There are several ways you can get started:
(1) bring it to McGill:
our drop-off arrangements
make this quick & easy - become a member to
do so!
(2) backyard composting:
the Urban Ecology Center and La Coop Maison Verte
both have backyard bins for community collection,
and the city provides them at a subsidized price
of only $25!
Click here for tips on
how to set up your bin
(3) vermicomposting:
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Worm composting is an indoor method of composting.
Using worms allows a greater range of waste to
be broken down more rapidly compared to regular
compost and requires less maintenance than regular
compost because worms mix the compost themselves.
The end product is called vermi-castings. It's
worm poo! It is a rich organic fertilizer which
harbours beneficial bacteria, fungi and micro-organzisms
that normally coexist in a healthy, balanced eco-system.
The type of worms Gorilla Composting uses are Eisinia
Foetida, also known as African red
wrigglers. These worms are optimum as they
are used to living in rich organic soils, reproduce
the fastest and can eat twice their own weight in
a day.
.: GETTING STARTED :.
Materials
The Bin: You will need a non-toxic
plastic container with a tight fitting lid and aeration
holes, such as a standard Rubbermaid brand bin.
This should be a shallow container because composting
worms only live and eat in the top 20 cm of the
soil. Place gravel at the bottom for extra moisture
to drain through and pieces of wood to absorb that
moisture. A second bin lid can provide a handy liquid
catcher if you decide to drill holes on the bottom.
Litter: The worms cannot live simply
in food waste. They need litter to live in when
not eating so that they can stay away from the acidic
micro environment of the decomposting food. The
best bedding material is soil (dig it out from your
garden or take it from a dead potted plant). Some
recommend using only newspaper as bedding but this
is not like the natural environment of the worms
and they may then be more sensitive to decreased
feeding bouts when you go on vacation.
Helpful Hints
Newspaper: Newspaper is useful
to cover the top of the compost inside the bin even
though there is already a lid. This prevents the
lid from touching the compost directly. The newspaper
retains humidity in the bin, discouraging fruit
flies and providing worms with food. The fact that
worms can eat the newspaper means that no food needs
to be added to the bins during vacations for example,
and the worm populations will still be able to survive
for about two weeks.
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Feeding your Worms, Caring for your Vermi-composter,
& Harvesting Worm Castings
.: COMPOSTING - FEEDING YOUR WORMS :.
1)
Your worms should be fed a diet that is approximately
50% carbonaceous material and 50% nitrogenous material.
Overall the soil should be as moist as a wrung out
sponge - NO water should drip out when squeezed.
If the soil is too wet you need to feed your worms
more carbonaceous material, and if it is too dry
your worms require more nitrogenous material.
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Nitrogen rich food (50%):
- Coffee grinds and filters
- Tea bags (no staples!)
- Fruit peels and cores (avoid stickers!)
- Vegetable peels
- Egg shells (well crushed first)
- Nut shells
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Carbon rich food (50%):
- Leaves and twigs
- Newspapers (avoid colour ink that is not vegetable
based, black ink is ok)
- Paper, Kleenexes, brown paper (avoid magazines
and bleached paper)
- Soil and roots from a dead potted plant
- Fresh grass clippings
- Brown bags/cardboard boxes/egg cartons
The Following food scraps CANNOT be composted
(0.0%!):
- oily waste
- bread and other dough
- meat products
- rotting waste
- vinegar
2)
It is recommended that you divide your bin into
2-4 sections. Label them clearly with either numbers
or days of the week. For example, the following
picture depicts a bin divided into halves, one side
is labelled Sunday and the other Wednesday. This
means that every Sunday organic waste is added to
the left side and every Wednesday it is added to
the right.
3)
- SOFTER, SMALL pieces of food are best.
Leave your food waste out for a day or so to soften
up before adding it to your bin. Chop up what you
give your worms, the smaller the pieces the better
– as it will be eaten up quicker.
4)
When adding food, dig a trough 5-8 centimeters
(2-3 inches) wide. Insert your chopped up food,
add some dry material to absorb extra moisture and
then cover. Adding your waste in columns allows
you to keep track of how quickly the worms are eating
it. For example, if fed on Sunday you can check
on Wednesday to see how much waste remains. If there
is a lot, you know that you are adding too much.
If all the waste is gone, you know that you can
add more waste. Localizing the waste also helps
the worms access it and eat it up quickly (as they
won’t have to crawl around searching for it).
Once you have a large quantity of worms you can
add your food in several columns (as the picture
depicts).
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.: CARING FOR
YOUR VERMICOMPOSTER :.
Habitat parameters
- temperature - The perfect temperature
to mate and depostit egg capsules is between 16C
and 25C.
- breathing - Worms breathe through
their skin. It is important that their skin surface
remains humid to allow for gas exchange but it is
also important that the environment is not too wet
otherwise they will drown. Damp soils rapidly become
depleted in oxygen and this may give rise to foul
smell (anaerobic bacteria produce methane and hydrogen
sulphate). If you squeeze the compost in your hand
it should feel like a moist sponge.
- light - Worms don't like light!!!!
Ensure that you use your lid so that the worms will
come feed near the surface. Light outside of your
bin should discourage worms from trying to escape.
- air - The compost system needs
a lid to retain moisture and keep light out but
this cover should not be air tight to still allow
worm breathing. If fruit flies are an issue, place
nylon stocking or other fine mesh material over
the aeration holes to prevent entrance. You can
also bury your food scraps deeper in the soil as
fruit flies normally live on fruit skins.
- pH - The worms will prefer
a neutral pH but they will be able to survive
in a more alkaline or acidic soil. The pH
should correct itself in the system due to
the worm activity. Some white worms may appear
in more acidic soil, these are normal and
they will help to raise the pH closer to neutrality.
If worms start trying to escape, assess what
food scraps you are adding, maybe they don't
like it! If you eat a lot of citrus, balance
the pH with egg shells (crush them well so
the worms don't cut themselves!).
- newspaper - Newspaper is
useful to cover the top of the compost inside
the bin even though there is already a lid.
This prevents the lid from touching the compost
directly. The newspaper retains humidity in
the bin, discouraging fruit flies and providing
worms with food. The fact that worms can eat
the newspaper means that no food needs to
be added to the bins during vacations for
example, and the worm populations will still
be able to survive for about two ..
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Harvesting worm castings
Add food stuff only in one corner of the bin
for a week or two until most of the worms have
migrated there. Then harvest the compost in the
worm free regions. If you wish to completely remove
worms from the harvested compost, dump it into
a pile with a lamp shining close to the apex,
wait a few minutes until the worms migrate down.
Remove the top the top few centimetres, reform
the pile and repeat.
Once a month, mix the container with your hands
to aerate the bedding & remove some of the
black castings if necessary. Avoid turning the
soil on a frequent basis, as turning the soil
can be detrimental to the worms. However, frequent
checks on the compost is required to ensure the
optimum conditions are achieved and maintained.
If the compost feels dry to the touch, add more
nitrogen rich foods, or a little water. If it
is too wet, add carbon rich foods. Fresh cut grass
is a good material if you intend to use the castings
for your gardens, plants & flowers, because
it adds the nitrogen these plants need to grow
healthy & strong.
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Ant Problem?!
If you have a problem with ants, just sprinkle
garden lime around your tubs and on the surface
of the compost in the tub. Lime is excellent for
balancing the Ph of the bin (6.5 7.5) and
is also good for the worms' digestive track. When
purchasing lime, stay away from industrialized
lime products and use only general purpose garden
lime. Industrialized lime tends to burn the worms
on contact. It may not kill them, but I can assure
you, the worms don't like it much!
If you follow these instructions and keep in mind
our 'helpful hints' you should be over-run
with worms in a couple months or so. If the worms
appear to be over-crowded, split the container
(bedding, worms & all) into another container,
adding new bedding materials like those described
above. Or contact us! Gorilla Composting is happy
to take extra worms and vermi-castings, as we
redistrubute it out to our members.
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