Information on DIY Red Wiggler Worms and Composting

Worms can eat your garbage and convert it to worm compost.

Red wiggler worms (Eisenia fetida), dwell in shallow leaf litter in the wild. The fact that they are not deep burrowing worms like night crawlers makes them suitable for do-it-yourself composting using indoor or outdoor shallow containers.

History

Michigan biology teacher Mary Appelhof devised a system of do-it-yourself composting to lessen the waste of kitchen refuse produced by her household. She ordered red wigglers from a bait shop and raised them in shallow wooden boxes lined with paper or cardboard bedding. Her success with having the worms turn the refuse into compost led to her book, "Worms Eat My Garbage," first published in 1982.

Function

Red wigglers eat food scraps as well as their paper or cardboard bedding and convert both into worm castings or manure. They reproduce after they reach sexual maturity at 40 to 60 days, creating a surplus population that you may use to stock additional compost bins or to sell or use for bait.

Considerations

To get started with red wiggler worms and composting, construct a shallow box with a hinged lid, drill ventilation holes in a 14-gallon storage tote or purchase a commercial bin. Place several cups of chopped food scraps in the bedding and add worms bought from a mail-order supplier. The website FindWorms.com lists possible sources.

References

• "The Worm Book"; Loren Nancarrow and Janet Hogen Taylor; 1998
• "The Life-cycle of the Compost Worm Eisenia Fetida (Oligochaeta)"; J.M. Venter and A.J.| Reinecke; 1988
• "Worms Eat My Garbage"; Mary Appelhof; 1982

Resources

• FindWorms.com