Allison – if you snip up your bags they should eventually break down. They certainly don’t break down quickly at mesophilic temperatures, but I’ve found that they do degrade over time. I simply rip them up a bit and leave them be.

Mark – I would love to hear how your tests have gone with those materials. Sounds like fun!

Mike – that is a really interesting question. I don’t know for sure, but my hunch would be no. If anything I almost think it would be a benefit since it might help to buffer the acidity a bit. I think that once the concrete has set it will be pretty resistant material, so very little (if any) harmful stuff will leach out. Again, this is just my hunch!

Factorial – I hear you. The grapes do look rather nice in the photo – if you saw a close up though, it would be pretty clear that they were past their prime. If you have read my “you know you are a worm-head when” post, you will also know that I can be a little ruthless when it comes to ‘cleaning out the fridge’ – haha.

Waneta – I should have added a “Do not try this at home” warning at the bottom of the post – haha! There is definitely some risk of having ‘annoying’ population explosions of things like fruit flies. Most (maybe all) of these wastes were frozen ahead of time so that at least eliminated the chance of introducing fruit flies – and there aren’t too many flying around at this time of year so I wasn’t too worried. I do seem to have a bit of a gnat party going on downstairs these days, but nothing too crazy (and believe me, I’ve seen CRAZY!).

Sherry – yeah, I’m pretty mellow about such things. I’ve been fascinated with all sorts of different critters since I was a kid so I don’t have too many problems with a well-developed ecosystem – haha
I DO however try to keep the peace with my wife, so flying critters are dealt with and prevented as best I can. I know you might not like this suggestion, but you might think about leaving the lids of your bins for a number of days (perhaps shine a light over top to make sure no worms get curious). I certainly have mites in my bins, but ever since switching to open systems I’ve been amazed by the reduction in numbers – they seem to like it really wet.

Berwick Worm Farm – I think brown paper is actually the best to use, since it doesn’t contain dyes or bleaches. It is really the only type of paper I use on a regular basis. Dryer lint should be ok, but this depends (as Sherry mentioned) on whether or not you use dryer sheets. I currently don’t, so I save my lint (will be setting up a worm bin using ONLY lint as bedding material very soon). It takes a long time to break down though.

Red Icculus – Not sure how to respond to that, but it did make me laugh.

Stacey – welcome to the site! I’d love to hear more about your parent’s operation in the 70’s.

Sandrella – that sounds very normal to me. Worms LOVE moisture and shelter.

John #1 – What exactly you are using for food is always the determining factor. I could add well-aged manure (mixed with bedding) until the cows come home (and provide me with more manure – haha) – it would be impossible to overfeed with this material (since it is basically a ‘habitat’ as well. Adding 20 lb of watermelon pulp to a small bin on the other hand, could leave you with watermelon liquor and a lot of drunk and dead worms on your hands (hopefully not literally – haha). Food waste in general needs to be added in moderation.

John #2 – I have now added an update. Thanks for the kick in the pants.

http://www.redwormcomposting.com/fun-stuff/over-feeding-challenge-update/

I’ve been recently gifted a handful of worms and have set up a home for them in an empty salad container under the sink. Your blog has answered a lot of questions I didn’t even know I had

My worms seem content, eating food and making cocoons and poo, but they are often lying at the very bottom of the bin under all of moist bedding. Does this sound normal?