November 2015
Red Worms At Work
RWC Reader Tara H. recently wrote in to let me know about a cool article (on the “Rodale’s Organic Life” website) that included the video above. It features time lapse photographs (every 10 minutes!!) of an experimental vermicomposting system over the course of 20 days! Really cool.
Be sure to check out the original article for an interview with the people who created the video:
This Time-Lapse Video Of Worms Making Compost Is Awesome
Thanks Tara!
😎
Where Is My Beautiful “Black Gold”?
Good question from Kristi:
My worm red wiggler compost is very wet and brown not black like I see on
videos. I feed mainly greens along with paper egg shells and coffee. Am I
doing something wrong? I’m composting indoors in Worm Factory 360.
Hi Kristi,
Many a new vermicomposter has wondered the exact same thing – believe you me!
🙂
The long and the short of it is that it comes down to the oxygenation/moisture balance in the system. The challenge with plastic bins – even stacking flow-through bins like the WF-360 – is that they are incredibly effective at keeping in moisture and reducing air flow. In some cases this can be very helpful – especially if you happen to be a neglectful worm steward (like me most of the time – lol) – but if you are a fairly active vermicomposter it can result in a less effective vermicomposting process.
It is important to remember that vermicomposting involves the aerobic breakdown/stabilization of wastes. Excellent air flow not only speeds up the process, but it helps to (more…)