Apartment Vermicomposting - Revisted

Rich A.
#1. July 16th, 2008, at 5:06 PM.

How much waste do Sherry’s bins process? I have one bin (like Sherry’s green bins) and my family of 4 generates too much organic waste for it to handle (we do a lot of cooking and have a CSA vegetable share that generates a lot of scraps).

Sherry
#3. July 17th, 2008, at 6:00 PM.

Hi Rich,
Even though there are only the 2 of us, I cook from scratch and generate a fair amount of food for the lads. I give them potato peelings as well, which some people don’t. I figure I have about 5 lb of waste per week.

I freeze all my foods first. The worms can’t keep up to it otherwise, plus it eliminates fruit flies. Also, it’s a ready source of food in lean times.
I was planning on putting my tomato skins from the bushel of Roma tomatoes I buy each year, but have since read that tomatoes are too acidic for them. I may try a bit at a time, to see if they eat it. I’ll have to find out if other people use tomatoes in their bins.

Sherry

Mary Birch
#4. July 18th, 2008, at 5:00 PM.

I have a worm bin in my kitchen, and it smells good, like a rain forest or freshly dug soil. They only time it didn’t smell “right” was when I put in cooked beans. Needless to say, I save those for my compost pile.

And I do avoid tomatoes. I don’t peel off the skins anyway. When I make spaghetti sauce, I just put the whole thing in the food processor, and no one is the wiser. So far my worms favorite foods have been cooked brown or white rice and banana peels.

Best wishes, and thanks for a great photo, Sherry!

Mary

Sherry
#5. July 18th, 2008, at 6:38 PM.

Hi Mary!
Thanks for the kind words regarding my bin set-up. This is all in my spare bedroom of my apartment…I obviously don’t have any overnight guests!

I was quite interested when I read your post about your worms loving your cooked rice. A few months back I fed a previous herd some rice that we don’t like. I mixed it in some regular food for them. A day or two later I checked, and the rice was in clumps and steaming!
A lot of my worms succumbed to the heat. I’ve never fed them rice since. They did enjoy the feast of spaghetti a couple days ago.

Thanks for the tip on the tomatoes. I always simmer and peel them prior to making them into sauce etc. I’ll have to try it your way. Do you think peelings would be too acidic for them?

L.Bo Marie
#6. July 18th, 2008, at 6:54 PM.

funny thing… the quickest my worms have ever devoured something was a rotted tomato! the entire thing was gone in a day… but I don’t give it often, so I guess it doesn’t have a huge impact that way.

Sherry
#7. July 18th, 2008, at 7:05 PM.

I’d love to find out more from people who have experience with feeding their herd a fair amount of tomatoes. I hate to throw out all those tomato pieces and skins later this summer.

Nico
#8. July 18th, 2008, at 10:48 PM.

Thats a nice looking setup you have there Sherry. I just started my first worm bin, but will probably make few more soon.

Mary
#9. July 19th, 2008, at 3:08 PM.

Sherry,

Thanks so much for your comment about rice. It goes to show that what works well in one person’s bin might not work well in another; you just have to be careful. I’m thinking that maybe your temperature or humidity might be different than mine; or who really knows? But your comment is a good reminder to err on the side of caution.

By the way, your pix make me want to set up another bin.

Sherry
#11. July 19th, 2008, at 5:00 PM.

Hi Bentley
Great that you chimed in!!! Hope you don’t mind our little ramble here….

Your comment decided it. If tomatoes are good enough for your guys, they’re good enough for mine!! You’re the ultimate worm guru, after all.

Michael
#13. August 1st, 2008, at 1:32 AM.

That is a nice system. Have you considered creating a vertical or horizontal flow system?

I’ve also used tomatoes in my worm bin with no ill effects. I just do not use any citrus not that I eat much. If I do I sneak it into my weekly lawn clippings for the township. They have a town wide composting system. I just wish they’d use kitchen scraps too. I’d have a place to put all the melon rinds. My worms get some but we go threw 1 to 3 melons a week.

Sherry
#14. August 1st, 2008, at 1:45 AM.

Hi Michael,
I’m not sure exactly what you mean by horizontal flow system. Do you mean a design where the worms travel willingly from one bin to the next???

I haven’t fed them any tomatoes yet, but they do like grapefruit. We don’t eat as much as we should, but when I do feed it, they really like it. Perhaps all the pulp in the skin makes it more appetizing than just straight orange peels.

Sherry
#15. August 1st, 2008, at 1:46 AM.

I’ve been feeding my guys a fair bit of watermelon too, plus I’ve got some rinds in the freezer for future use.