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Composting
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Yard Composting
The back row, before the alley-fence, contains three bins for yard compost.
Worm Composting
I'm using the "Vermi Composting" technique.
Vermi composting worms are decomposers and they work for vegetable table scraps.
Worms, as we all know, live in our soil, eat plant waste like fall leaves, digest it and leave behind rich soil for good planting.
Worms make compost out of table scraps.
Worms are decomposers. Leave a bin, a handful of worms, a little moisture-filled old newspaper and table scraps in the basement over the winter. Come spring, count your blessings because the soil is rich humus and ready for the garden.
Or, in our case, the objective is to use worms to make compost for soil blocks for use with spring seedlings and the grow lamp and a collection of plastic soil containers each holding about 18 little soil blocks each.
Regarding the bin: It's 3 by 2 feet, bought at Ace Hardware on Western Avenue in Chicago, the 55-gallon size. During the winter months, make sure it doesn't dry out by watering it once a week. As seen in the photos, there's a layer of moist newsprint and a layer of vegetable scraps and table scraps like the watermelon rind, being held for display with a worm, barely visible, doing its duty in the photo to the right.
Again, tear a newpaper page into long strips, dunk it in a bucket of water, and spread it evenly across the container so the worms have more to work on. This environment is what worms thrive in.
No need to add table scraps through the winter months since we've supplied plenty in October and November. These photos were taken mid-October. During the fall months the bin is built up with a steady supply of rinds, beet tops, carrot tops, parsley leaves, chives, chopped tomatoes, eggplant, garlic, coffee grounds and egg shells.
The worms start from shredded paper and veggie scraps but there's no dirt at the outset. Do not fill the bin with any layer of dirt. That's the worms' job.
There's nothing special about the worms. They're just a handful of red wrigglers, good for fishing, and they'll grow in number too. Come spring they can be divided up for other projects.
Fourteen weeks later.
The bin's top isn't held tight with the lid supplied by Ace Hardware, by the way. That lid can be set underneath the bin. Cover the top with burlap, which can be seen in several photos hanging over the edge. Yes it's a nuisance when the cats jump up atop but it enables the mixture to breathe.
The cat jumped up into it once by the way.
Fourteen weeks later the results are "VERY cool". With nothing more than a weekly watering, the worms did their job and the scraps got converted to compost.
Nine months later.
And nine months later, in the heat of summer, the new dirt is ready to take its place in the garden.
