As the Worm Turns
Clean and Easy Food Waste Composting
Commercial organic compost is expensive. Kitchen scraps are free! And combined with red wiggler worms they create a rich additive for most backyard vegetable gardens. Seattle’s native soil is primarily clay, so adding organic matter is essential.
We started composting with a plastic cone offered by the city. It was buried in the ground and seemed to do the job—until rats discovered the bounty and chewed through. We wanted the compost, but certainly not the rats.
My hubby decided to try a method he’d read about. We purchased two 30-gallon, galvanized metal garbage cans with tight-fitting lids. Then he drilled a series of half-inch holes in the cans—spaced about six inches apart—stopping six inches from the top. A few holes were added to the lid to allow rain to enter and keep the mixture damp.
We buried the cans in the dirt just outside our vegetable plot—leaving a few inches above ground to allow for easy access. Our neighbor provided a quart of worms from his bin as a starter. We put that in one can and added kitchen scraps: coffee grounds, carrot tops and peelings, potato skins, lettuce cores, stale bread, leftover pasta…anything other than meat and citrus. The worms quickly went to work eating, digesting and transforming it all into fine, black compost.
When the first can was full, we shoveled a bit into the second to get that started. By the time it too was full, its predecessor was ready to give up its load to our garden.
The heavy steel kept the rats and odors out, while the holes allow the worms to travel back and forth between our garden and the can if it gets too hot. When we turn the veggie beds, we see the worms have multiplied a thousand-fold and spread throughout the yard, enriching that soil as well. But they always come back for dinner!
- Words by Andrea Leigh Ptak
- October 20, 2013
- 14 Comments
Nice job. I’m curious about how you get the compost out of those cans when it’s ready. Do you pull the whole can up, or shovel the goods out?
We shovel it out into a rubber tub. It’s not too hard to do.
I keep meaning to have Michael do this.
Great post. We have a compost bin constructed by the former owner of our home. It is open air and one of the disadvantages to composting is the bugs and flies that are attracted to the composter. I’d love to use the barrel method but our yard is limestone, we live near a quarry. It may be hard to dig a deep enough hole for the barrels. Our flowers are planted between the rocks in areas where we can’t grow grass but we seldom get good yields from our vegetable garden even after adding topsoil and mushroom compost. What’s a gardener to do?
Mary: I had limestone in Texas—it is definitely a hinderance. I once had to have two guys with a jackhammer come out to drill holes big enough to plant some shrubs. That’s how I got into native plants. I started nurturing the wild things that were growing, as I reasoned that’s where the dirt was.
I really like this idea! What does citrus do that is undesirable?
Good question, Laurel. I had always seen “no citrus in worm bins” and just accepted it. I did a bit of research and from what I can find it is both the acidic composition of citrus and the density of the peels; they don’t decompose easily. I stopped putting avocado peel in because it took forever to break down and the worms did not appear to be eating it. I did find this helpful list of dos and don’ts for worm bins here: http://www.naturesfootprint.com/what-to-feed-worms
Thanks for stopping by the site and commenting!
This is so cool! I definitely want to try this out!! Thanks for writing up such a great description.
Thanks Rachel. Post a picture when you do!
Oh I just love this idea … especially the idea that worms can come and go as they need to and won’t get overheated in the bin. I also really like the idea of the bin being sunk in the ground … that certainly addresses any odor or pest concerns. Inspired by this post, we built a compost bin this week which is partially sunk into the ground. Thanks so much!
I’m thrilled that you were inspired to try this method. It has worked well for us for 15 years. Let me know how it goes!
Wow, what an interesting idea. I love the pebbles – never seen such good looking compost bins before! On the subject of citrus, if you chop the peel up small I find it decomposes much faster, same goes with avocado skin. You can read about some of my composting experiences here http://roserambles.info/category/compost/ Happy composting!
I’m so glad you liked it. We find it’s still working well and now have three bins that we cycle through, providing us with a constant source of rich compost. Since it’s right next to the vegetable garden, the worms tend to gravitate out into the soil so it’s a win-win for us all.