Wormeries and Vermiculture

As promised, I would like to have a quick look at the composters friend and workforce, the worm.

Many composters and gardeners will know that worms will naturally find a compost heap and through their activities, greatly assist the breaking down of the material in the bin. We can manipulate this ability of the worms and create a separate system called a “Wormery”. This can also be known as Vermiculture or vermicomosting.

A wormery is ideal for small gardens where you get very little, or no, garden clippings, yet want to compost vegetable and fruit peelings from the kitchen. They are also a great addition to the larger gardens or established composter, as they produce a very rich type of compost as well as a liquid fertiliser beneficial as a plant feed.

In these systems, small red tiger worms (or Brandlings) break down the kitchen scraps and recycle it into rich, dark compost. It is important to feed them little and often as they can suffer from overfeeding. Keeping the conditions right for them is important too as they need an ideal temperature of between 19-25°C for the microbes that start the decomposition of the vegetable matter to work. If the temperature starts to fall too low and the microbe’s activity slows, the worms will detect a lack of food, as the microbes make up part of their diet, and slow their own metabolism to conserve energy. After a while the food will pile up and start to putrefy and turn their home acidic. This could be avoided by housing the wormery in an area that has a more consistent temperature such as a shed or even under the sink.  They can live outside but would benefit from being insulated all year. This would keep them cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

There are many different wormeries on the market and your local council probably offers subsidised ones. You can also make a wormery fairly easily which would reduce the cost.