemade worm bin even though we don't have a yard. Throwing food scraps away in the garbage is not something either of us enjoys, so having a green alternative has been more than satisfying for our sustainability goals. After 4 weeks, our worms are happy and thriving.

Find out more about Vermicomposting and other forms of composting on Wikipedia. Visit Barb at Freshtopia.net.

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[menstrualcup]

That's great! I want to try but where can you buy those worms? are there a specific type for composting?

[RyanIsHungry]

yeah you should get Red Wiggler Worms. you can buy them online, just google it.

[menstrualcup]

ok thanks will give it a try. Im a little worried about the maintenance. I often leave for a week or more. will the worms be ok?

[RyanIsHungry]

yeah the worms will be fine. just load them up with some food before you leave. they are pretty self sufficient.

[Elledoubleyou13]

I live in an apartment and made a worm bin a few days ago that I keep in the kitchen- but in the late afternoon and night time I always find worms sitting up in the lid. Is this normal? or am I doing something wrong?

[RyanIsHungry]

worms on the lid is normal. ours is like that too. i think they just like to move around. if there are a lot of them on the lid or sneaking out, there might be too much liquid or it's too acidic.

[lMexMami]

awesome video! :) i started mine today !! thanks for sharing!

[gparks4269]

Great video! Does the compost make good growing medium for houseplants? Should it be mixed with anything else?

[shanelt4]

Smell should be earthy. Like potting soil. If it is too strong it could be that too much food has been placed in at once. Give the worms more time to work on the food. Also adding more bedding can help if you need to get it to stop smelling more quickly.

[Gina Lein]

Do you have any specific site that you recommend? I am just starting out and the reviews are quite mixed on places to buy the worms; I am unable to buy local so I have to go through the online sources. Many of the reviews say the worms have been dead on arrival, or have not had the indicated amount. Is there a reputable source out there?

[menstrualcup]

all right, good :)

[phunkybrats]

what is the smell like if there is? And if so what are people doing to reduce it?