Comments on: Composting Worms In Your Backyard Composter

By: Johanna

Johanna — Mon, 09 Sep 2013 03:42:56 +0000

Hi there, we are newbies – who just bought a lakeside cottage with a nasty old mildly-abused black backyard composter (located in the shade). We’ve started it up again with our kitchen scraps, but have no yard waste (yayy – no lawn!) We do however have lots of seaweed that washes up on our beach, which I’ve raked up (catching some sand with it) and added in equal parts to the kitchen waste in the bin. Is the seaweed (and the sand) going to cause a problem if we want to add worms. Can we use dew worms instead (my fishermen always have plenty around), and what if anything can we do to ensure that they survive over an Ontario winter? Thanks

By: Anna

Anna — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 15:59:06 +0000

Thanks :). That’s what I was imagining but would hate to assume.

By: Bentley

Bentley — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 15:37:10 +0000

Hi Anna,
Not sure about natural toxins (although you certainly wouldn’t catch me tossing in fresh materials from any known toxic plant, just in case) – was thinking more in terms of pesticides/herbicides etc.
Lots of grass clippings at once can be an issue because of ammonia volatilization. Woody debris just takes forever to break down and (unless really rotten and/or chopped to bits) isn’t really a great vermicomposting material.

By: Anna

Anna — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 00:43:38 +0000

When you say “huge amounts of grass clippings, woody materials, and anything containing toxins will impede the process, potentially even killing off your worms,” what are you thinking of with respect to toxins? Are you thinking of naturally occurring toxins (e.g. juglone from black walnuts) or something else.