INDOOR COMPOSTING

Step 1
Obtain bin and order worms.

step 2
Fill the bin with bedding. The worms need a home that contains about 75% moisture: add 3 pints of water to every 1 pound of bedding. Continue to add bedding and water until you have about 5 to 7 inches of wet, but fluffed up, bedding. The bedding should be as damp as a moist sponge that if squeezed very hard would give a drop or two of water. Let the prepared bedding sit for 1 to 2 hours before adding the worms so that the water will reach room temperature.

step 3
Spread the worms over the top of the bedding. The worms don't like light, so they will move down into the bedding. Leave the lid off and a light on overnight so the worms can become accustomed to their new home.

step 4
Place your worm bin in a convenient, but somewhat out of the way spot, such as a basement, a mudroom, or under the kitchen sink. Redworms do well in temperatures between 50 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit Garages, unheated out-buildings, and the outdoors can be used seasonally in New England locations.

step 5
A day or two after the worms have been in their bedding, begin feeding them by burying food waste that decays relatively quickly, e.g. banana peels spaghetti noodles. Bury the food in the bedding every few days but at least once a week. Dig a hole in the bedding, place the food, and cover it with bedding. Pick a new spot each time you feed them. If the bedding dries out, mist it with water from a spray bottle.

step 6
Within four to six months, most of the bedding and the food wastes will have been converted into a finished compost product (vermicompost), which is uniformly dark and soil like. At this point, harvest the vermicompost and provide the worms with fresh bedding. To separate the worms from the compost you can Move all of the finished compost to one side of the bin, and then add fresh bedding to the empty side. Begin feeding the worms in the fresh bedding, and within a month most of them will have moved over to the clean side. Now you can remove the finished compost and replace it with fresh bedding. or Dump your finished compost into a pile, shaped like a pyramid, and place a bright light over it. The worms, repelled by light, will move down into the compost leaving the top layer worm-free. You can remove the compost from the top of the pile and repeat the process until you have nothing but worms and a little compost left in your original pile. Place the worms in fresh bedding.