Worm-farming tips from Maggie, aged 2

Showing that even the youngest of children can rise to the challenges of worm farming, our friend Magdalena, two, stepped in to look after her worms recently.

One day while feeding the worms with her grandparents, she was quick to spot something new – ants.  Grandma told her this was due to the worm farm bedding being too dry, creating conditions that appeal to ants.

The solution was to gently add some water. Wormery bedding should be neither wet, nor dry. If you squeezed the bedding material it should feel moist with minimal water dripping out.

So Maggie filled up her watering can and got to work, sorting the worms out and making sure they had conditions just as they like them – moist and dark, covered by a few sheets of newspaper as a blanket (or cardboard, or hessian) to keep them feeling cosy and safe.

Then she sensibly washed her hands – which is when things went a bit wrong. As you can see from the photo, the worms and ants weren’t the only ones getting a bit wet!

Maggie somehow got in the way of the water, whether on purpose or not who can say? It’s all in a day’s work for a two-year-old worm farmer.

It’s fantastic to see that Maggie now loves worms. When she first watched her older brother Reggie looking after the worms she was a bit apprehensive and took a back seat but now she appreciates them for the wonderful work they do.

Keeping worms cool

It’s important that wormeries stay moist. In hot weather you can flush your worm farm with half a small bucket of water (5L) once a week to keep conditions moist. When doing this, replace the liquid collection tray with a container that will hold the sudden influx of water.

The moistened bedding sorted out the ants issue for Magdalena, but if you have a repeated problem you could follow this advice shared by wormery guru Mary Appelhof in her book Worms Eat My Garbage:

  • Set the legs of the worm farm in coffee cans with mineral oil or soapy water in the bottom. Any ants would get trapped in the oil or soapy water and would not be able to enter the wormery.  

And so to bedding

Worm bedding is a major component of a wormery. It has several functions, providing:

  •  moisture retention
  •  a medium in which worms can work
  •  a place to bury food waste

Bedding also provides a carbon source which will feed the worms; they will eventually consume the bedding as well as the food waste.

The bedding provided in the Maze Worm Farm is coconut coir, which is a great choice as it is clean, odourless, moisture-retaining, easy to prepare and worms thrive in it.

 Cocount coir, often called coco peat, has a fluffy soil-like texture. It comes compressed in a block that expands when placed in water. Because it has good water-retaining capacities, it can also be mixed with other bedding materials to aid water retention. Coir is a natural by-product of the coconut industry. In the past when coconuts were harvested for their meat and juice, the husk was considered waste until its many uses in horticulture were appreciated.

 In the first few days of setting up a new wormery it’s important that the worms acclimatise quickly and they find coco coir to be a hospitable environment thanks to its fluffy soil-like texture. Coconut coir will get your worm bin off to a great start but an established wormery should happily accommodate other freely available carbon sources.  

Other suitable bedding materials:

  • Shredded newspaper in strips 3-5cm wide. You can use a shredder or tear the strips by hand.
  • Leaf detritus from the bottom of a pile of decaying leaves, or compost.
  • Wood chips – some wormery enthusiasts report that these are excellent when mixed with leaves or other materials that are capable of holding moisture.  Wood chips provide bulk and create air spaces throughout the bedding. You can pick wood chips out when harvesting vermicompost from the wormery and reuse them.  

TOP TIP

It can be useful to add a handful or two of soil when initially preparing bedding. This helps to control moisture, acidity and texture as well as adding some grit to aid in breaking down food particles within the worm’s gizzard. It also introduces an inoculum of a variety of soil bacteria, protozoa and fungi which will aid the composting process.

Mary Appelhof is an inspiring champion for worm farming, describing it as a way to ‘save the world – in your own backyard’.

 In her book she says that through worm farming you will see mounds of waste converted to material you can use on your houseplants and in your garden.

‘You will enjoy healthier looking plants, better tasting vegetables and money in the bank.’

Let’s end with her wonderful description of the added value that worm farming provides.

‘Hopefully you’ll also gain a better appreciation of the intricate balance and interdependencies in nature. You will be treading more gently on the Earth.

As your gardens are enriched, so is your life and mine. You will have joined the worm-working adventurers who say, ‘Worms eat my garbage.’ Isn’t that a grand beginning to a task that needs to start somewhere? You, personally, can make it happen.’

Which composter is best for me?

An image of a green johanna

If you’re new to composting it can be difficult to know which bin (or system, if you like to think in systems rather than bins) is best for your home and lifestyle. Our handy guide can help.

Food waste composter/digester

The Green Johanna Food Waste Composter and Green Cone Food Waste Digester are both designed to accept foods that regular garden composters don’t, such as cooked food, meat, fish and dairy, so all your food waste can go in together. Compare them to see which one best suits your needs.

Green Johanna Food Waste Composter

  • Produces compost.
  • Also accepts garden waste.
  • Added waste should be a balance of nitrogen-rich content, commonly called Greens, (food waste/fresh grass cuttings/fresh green leaves) and carbon-rich content, commonly called Browns (chopped branches and twigs/wood chips/dead leaves/shredded paper and cardboard).
  • Comes with aerator stick provided to aerate the contents regularly.
  •  Ideally placed on soil or grass
  • One Johanna accepts the average food waste of a household of five and the garden waste from an average-sized garden.
  • With hot composting techniques, higher temperatures are reached than with regular composting.

Green Cone Food Waste Digester

  • Must be dug into a hole in free-draining soil (not clay or chalk).
  • Accepts all food waste, even bones.
  • Doesn’t accept garden waste or paper waste.
  • Doesn’t produce compost – instead it produces nutritious water which drains from its underground basket and feeds surrounding soil.
  • No turning or stirring required.
  • Uses solar energy so requires a sunny spot.
  • Comes with kitchen caddy provided.

Lack of space?

Worm farms

Worm farms, also called wormeries, are ideal for small-scale composting and for introducing children to the fascinating world of worms, which is an education in itself.

  • Require a sheltered spot.
  • Worms will digest many kinds of foods cut up into small pieces and other kitchen waste such as shredded paper, egg cartons, scrunched up newspaper.
  • A little management is needed to maintain the ideal environment for your worms, so be sure to read the instruction booklet.
  • Produce excellent worm-made compost – vermicompost – for your garden.
  • Learning fascinating facts about these tiny eco-heroes is sure to turn children into composters of the future.

Bokashi Bins

  • Kitchen food waste bins that can sit on a worktop or under a sink and accept all chopped-up food waste.
  • Food waste is fermented, resulting in a pre-compost mixture which can be added to a compost bin or wormery, buried in soil in the garden or in large planters in order to break down into compost.
  • Requires the addition of friendly bacteria in a bran or spray to accelerate fermentation.
  • When full of food waste, the container is left sealed for two to three weeks for fermentation to take place anaerobically (without air).
  • Nutritious liquid is drained from a tap at the bottom of the bin and can be used diluted as plant fertiliser or concentrated as organic drain cleaner.
  • Bokashi comes from the Japanese term for ‘fermented organic matter’.

Choosing a compost bin – by the experts

This advice – in note-form taken from a webinar by master composters from Garden Organic – provides extra help.

Green Johanna – reaches higher temperatures – as an enclosed unit it offers greater rodent protection – the twistable top controls ventilation – the solid perforated base means liquid can drain out and micro-organisms can enter – if adding meat, add small amounts, mixed with lots of greens and browns – aerate the top layer every time you add materials – for speedier composting an insulating jacket is available. An alternative way of taking compost out, rather than accessing through the hatches, is to loosen the screws and lift off one or two sections.  Composting slows down in winter but the Johanna continues well and does better than other composters.

Wormery – small and self-contained – ideal for small amounts of waste – year-round composting – can be indoors – worms eat the bacteria on the organic matter – no spicy foods or citrus, only small amounts of meat – food scraps are placed on the top section, casts fall to the bottom. Use the worm-made compost on pot plants or round trees and shrubs. NOTE: If the liquid that is produced smells bad it has gone anaerobic and should be flushed away.

Also:

  • Wormery compost is a great improver to shop-bought compost; you can buy the cheapest of composts but turn it into black gold with the addition of your vermicompost.
  • Sheds are not a good place to house a wormery due to temperature fluctuations – a garage or indoors is better.
  • If you need your worms to move out of way as you harvest casts, add melon or banana – worms love these and will obligingly wriggle over to them.  
  • Don’t forget that with a wormery you are responsible for living creatures.
An image of a toddler using a worm farm. She looks very happy!

Bokashi bin – ferments waste instead of composting so the contents need to be transferred to a composter after a couple of weeks – this pre-compost  acts as an activator in your compost bin – Bokashi bran is needed – fermented contents of the bin will still be recognisable (some people expect compost) – produces liquid which can be used as a drain cleaner or diluted as fertiliser – good to use two bins to keep the process going – ongoing bran purchase required.

Man emptying food into a bokashi bin

Best ways to raise compost temperature

If your compost bin has cooled down, there are several steps you can take to help raise the temperature by making conditions in the bin ideal for heat-generating micro-organisms.    

  1. Aerate

The aerobic bacteria that get compost hot need oxygen to breathe. Regular aeration – about twice a week – reinvigorates microbial activity.  

 In the immediate aftermath of turning there will be a dip in temperature but ultimately it will result in a higher bin temperature for a longer time. After a couple of days, you should notice things are heating back up. Aerating the contents will prolong the time that the bin stays at these temperatures. As heat-creating bacteria proliferate they use up more oxygen so regular aeration is needed.  

Aeration also helps all the materials to make their way to the heat in the middle and to decompose at an even rate, as well as distributing water and nutrients to all areas.  Without air, the contents will turn anaerobic – the breakdown process will slow down and the contents start to smell unpleasant. 

  The aerator stick that comes with the Green Johanna has retractable blades which release after you have pushed the stick into the compost, helping to stir the materials.

An image of a man mixing composter in a green johanna with the aerator stick

If adding food waste in home compostable bags, use the aerator stick to split the bags open in several places to ensure microbes can easily access the waste. Tearing the bag up means it will also decompose faster.  

Tip – For deeper aeration, a manure fork is lighter and easier to handle than a garden fork.

2. Check moisture

The heat a compost pile generates can lead to dry spots.  Stirring enables you to check how dry the compost is inside. As you aerate you can check moisture levels to ensure the compost isn’t dry, especially if the bin is in a sunny spot.  Bacteria need moisture to move around the compost. But if there’s too much moisture, air will be forced out of the bin. With experience you can tell by looking.

The ideal moisture content is around 50 per cent. You can check by using a moisture meter or by doing the squeeze test – wearing gloves, grab handfuls of the bin’s contents and squeeze. Only one or two drops of liquid should appear. The ideal consistency is like a wrung-out bath sponge.

 If compost is too wet there is less air for the microbes – if this is the case, add carbon materials and aerate. If it’s too dry, add water from a small watering can with a fine rose spray and aerate so moisture is spread through the bin.

The presence of a lot of ants is a sign the compost is too dry; a lot of slugs means it’s too wet.

TIP – If you need to water compost that is dry, use rainwater from a water butt if you can – it’s naturally soft and free from minerals and salts and treatment chemicals. This also saves on using tap water. If compost is only slightly dry, add wet materials such as coffee grounds and fresh grass in small amounts.

3. Chop or shred

Items should ideally be 2 to 5cms.Smaller items provide a larger surface area for more microbes to work on.  The more micro-organisms at work means faster, hotter composting of waste.

TIP: If you have a lot of dead leaves throw them in an empty dustbin or compost bin and whizz them up with a strimmer. Or you can spread them over your lawn and mow, so you shred the leaves as well as grass, giving you a useful mix of nitrogen and carbon.  

4. Provide air pockets

Carbon-rich materials are often called bulking agent. They add structure and substance to the compost; high nitrogen materials can compost very quickly down to very little. They also trap air through the compost, getting oxygen to the aerobic microbes, and absorb excess moisture, which makes them essential to add alongside foods with a high moisture content such as cooked foods and fruit waste.

Cardboard can be torn into strips or squares. Look out for corrugated cardboard in packaging; the holes are great for adding air pockets. Other good sources of air pockets are egg cartons and the tubes from toilet rolls, which can be added whole.    

TIP: Wood chips (from untreated wood) are great for adding airflow, providing food for fungi and absorbing moisture from wet foods.   

5. Store carbon

It’s well worth the effort to prepare plenty of bulking material ahead of time.  If not, you might be tempted to skimp on the carbon that’s needed in the bin if you don’t have it ready to hand. 

 In home composting, food waste is usually plentiful (providing nitrogen) but carbon takes a bit more preparation. Prepare it in advance and keep it near the compost bin in tied bags or lidded containers – an old dustbin, empty composter, or lidded plastic tubs – so it’s ready when needed.

Doing this in autumn when you have lots of garden waste will keep you going through winter. Don’t let it get wet or it will start to break down.

Many people bag up and store dead leaves in autumn so that they’re readily available throughout the year.  Then when you add food waste or grass cuttings to the bin, you can add your carbon at the same time.

Some of our customers get into the habit of having cardboard tearing sessions while watching TV (don’t knock it till you try it!), or they get the kids involved as a family activity, introducing them to the basics of composting.   

Always cover fresh waste with a layer of carbon to prevent smells that could attract pests.

TIP: Cardboard is easier to tear into strips when wet.

6. Add soil

A quick way to add more beneficial microbes is to add a bucketful of soil or mature compost. A single teaspoon of soil can contain up to 100 million bacteria and 400 – 800 feet of fungal threads.

TIP: A layer of soil added to the top of the contents of a full bin that’s going to be left to mature will reduce heat loss and conserve water.

7. Try Bokashi

The fermented contents of a Bokashi bin turn into pre-compost – added to a compost bin this acts as an accelerator and speed up decomposition.

Great Green System carried out trials using the contents of a Maze Bokashi Bin that had been left to ferment for three weeks and were then added to a Green Johanna. Temperatures in the Johanna rapidly increased over a few days from around 36 degrees to 66 degrees Celsius (see photos).

Pre-Bokashi – compost temperature at about 36 degrees Celsius.

The fermented contents of a Bokashi bin are added.

Post-Bokashi – compost temperature is raised to about 66 degrees Celsius.

8. Add DIY accelerators

Nitrogen-rich materials that provide a useful boost to the composting process include chicken manure, bird feathers and grass clippings.

 Fresh grass will quickly heat up the compost and decompose rapidly, providing ample fuel for microbial activity, but too much will clump and turn slimy so it needs to be added in thin layers.   

Other accelerators include nettles or comfrey leaves, fresh or wilted, laid in a thin layer.

9. Ventilation

With a Green Johanna, if the weather is very cold, limit ventilation through the lid’s ventilation system – twist the lid towards the minimum setting to keep heat in the bin.

10. Fit the jacket

Add the Green Johanna’s Insulating Jacket – this provides insulation to retain heat but is easily removed if the compost temperature is getting too high (above 70 degrees Celsius).

The jacket is designed to fit snugly so that cold air can’t circulate round the bin. Follow the instructions so the vents in the base are left exposed and the top jacket sections overlap the one underneath by a few centimetres. This ensures that the vents at the top and bottom of the Johanna are kept free so the ventilation system can work efficiently.

TIP: In autumn and winter ensure the vents at the bottom do not get covered by leaves or snow.

Top 10 tips for composting in schools

Composting is a fantastic opportunity for communities to get together to create a greener environment.

Nowhere is this more valuable than in schools, where children can be taught skills that will last them a lifetime.

Composting enables people to take responsibility for their own waste and deal with it in the most environmentally-friendly way – onsite where it is produced – reducing the energy and cost required to transport it further afield for treatment.

 When people compost they become aware of how much waste they produce; as a result they tend to waste less and recycle more.

What is composting?

Composting is the natural process that occurs when insects, worms and micro-organisms break down organic waste (food scraps, garden waste, paper waste) into a nutritious substance – compost – that can be used to feed soil and plants.

By managing the composting process, we help the micro-organisms to thrive and produce compost faster.    

What are the benefits of composting?

Composting is one of the most worthwhile things you can learn. There are only a few rules, and you only have to learn them once – the laws of nature don’t change. This knowledge will serve you well through life.

Composting:

 * creates free nutrient-rich soil food for your own use

* retains moisture in the soil, so reduces the need for watering

* helps plants to grow stronger and healthier

* cuts the amount of waste sent to landfill or incineration

* reduces your carbon footprint

* has a positive impact on the environment

*  inspires children to become composters of the future

How to make it work

Compost bins are not ordinary bins; some degree of management is needed and there are a few golden rules to follow.

Experience has taught us to give composting communities the following advice:

  • At least one person/member of staff should have overall responsibility and check in on the composter every couple of days to prevent issues developing.
  • Ensure as many people as possible have access to an instruction manual so they get to know the three golden rules: the balance needed between materials; aeration; moisture levels.
  • In a school, composting should ideally be a whole-school project. For example, a lot of carbon-rich materials will be needed and it’s much easier if this can be stored in lidded containers so it’s ready for use. This can prompt fun activities such as cardboard tearing sessions. Children could also bring cardboard from home to get parents involved too.
  • To educate the whole school – staff as well as pupils – put up posters giving basic composting information for everyone who will be adding organic waste to the bin. We have A3 posters available for schools and groups, or children could design their own.  
  • Help everyone to understand that every time a caddy of food waste is added to a compost bin (adding nitrogen-rich materials) this should be followed by an equal amount of carbon-rich materials.
  • Many schools produce a lot of fruit waste, especially in the younger classes, and this needs particular attention as it has a high water content which can create a soggy mess if it’s not balanced with appropriate materials and aerated well.  Sawdust works well as a biofilter to absorb unpleasant smells. Fruit waste and sawdust should be added in thin layers and mixed well.
  • It’s a good idea if someone can keep the composting going during holidays by taking waste from home every couple of days so the bin continues to be fed.
  • Teach children that micro-organisms are living creatures, and the composting process is all about nurturing them.
  • Our blog – Compost School – a guide for absolute beginners – is a useful aid for lesson planning. It’s written simply for children to understand but is also aimed at anyone who may not have composted before.
  • Master composters are people who are passionate about composting and have trained as volunteers to share their composting knowledge. They visit schools and groups to offer advice. Check with Garden Organic – www.gardenorganic.org.uk – to see if there are any in your area.

If all goes well, your composting project can expand to compost even more waste by using several compost bins or a Ridan giant tumbler, which has a cog and gear system that makes the handle easier to turn.

 Get a ‘compost chief’!

Projects involving a lot of people can hit problems if composting methods are not followed by everyone.

Occasionally, Green Johannas have been used in schools as general wastebins for food waste, without the necessary balance with carbon-rich materials, and this has inevitably led to problems. This has usually been the result of there not being a nominated ‘compost chief’ in charge.

Disappointing experiences give the impression that composting doesn’t work, which isn’t the case, so we are keen to help where we can.

What about the Green Cone?  

If you think a Green Cone Food Waste Digester might suit your aims, consider the following points:

  • You need a sunny spot in well-draining soil (not clay or chalk) where you can dig the hole required for the Cone’s underground basket.
  • One Green Cone can accept the food waste of the average family of four – about 1kg per day.
  •  Food waste lands in the underground basket; once the underground basket is full, you should stop adding waste until there is space in the basket for more.
  • Regular additions of accelerator powder are recommended – aim to use one sachet per month. Accelerator powder contains beneficial bacteria which digest the waste and boost the breakdown process.
  • As this is a food waste digester rather than a composter, no compost is produced. Instead, a nutrient-rich liquid seeps from the Cone’s underground basket and feeds surrounding soil.
  • The Green Cone doesn’t accept garden waste or paper waste.

Helpful advice

Some people are put off composting because of a fear of pests, but there are steps you can take to make a compost bin and the surrounding area so unattractive to unwanted visitors that they will go somewhere else instead. Read our blogs about how to deter pests and flies.  

How we can help

We are keen to support community composting projects. We can send you several copies of the instruction manuals for the Green Johanna and Green Cone so they can be shared out, as well as colourful A3-size posters about the Green Johanna.   Contact us at [email protected].

Benefits of the Green Johanna’s jacket

  As the temperature outside plummets so the compost in your bin might cool down, but by maintaining good composting techniques you can keep your compost ‘cooking’ even in the coldest winter periods.

In the case of the Green Johanna, adding the insulating jacket also helps.

The Johanna pictured below in January in Leeds kept its compost warm at 40 degrees Celsius while the ground temperature was at zero.

This particular Johanna received all food waste from a family of four, rising to 10 people over the Christmas period. Carbon sources include stored shredded leaves from several trees in the vicinity, as well as Christmas paper waste such as cardboard packaging, compostable wrapping paper and Christmas cards.

The Great Green Systems team tend to keep the jackets on our Green Johannas for most of the year, not just in winter, as we’re based in the chilly north of England.      

Don’t worry that using the jacket will make the Johanna too hot for worms, as one customer suggested. This is not a problem because worms can easily enter and leave the composter through the small holes in the base plate. At temperatures approaching 30 degrees Celsius they will move where it is cooler, usually the bottom of the bin where the compost is maturing, or they can leave the bin entirely.

 The jacket is made from foamed polyethylene – a lightweight, water-resistant material that is tough but flexible and designed to fit snugly to prevent cold air from circulating round the Johanna. It’s made for Great Green Systems by a specialist foam manufacturer in Northamptonshire.

When fitting the jacket, it’s important to ensure that the bottom section doesn’t cover the vents at the sides of the Johanna’s base as these are necessary for airflow.  

The jacket should be installed with the two upper sections pulled down so they overlap the section underneath by about 5 cm. Doing this means the ventilation holes are left clear.

Green Johanna wearing the Insulating Jacket

 Also check throughout autumn and winter that the vents at the bottom of the Johanna are not blocked by leaves or debris or snow. Air is taken in at ground level so keep this area clear so that air can enter freely.

The jacket can easily be removed if the compost gets too hot (above 70 degrees C) in warm weather. Compost thermometers, which have a stem to reach down into the compost, are a useful aid.    

  • TIP: Give the bin’s contents a boost by adding beneficial bacteria in bokashi bran or a layer of soil or mature compost. You can also add coffee grounds or chicken manure to add a hit of nitrogen to your mix.  

Johanna planner for winter:

  • In freezing weather limit ventilation through the Green Johanna lid’s ventilation system – twist the lid towards the minimum setting.
  • Wood chips are a great addition, creating airflow and adding plenty of fungi to the bin.
  • Keep adding to the bin – ideally about three times a week – to maintain the composting process. The Johanna’s generous 330 litre capacity means the compost mass acts as an insulating factor. 
  • Chop items up. Smaller items provide a larger surface area for more microbes to work on. 
  • Aerate regularly – about twice a week – to ensure the aerobic microbes breaking down the waste get enough air.  Without air, the contents will turn anaerobic and start to smell.   
  • Check moisture levels – by doing the squeeze test; grab handfuls of the bin’s contents and squeeze. One or two drops of liquid should appear. The ideal consistency is like a wrung-out bath sponge.

Worm farming – like father, like son

One of our young eco-friendly friends, Thomas, aged 8, was delighted to get his very own worm farm recently.

Despite his tender years, Thomas is not a total novice. He’s grown up appreciating the wonderful work that worms do as he’s watched his father tend an old-school wormery that’s been in service for an impressive 35 years since the late 80s. That decade has a reputation as the materialistic yuppie era, but according to Thomas’s dad there was also a growing holistic community too, which didn’t attract as much media attention as the yuppies but was quietly thriving in the background.

Thomas’s dad saw the wormery advertised in an organic seed catalogue and has never looked back. This holistic-minded community has obviously grown and grown as the world has caught up with the philosophy that we’re all linked to the world around us.

Thomas is following a long family tradition of gardening, composting and veg growing, showing that great habits get passed down the generations. We need those great habits now more than ever. Wormeries are a great way to recycle food waste into nutrient-rich compost to feed the plants in your garden.

Thomas might be following in Dad’s footsteps but he’s also relishing having his own little worm community to care for.

In the photo taken in January, when the worm farm arrived, Thomas is seen making sure the worms are settling in well, with a cardboard cover to hand to provide the dark conditions that worms like.  A strip of hessian sacking or a few sheets of newspaper can also be used as ‘blankets’.

A few months later, and with milder spring weather, Thomas is able to manage his worm farm without being all wrapped up!

The wonderful world of worms

  • Worms produce top quality compost (vermicompost) which is richer and more nutrient-dense than ordinary compost, providing you with fertiliser for healthy plant growth.
  • Worm farming is easy composting; your hard-working worms do all the work in turning the compost and by their tunnelling actions they aerate it too.
  • Managing a wormery is a great project for children, showing them how to care for tiny living creatures that are essential to the planet and to us. Children also learn how to follow instructions, wait for results and develop observational and problem-solving skills, such as working out if conditions are too wet or too dry and what to do if a smell might be developing. (Wormeries should never smell bad, only fresh and earthy; a bad smell is a sign of overfeeding, which is easily remedied by feeding the worms less often and adding shredded cardboard to absorb moisture.)

On top of all that, worms are fascinating and fun!

Did you know?

There are over 9,000 species of earthworms, but only seven are suitable for vermicomposting.

A worm welcome

Tips to help your worms settle in.

  • Worm farms need a sheltered spot away from direct sun and rain. A shed or garage is ideal.  If placed outside, cover the worm farm with a tarpaulin in winter.
  • The Maze Worm Farm is simple to start up. There are two working trays; you won’t need the second tray at first until the first one is full. You need to line the first tray with 2/3 sheets of wet newspaper.
  • Coconut peat is provided for the worms’ bedding. This is soaked in water for 30 minutes, then added to the layer of wet newspaper.
  • Worms like a dark environment so cover them with a blanket. This can be any fabric made from natural material, such as hessian, or several sheets of newspaper or cardboard.
  • Leave the worms for a week before adding any food scraps so they can settle into their new home.
  • Feed your worms chopped-up fruit and veg scraps, small amounts of bread/cooked rice/pasta, moist cardboard, teabags, coffee grounds, crushed eggshells.

When I got the kids a wormery

It can be hard buying presents for the children in your life; you don’t want to get it wrong and add to a pile of unused clutter in their household.   

Last Christmas I thought long and hard before getting gifts for my best friend’s grandchildren – Reggie, 6, and Maggie, 2.

I always like to get practical, useful things – I’m not bothered about being popular (‘Oh great, another swimming cap/homework bag from Auntie Julie.’)

But this time I really upped my game.

Eco gifts are gifts that keep on giving. It would be easy to drive children to despair about the climate crisis, but how much better to show them instead what they can do to help? Yes, tackling the climate emergency is a big job, but it’s one that each and every one of us – no matter how young – can play a part in.

And so I gave Reggie and Maggie a wormery.

Why? Because wormeries (also called worm farms) are a great way to introduce children to small-scale composting and the marvellous way that nature deals with waste. Not only does vermicomposting (from the Latin ‘vermis’ for worm) keep organic waste out of landfill, but it also shows how easily worms can turn our food scraps into a highly nutritious food for plants

Yes, there were quizzical looks from the kids as they opened the box – it was clearly not a fort or a unicorn castle – but they were very keen to set up the Maze Worm Farm and probably very relieved that it wasn’t a pack of thermal vests. As it was the coldest time of year, they set the worm farm up in the greenhouse, which provided warmth and shelter for the winter, and waited excitedly for their worms to arrive. (The worms come separately through the post from a supplier of specially selected composting worms.)

The children’s reaction when the worms arrived was a mixture of ‘Eurgh’ (Maggie) and ‘Ooh’ (Reggie).

Reggie was keen to show how brave he was and gently introduced a worm to his sister, who also became brave but was happy just looking. They made a cosy home for the worms, providing a blanket of newspaper to keep them warm and safe in the dark.   

Reggie and Maggie noticed the worms were not very active for a few weeks, probably because of settling in at such a cold time of year, but then they soon started tucking in (the worms, not the kids).

 Like most young children they were expecting fast results, so were surprised to learn it can take two to three months to get worm casts (poo, since you ask). You can’t rush these things…

Maggie and Little Bear waiting for worm casts

But when you do harvest the casts you realise why gardeners call this stuff ‘black gold’. One tablespoon of worm casts provides enough nutrients for a plant to thrive throughout the growing season.

Ten weeks in and Reggie and Maggie were the proud harvesters of some of this black gold.

It was great to see the change in Maggie’s attitude to the worms – she went from being afraid of them to become knowledgeable and confident looking after them.

Harvesting worm casts

Wonderful things about worm farms

  • They make great projects for children as this subject can grow in complexity as the child grows – it can be super simple for pre-schoolers but gradually takes in chemistry, biology, ecology, the food cycle and carbon cycle as well as gardening and growing your own food.  
  • Children will develop respect for these humble but mighty creatures. Through tunnelling, worms aerate and improve the soil, providing nutrients for plants to flourish. Without them the earth would become cold, hard and sterile.
  • Studies have shown that the simple act of introducing worms to degraded soil in poor regions of the world has increased plant yields by 280%.
  • Worms are easy to feed on vegetable and fruit scraps, coffee grounds, tea bags, and crushed eggshells.
  • Convenient to set up indoors or outdoors in a sheltered spot.

Encouraged by how well Reggie and Maggie took to vermicomposting, I decided that when it came to Easter they didn’t need yet another boring Easter egg from Auntie Julie.

Not when there are other fabulous presents to be had, such as membership of the Earthworm Society!

 I like to think they’ll thank me one day.

Julie

Leaf mould turns autumn leaves into garden gold

If you’re tired of taking bags of autumn leaves to the tip or paying the council to take them away, why not turn them into leaf mould instead?

Leaf mould is a fabulous soil improver that’s produced from decomposed autumn leaves that have been left to rot down. It has similar properties to peat – it helps to rebuild soil and store carbon – but has the benefit of being a renewable resource.

Like compost, it will improve the physical structure of your soil, increasing water retention by around 50 per cent. It also provides a habitat for earthworms and beneficial bacteria.

Making leaf mould was our family’s entry into composting. Our garden is swamped with leaves every autumn as it’s overlooked by several trees.  The cost mounted as we paid the council to take away our bags of raked leaves, so we finally decided to get two 900L Graf Thermo King composters to reap the benefits ourselves. 

What to do with autumn leaves?

The Royal Horticultural Society encourages gardeners to leave autumn leaves on borders as they encourage worm activity and increase humus content in soil. But leaves have an annoying habit of not staying where they’re put; they tend to team up with the wind to dance around and end up on the lawn or path, and in our case the hallway too.

 So it’s good to keep a balance between the leaves you sweep and the leaves you leave. Leave the leaves on soil and around trees and hedges as they replenish the soil with nutrients as they decompose, providing food throughout winter. Removing leaves can contribute to the slow death of trees from malnutrition. Leaves also protect tree roots from weather extremes.

If the leaves are dry they will blow away so dampen them with rainwater from a water butt to weigh them down a bit.

 Although leaves create a habitat for insects and pollinators, too many can attract rats and ticks so don’t let huge piles grow. Rake them off lawns and plants to prevent them smothering growth.

Stockpile for compost

Keep some leaves in storage for your compost bin; stockpile them so you have readily available Browns (carbon) to balance the Greens (nitrogen). Most people find they have a ready supply of food waste providing them with nitrogen-rich content but finding carbon-rich Browns can be harder, especially through winter.

  • Store dry dead leaves in old compost bags or lidded containers next to the compost bin so they’re ready when needed. 
  • You might want to wait until all the leaves have fallen unless you don’t mind a lot of raking.

How to make leaf mould

Making leaf mould is a simple, relatively slow process, relying on the action of fungi rather than the faster heat-generating bacteria of the composting process.

  • To collect the leaves, you can rake them up into a pile or set your mower on a high cut setting and mow them up, using the grass collector added to the back of the mower. This mulches them up for you. You can also use a shredder.
  • Shredding the leaves increases the surface area in contact with microbes, speeding up decomposition. Shredded leaves also take up less space if you don’t have much room to store them and they’re also less likely to mat down in a bin, excluding air from the compost.
  • You can also whizz them up with an edge trimmer in a dustbin (like using a food stick blender) or use a pair of hedge clippers and a board.
  •  Some leaves break down more quickly than others. Evergreen leaves take far longer to rot and should only be added in small quantities.

Storing leaves

The most basic way of storing leaves is to keep them in a black bin bag, pierced at the bottom and sides to allow the contents to breathe.  If the leaves are very dry, moisten them before putting them in the bag. You don’t need to add anything else – just the leaves.

If you prefer a container, the Thermo King compost bins that we use make life simpler because:

  • Two large flaps make it easy to remove compost.
  • The lid allows humid air to escape and is adjustable to summer and winter weather conditions to regulate air circulation.
  • The base allows micro-organisms to enter whilst deterring rodents.

How can I use my leaf mould?

If leaves have been left to rot for two years or more, they can be used in seed-sowing compost or mixed equally with sharp sand, garden compost and soil for use in potting compost. The leaf mould will be dark brown in colour with an earthy smell and crumbly texture, like compost.

  • As mentioned earlier, leaf mould makes great mulch and soil improver, and if less than two years old can be used as autumn top-dressing for lawns or winter-covering for bare soil. Soil needs more winter cover than you might imagine – around 5 – 7cms.

Autumn glory – leaves left around the trees at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield.

A clean sweep

If you can’t bear to see leaves going to waste, why not join the eco-warriors all over the world who sweep pavements in their neighbourhoods to collect leaves for composting? A few words of advice if you do:

  • Don’t sweep busy streets because the leaves could be contaminated with pollution from traffic fumes.
  • Stick to quiet areas or alleyways where there is no traffic so no fumes and no soil/trees needing to be fed over winter. On pathways leaves are wasted, either creating a slip hazard or dispersed by wind and rain. You just need to watch out for hidden dog poo.   

Julie

Why should I compost?

‘I don’t garden so why should I compost?’ This was what a friend said to me recently.

Where to start to answer this question?

Composting is an obvious activity for gardeners – you make your own top-quality plant food by recycling your organic waste.

 Like my friend, I too am no gardener.  I started growing a few things during the pandemic and finally realised when I saw the transforming effect of plants why gardeners do what they do.   

But the point I tried to make in answering my friend was that it wasn’t for the sake of plants that I started composting but for the sake of the soil itself.

A health soil sign that reads 'Healthy soil is the beating heart of organic growing - full of life and support life'.

 When I learned a few years ago what magical powers compost has in rebuilding the poor, degraded earth of the Earth, I realised that composting was a no-brainer.

The health of our soils is fundamental to life as we know it, but according to the charity Garden Organic, half the planet’s topsoil has been lost in the last 150 years.

And yet there’s something we can all do about it! Home composting might seem a small act on an individual level but multiplied by millions it’s huge.    

Climate crisis ally

For instance, did you know that one of compost’s superpowers is to help soil capture carbon in the atmosphere and pull it down into the ground? Along with oceans and forests, soil is an important carbon storage medium. And yet we’ve been letting the organic ingredients for compost rot in landfill for years, emitting greenhouse gases instead of capturing them. It makes no sense to throw nutrients away as rubbish when we can easily separate them to speed up the natural breakdown process.

 According to WRAP, the waste reduction charity, a home composting bin can divert approximately 150 kg per household per year of organic waste from landfill or treatment centres.

Save our soils

The minimum we can all do is to ensure that soil is not left bare. Bare soil is vulnerable to erosion, weeds and carbon loss.

  • Cover soil with mulch and just leave it. Chuck it on in layers of around 5cms. You can cover borders, around shrubs, trees and bushes. Worms will come up and take the compost back down into the earth where it will improve the soil structure.
  • Compost also helps worms to thrive, and they need all the help they can get, under onslaught as they are from chemical sprays, artificial grass and the paving-over of gardens.    
  • Give your lawn a boost by spreading compost thinly over it. Worms will pull it down into the soil, which will boost soil quality and by extension the grass.

Benefits for us

Michael Kennard (pictured) the founder of the food waste collection service Compost Club, has studied soil biology and is keen to spread the word about how soil is the foundation of our health. If we destroy it, it’s to our detriment.

‘Everything is a reflection of the soil,’ he says. ‘If the plants have that natural cycle going on, they’re really healthy. When we eat those plants, that’s what informs our gut health.’

Other benefits that compost provides include:  

  • preventing erosion
  • improving drainage
  • encouraging worm activity. Studies have shown that the simple act of introducing worms to degraded soil in poor regions of the world has increased plant yields by 280%.
  • preventing flooding. As more and more gardens are paved over there is less and less earth to absorb heavy rainfall. In order to slow down runoff and encourage water infiltration into soil, swap paving for plants and mulch, or ensure paving is permeable. In his book The Science of Gardening, Dr Stu Farrimond says that covering soil with mulches in late autumn protects it from pummelling winter rainfall (each bullet-like drop travels up to 20mph).

Benefits for plants;

Used on plants, compost holds on to important nutrients, improving the plant’s quality while also protecting it from pests and diseases.

 As compost breaks down further, it releases important nutrients into the soil, including the main nutrients that plants need: nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. Compost also increases the number and variety of beneficial bacteria and fungi in the soil, which helps plants to grow.

The ability of compost to absorb water is important as it’s able to slowly release water to grass and plants so they need watering less frequently. This is obviously vital in hot weather and droughts. Studies on compost’s water-retaining abilities have shown that for every 1% of organic matter content, soil can hold 16,500 gallons of plant-available water per acre of soil down to one foot deep.

Compost also helps water to get to plant roots more effectively by reducing crust forming on soil, so water can get into the soil more easily, and by helping to disperse water laterally from where it hits the ground, which means it will evaporate less quickly.

But I don’t have time to compost

Composting can be as time-consuming as you want to make it. If you’re pushed for time, go for cold composting.  If you want to invest a bit more time and effort, try hot composting, which means a wider variety of food waste can be added to the bin and compost produced faster.  

Or use bokashi bins, which ferment food waste thanks to the addition of beneficial bacteria in the form of a bran or spray. Once it has been left to ferment for a couple of weeks, this pre-compost mixture can then be added to a composter.

People whose local council operates a food waste collection might think, Well the council composts my food waste, so I don’t have to. But many people take the view that if they are already separating food waste to leave out for the council to collect, they might as well compost this valuable resource themselves at home for the benefit of their own garden or allotment.

 By 2026 all councils throughout the UK will have to comply with regulations requiring them to operate separate food waste collections.  

There are around 15 million gardens in the UK. We call them ‘our’ gardens but of course that portion of the earth isn’t really ours – we’re merely its custodians for a while.

Once you see the difference you can make to that tiny patch of the planet, without much effort, you can’t help but become a compost convert.

Julie

What are Browns and Greens in composting?

 Many beginners ask this question when they start out composting.

The terms Browns and Greens can be a useful description for the carbon-rich and nitrogen-rich organic materials that are needed to provide composting creatures with a good diet.   

These insects and micro-organisms have basic requirements for food just like the rest of us. If the balance is wrong they won’t be as happy and won’t decompose the organic material as effectively. But don’t let this put you off.  Anyone who composts is constantly figuring out how much carbon to add to the bin. It becomes an interesting hobby and – dare we say it – fun.  

Nobody is going to come round giving your finished compost marks out of 10 (unless that’s the way you roll) and it’s unlikely you’ll get a mob of angry worms waving placards at your door. (If you do, be sure to upload the footage on YouTube.)

The micro-organisms need protein (which is rich in nitrogen) for growth, and sugar (rich in carbon) for energy, much of which is released as heat.

Dead leaves and woody waste, such as twigs and branches, are rich in carbon, and green grass and green leaves are rich in nitrogen. So, we think of carbon as Browns and nitrogen as Greens.

An image of a very full Green Johanna composter

When it comes to garden waste, it’s easy to remember that dead leaves and branches are Browns while fresh leaves and grass are Greens. But confusion can arise when it comes to waste that’s not from the garden. Not every brown item is carbon-rich and not all Greens are green in colour. For example, coffee grounds and manure might be brown but they’re not composting Browns; they’re rich in nitrogen, so are classified in composting terms as Greens.

Nancy Birtwhistle says in her book The Green Gardening Handbook that she finds the traditional Browns and Greens compost terminology confusing, preferring to think in terms of Wet and Dry contents.

 Michael Kennard, of the food-waste composting organisation Compost Club, makes the same point in his booklet How to Hot Compost – The Basics. He encourages beginners to think in terms of nitrogen and carbon content (C:N ratio).

The ideal C:N ratio is considered to be 30:1 but it would be difficult to calculate this exactly as every item has a different ratio. Most plant materials are a mixture of both, but more carbon than nitrogen as they get older and tougher.  

A good guide is to simply add equal amounts of carbon to nitrogen, then observe and make adjustments if your compost lets you know something is wrong. For example, if it starts to smell, there’s too much nitrogen (and poor aeration). If breakdown is very slow, there’s too much carbon.

Here’s a quick guide to common organic materials for composting:

GREENS: NITROGEN

  • Food waste
  • Fresh grass clippings
  • Fresh annual weeds
  • Flowers
  • Plant debris
  • Seaweed/kelp
  • Coffee grounds/filters
  • Tealeaves, tea bags (non-plastic)
  • Natural fabrics (cotton, wool) 
  • Herbivore manure

BROWNS: CARBON

  • Dead leaves
  • Shrub prunings – twigs, branches, stalks
  • Cardboard – tape and stickers removed
  • Pine needles/ cones
  • Corn cobs (may have to go through the composting process several times)
  • Brown paper bags, scrunched up
  • Sawdust from untreated wood
  • Straw
  • Cardboard egg boxes
  • Wood chips
  • Newspaper and junk mail

Keeping carbon

A little planning goes a long way when it comes to having enough carbon content to hand.  Gardens usually provide plenty of nitrogen in summer and carbon in autumn. Many people bag up and store dead leaves in autumn so that they’re readily available throughout the year. Store these leaves and other carbon-rich content near your compost bin in lidded containers or tied bags so they don’t get wet and start to break down.  Then when you add food waste or grass cuttings to the bin, you can add your carbon at the same time.  

Grass mowings are a good compost activator but if a large amount is added at one time the compost can become too wet and the grass can clump together. So, add grass in thin layers, alternating with layers of dead leaves or paper.

Remember that chopping or shredding Browns increases the surface area in contact with microbes in the pile, which makes for faster breakdown. Smaller pieces also make turning the pile easier.

A chipper/shredder can save time and effort or use a pair of hedge clippers to chop materials on a board.

 

Spare Parts