I received a fantastic email from one of our readers (Barbara), informing me about a handful of news articles focused on the topic of worm composting. I was going to start up a brand new category here on the blog so I could post all news mentions there, but realized that we do indeed have a category called “News” – so this will be the new home of these types of posts. If you come across vermicomposting news stories – please do pass them along!
“Diners in the basement: Restaurant feeds worms too”
This is a VERY interesting article (from the Associated Press) about a restaurant in Idaho that uses a lot of its food waste (~ 100 lb a day) to feed a large worm composting bed in the basement.
Here is the intro blurb:
For eco-restaurateur Dave Krick, it’s not just about where his food comes from, but also where it’s going.
And in the case of his Red Feather Lounge and Bittercreek Ale House, some 100 pounds of it a day are feeding an extra 200,000 diners — Vermont red wiggler worms that live in the restaurants’ basement, working around the clock to turn kitchen waste into nutrient-rich compost.
Be sure to check out the full article >>HERE<<
“Worms are an easy-to-love fertilizer”
This article provides a decent overview of vermicomposting, written from a beginner’s perspective. He mentions “African Red Wigglers” as being the most commonly used worms which is definitely misleading (the most common “African” composting worm is the African Nightcrawler, and they certainly aren’t used nearly as often as Red Worms).
Here is a blurb:
A starter population of a half-pound (200 to 300 worms, or about two handfuls) goes through about five pounds of well-chopped kitchen scraps a week, a process that can be speeded up by first freezing the food (thus breaking up cellular walls). They can be fed daily or less often, and the finer the dice, the more the worms eat and the faster they reproduce. Avoid wheat, citrus, garlic, bones, dairy and oil. They’re fine with onions, shredded newspaper, coffee grounds (and paper filters), tea bags (remove the staple). They love melon, including the rind.
I always caution people about these guidelines regarding how much worms can eat, but I definitely agree with the idea of chopping and/or freezing the wastes first!
Anyway, be sure to check out the full article >>HERE<<
“Turning garbage into gold”
This is an article about worm composting in Palo Alto California.
They might not have names, but the worms in Kristen and John Anderson’s College Terrace worm composter are still the family’s pets. Eight-year-old Sophie loves to play with the wriggly critters and John says they do seem to have their own personalities.
Read the full article >>HERE<<
Thanks again to Barbara for sharing these!
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