After scouring and studying other information on the internet, I decided to try the “Worm Farm 360” as a starter. The Worm Farm 360 was delivered promptly, shipped from the manufacturer in Washington State to the Midwest USA. Immediately after receipt of the “360” I ordered 2 Lbs of European night crawlers from a supplier in Michigan. The Euros took about ten days before they arrived and I was becoming concerned since I had received absolutely no acknowledgement of my order. Only after I emailed the supplier requesting acknowledgement of my order, a ship date, and tracking numbers did I receive the worms. Since I had paid with PayPal I was considering filing for a resolution with PayPal.

Sorry for the long intro, so I’ll cut to the chase, I did finally receive the worms today. Awaiting the arrival of the worms, I had previously prepared food for several days. The food consisted of the regularly suggested mixture of shredded veggies, coffee grounds, etc. and it was well on its way to deterioration.

Immediately after the postal service delivered the worms, I was off to the basement where I had already set up the “360” and had it initially prepared for the worms. Prior to depositing the worms, I mixed the coir (1/2 brick) and paper bedding material that came with the “360”. I left it mildly damp but certainly not saturated. Per manufacturer’s instruction, I placed ONE single sheet of DRY newspaper in the bottom of the first tray. (Here I notice a difference where I believe you state you used several layers of WET news paper on the bottom) After thoroughly mixing the coir, paper bedding, and adding about two handfuls of pumice, I placed the entire combination of material in the first tray making sure I kept it fluffed up as much as possible. After leveling the bedding with the small plastic rake (included with the “360”), I placed approximately 1/2 cup of food in each of two opposite corners of the tray. The worms had arrived in a sealed bag containing the worms and about 3 Lbs of additional bedding material. I deposited the worms in the center of the tray between the foods and gently leveled the bedding. The few worms that were exposed appeared to be lively and immediately started movement crawling out of their original shipping material. I then covered the entire tray with multiple layers of wet newspaper, replaced the top, crossed my fingers, and left the little wrigglers to rest and recover from their journey.

What now?

Now since it obvious I’m an amateur at this, I would appreciate any recommendations and suggestions anyone may have for me. If I did something wrong, feel free to be critical. If there is something else I should do, by all means let me know. Any and all comments will be appreciated.

Thanks for your indulgence………..
….Don (Missouri, USA)

JAMES – this will indeed be inside my home. There is definitely some “magic” to aerobic decomposition – what leads to most of the stink issues in bins is overfeeding and development of serious anaerobic zones.

While there were certainly some larger chunks in the mix, it was well on it’s ways to being pretty rotten. When I mixed everything up with the bedding materials it resulted in further breakdown of these chunks. Just generally having lots of bedding in the system helps to ensure that I won’t have any trouble with stink since oxygen will be able to penetrate the composting mass.
As for “bugging up” (haha) – like I said, I’m actually kinda trying to get myself in trouble in that department! hehe

I actually forgot a couple of supplies that come with the bin (coir and pumice) – will be adding these as well to make chances of any stink issues even LESS likely.

Just wait till you see what I add to my Worm Inn when I set it up! HAHA

Fun stuff! Thanks for sharing your thoughts
8)

I’m assuming you will operate this inside your home. Given that assumption, I was amazed at the photos of what you put in it. Seems like that would smell up and bug up the house big-time. And the seemingly large size of the stuff surprised me.

Of course, in comparison, my two small shallow indoor worm bins look like hospital wards! With everything cross-cut shredded, pureed, and/or frozen etc.