Jump to content

Menu

Anyone have worm composting bins under their kitchen sink?


Recommended Posts

Well........ they're next to my sink, not under my sink. :D

Tell me more! :bigear:

Would it be practical, easy, and not smelly to have worm bins under my sink or in my pantry? I saw that my CSA is offering the option to buy worms by the lb. We have quite a bit of veggie trimmings, and our "real" compost heap is really far from the house. I have a hard time getting anyone to take the veggie scrap bucket to the pile. :glare:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Worms are supposed to like coffee grounds! Who knew?
Yes, we learned this in the Apologia Land Animals Science book ds9 is doing in co-op. We tried the worm composting bucket thing -- and just threw it out after about 3 weeks! It started out as a class project: everyone brought in their own bucket and got 7 worms, dirt, and wet newspaper strips. When we got home we put in one banana peel and a paper filter with used coffee grounds. We were warned not to "overfeed" our wormies and to wait for them to "finish" whatever we put in before putting in more food. We kept the bucket in the laundry room, then moved it to the basement (which doesn't get cold) when my dh found out what was in the bucket. So, long story short, ds9 checked up on them and saw fruit flies -- and that was enough for this "city girl" to say, "Bag that bucket and get it out of the house!":ack2:
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well........ they're next to my sink, not under my sink. :D
:lol:

Our Worm Factory 360 is under out kitchen table, since it was too tall to fit under our sink.

There shouldn't be an odor or bug problem if the worms are properly fed. Overfeeding or having the bedding too moist can lead to problems.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mine has no odor, except maybe a very faint earthy smell. It's good to chop up the produce in small pieces so the worms go through it more quickly. Starbucks gives away free grounds for your garden or worms or ? so no need to buy if you want to add that. I have two bins - one for the things the chickens will eat (greens & proteins) and one for the worm stuff. YUM! :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No, but I DO have one in our homeschool room. We do have gnats that fly out when we open the lid. I haven't figured out how to fix that problem yet. They aren't fruit flies though and really seam harmless. We are loving this project. Santa brought the worm farm to my DD for Christmas.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Julie, it gets good and hot here too... and I've heard of several people's worms dying. :( One person suggested freezing 1-2L soda bottle of water, and putting it in the top of the worm farm with the lid just cracked open a bit so as it defrosts it dribbles out slowly. It would have to help.

 

We do something similar for our rabbit in summer, though the lid is tightly done up. On hot days I need to have 3 in rotation to get through 24 hours. I even do this with the air con running.

 

I'd like to try the worm farm in the garden bed(http://milkwood.net/2010/10/12/how-to-make-a-worm-tower/), though it will be a year or so before I get to that stage. I'll probably buy a commercial one to begin with as it comes with eggs etc, and if it is successful DIY some more.

 

Min

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It gets really hot here in the summer, so I was worried about leaving them outside or in the garage.

 

I'm in Vegas, where it also gets very hot in the summer. I don't have any worms, but my neighbor does. She just keeps the compost bed with the worms in the shade & covered with a large piece of cardboard. Her worms have been thriving.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't get why people are keeping worms in the house. Don't you all have enough worms outside?

 

We have a compost pile and raised bed gardens in the backyard. We have chickens down at the barn. Scraps, leaves, and manure go into the compost pile. Compost pile eventually ends up in the garden or in the pasture. What am I missing?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't get why people are keeping worms in the house. Don't you all have enough worms outside?

 

We have a compost pile and raised bed gardens in the backyard. We have chickens down at the barn. Scraps, leaves, and manure go into the compost pile. Compost pile eventually ends up in the garden or in the pasture. What am I missing?

Different strokes for different folks, I guess. :001_smile:

I'd like the ease of tossing in veggie trimmings as we get them, and I don't mind having our family a little closer to the process. We live in a world that tends to think food comes from a can, and meat comes from a little plastic-coated package. I kind of enjoy the things that draw us closer to nature in useful ways, rather than sequestering outside vs. inside.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Different strokes for different folks, I guess. :001_smile:

I'd like the ease of tossing in veggie trimmings as we get them, and I don't mind having our family a little closer to the process. We live in a world that tends to think food comes from a can, and meat comes from a little plastic-coated package. I kind of enjoy the things that draw us closer to nature in useful ways, rather than sequestering outside vs. inside.

 

Sorry Julie: total lack of tone of voice in written communication. I *know* I was hearing what I typed in a teasing, silly way. I went back and re-read it and realized you all can't hear that.

 

Eek.

 

Yeah, like, what's WRONG with you people anyway? Don't have enough worms OUTSIDE? (snicker)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It gets really hot here in the summer, so I was worried about leaving them outside or in the garage.

 

It can get hot here too but I keep the bin only on the shady side of the house. I like it outside because they do seem to work harder in the heat and I get more fauna like copepods and stuff when it goes out there. I don't have fruit flies because I leave the top two tiers of my bin filled with nothing but paper.

 

And when it's outside, I'm more likely to just chuck the dirt into the raised beds.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No worms here. Yet. :lol:

 

I have a container that I picked up with a lid at The Dollar Tree to store my kitchen compost scraps and grounds and tea bags in until I get the DIY compost bin started next week. I plan on using the container and when it's filled to dump into the outside bin. We'll see how that actually goes.

 

I'm so nervous that I'll mess it up! I want to start a garden this year so composting made sense as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

we had a worm farm in our pantry for years (now I need the space:glare:). We took a very large cardboard box and cut it to fit the space. We lined it with a strong garbage bag and covered the worms with ripped up newspaper to keep them moist and the fruit flies out. We just lifted the newspaper up and dumped in the compost. Tiger worms are veracious eaters. If you cut up your compost into smaller pieces it is gone within a day or two. About 4 times a year we needed to empty out the box and start fresh. No real odor that we had trouble with, unless it was close to time to empty the box.

 

Ruth in NZ

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...