Composting with Worms

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Composting with Worms!

• Randi Mail
• Recycling Director
• City of Cambridge

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Topics of Discussion

• Find a good place to store bin
• Get a bin and worms
• Prepare bin and bedding
• Feed your worms
• Harvest and use the black gold
• Troubleshooting

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My weeks worth of trash after recycling and
composting
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Facts about Red Worms

• Why not other worms?
• What is their sex life?
• How do they eat, breathe, see?

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Get a bin and prepare it for your worms and find
a good place to store it
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Shred newspaper bedding for your bin
Moisten and wring out water or spritz with a
spray bottle
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Fluff damp bedding in bin
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What to feed your worms
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Store food scraps
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Spoon in food and cover up
Create burying locations
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Drain compost tea and dilute for houseplants
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Black gold!
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Harvest castings.
Mix with potting soil. Youve made compost!
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Add new bedding and start again
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• Too much food
• Not enough air
• Too wet
• Too acidic
• Stinky foods
• Wrong food no meat, dairy or oily foods

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Fruit Flies

• Avoid the problem
• Cover bin
• Dont overfeed
• Bury food
• Cut food up
• Control moisture acidity

• Get rid of them
• Vinegar trap
• Vacuum bin
• When all else fails, change bedding

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Wrapping it Up

• Who plans on starting?
• Resources
• www.cambridgema.gov/recycle
• www.wormwoman.com
• www.wormdigest.com