Compost Snob No More

I really can’t be a compost snob anymore because I now have a worm farm, complete with wiggly earthworms. They look just the same as the earthworms in my compost bin, but I’m assured they’re not. My dad informed me that I couldn’t just leave them; I had to look after them. Does he think I would neglect a member of my family? I think he knows me too well.

Before I started feeding the newcomers the all new dog poo diet, my dad told me that if I wormed Sheeba the dog this would kill the worms. There goes my pet-poo processing dreams. Sheeba gets a tablet every month that kills heartworm, fleas and some intestinal worms (I’m sure it’s full of nasty ingredients, but the medication I take would have as many and I’m not stopping that). I’m glad my dad shattered my dreams before I found a pile of dead worms in their new (pre-loved) home. This means I still have to bury Sheeba’s poo and some of the scraps destined for the compost bin are going in the worm farm – more work for me!

I started with 500 worms and began adding kitchen scraps. Yesterday I realised I may have overdone the food. There’s way too much food compared to not so many worms. The box the worms came in suggested you start with 1000 worms, so I’m going to get another box of worms to help the food disappear.

The earthworms in the compost bin might start getting fewer feasts, but they can just go back to the soil and aerate it for me. They did just get a load of feathers from an old doona (I’m putting small amounts of feathers in every few weeks; the whole amount was a bit much). When I put the feathers in, I have to have a hose going because they fly everywhere – good thing the compost bin’s outside!

I recently read that the contents of the vacuum bag are a good addition to a compost bin. I don’t know why I never thought of this, I know the main thing I’m vacuuming up is animal hair. Unfortunately I recently emptied the vacuum bag into my rubbish bin, but from now on it’s going in the compost.

Something else I’ve started is regular aeration of the compost bin. And that doesn’t mean turning the pile every week, which would be totally out of the question. I’m using the spiral compost aerator my dad gave me for my birthday a couple of years ago and I’ve hardly ever used. Because it’s only just been turned and is not tightly packed, it’s easy to do and should help the contents decompose a lot quicker. The piles of earthworms I disturb are not impressed and I love the composty smell.

=^.^=