Vermicomposting: compost made by worms

The vermicomposting technique consist in using the end-product of organic matter produced by some earthworms, to create an compost worm aerator for the soil, the vermicomposting does not produce heat and besides making compost we can use the worms we breed to aerate the Garden soil. When trying to reach a compost pile of high quality, we can even use these technique after we have an already made compost pile.
Things we need to make Vermicompost:

• Bin
• Bedding
• Worms
• Organic Material

Worm Bins or Tumblers

Vermicomposting bins must be solid, opaque (because worms don't like direc sunlight), it must be closed to avoid leaking certain smells and keep away the flies and other undesirable insects. Besides, the bottom should have draining and ventilating holes. In case the vermicomposting bin is left outside, it's advisable to treat the bin surface with special paint and and the inner side of the vermicomposting bin could be treated with wax. To maintain the perfect aerobical conditions the horizontal bin extension is much more important than the depth.
The relation between size and organic matter should be: 1 square meter per 10 pounds of kitchen waste added. For the vermicomposting process to be eficient enough we need 3 pounds of worms per 10 pounds of organic material in the compost pile. If the amount of worms is little compared to the amount of orgnaic material, the vermicompost will produce undesirable smells, until the worms reproduce.

Bedding in Vermicomposting Bins

Bedding is the living medium for worms and also the place where they obtain part of their food. Bedding provides the earthworms an aerobical medium capable of maintaining humidity.
Between the materials that we can use are: newspapers, aged animal manure (vegetarian animals), saw, straws, dried leaves. We must never use glossy paper because it contains toxic materials.

What kind of worms to use to make Vermicomposting

Genus Name: Eisenia
Species Name: Fetida
These worms are better known as: red wiggler, manure worm, tiger worm etc.

Worm Feeding

These worms only feed on kitchen waste, they are not able to compost Garden waste, because the temperature produced by these king of organic matter would kill them.
Between the regularly used material for feeding the worms are: fruit , fruit peels, bread, eggshells, coffee grounds. Never add to many acid fruit peels,

Vermicomposting worms Care and maintenance

The red wigglers are more comfortable in a dark medium, humid and with moderate temperature.

• Red wigglers don't like light, that is why the vermicomposting bins must be tapped.
• The medium must be humid but not wet, we must bear in mind that worms are aerobical beings, that is why water should not be present.
• Worms tolerate temperatures between 55 to 70 degress farenheit. (13 and 25 ° celcius)
  

Harvesting the vermicompost

The vermicompost contains worm excrement, and little amounts of organic decomposed material, and partially decomposed material. In order to obtain a vermicompost with higer amount of worm waste, the vermicomposting bin could be left alone for a while, but this technique is risky, because the worms could died in the absense of food and the toxicity produced by their own excrements.
There are several methods to separate the vermicompost:
The first method is setting apart the bedding material until covering half the vermicomposting bin., a division must be put as we lay more bedding with food in the other side. After a while we can expose the other side to direct light so the worms go deeper and we can extract the vermicompost ready to use.