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Home » Blog » 5 Things to Avoid When You Start Worm Composting

5 Things to Avoid When You Start Worm Composting

By PreparednessMama on July 2, 2018 * 3 Comments

How to Start a Worm Bin: Your Guide to Getting Started with Worm Composting by Henry Owen

I have completely jumped on the composting bandwagon. Any serious gardener knows that compost is the black “golden ticket” necessary to increase your garden yields naturally. I really like the idea of worm composting, but I haven’t been very successful at it.

How to start worm composting - 5 Things to avoid when starting a worm bin | PreparednessMama

Until now I’ve been composting kitchen scraps by creating simple compost bins, making a kitchen scrap garden composter, and I’ve even tried trench composting when I had space. Those all work well, but the compost harvest is either too small or not quick enough to suit my garden needs.

Back to Worm Composting

Years ago I had my son-in-law build a really cool vermicomposting system from wood. That box was sturdy! Unfortunately, I had to leave it in Oregon and I miss it.  I tried using that box for one season and had just about mastered the process when the whole thing went fatally wrong and the worms died. For the next 5 years, it made a great storage box for the garden.

Not exactly the intended purpose.

Over the years, I’ve thought about trying again. I went as far as researching worm vendors, but my past failure has kept me from diving in again. Until now that is.

Your Guide To Worm Composting

This week I have had the opportunity to read a wonderfully helpful worm composting book by Henry Owen. He’s given me my worm confidence back. How? By teaching me what I did wrong the first time. Thanks, Henry!

How to Start a Worm Bin: Your Guide to Getting Started with Worm Composting is a comprehensive, 101-page book that covers every aspect of vermicomposting. Start to finish. In my opinion, this is a must-have reference for any serious worm composting gardener. Luckily you don’t have to make a big wooden bin, either. Henry shares easy plans to make your own simple bin, he even keeps one under his office desk.

This is only a sampling of what I learned from Henry-

5 Things to Avoid When You Start Worm Composting

  1. Letting your worms freeze in the winter.
  2. Feeding your worms too much, too fast.
  3. Overwatering the worm bedding.
  4. Putting big chunks of food in the bin.
  5. Too many worms for the size of your worm bin.

I learned that these 5 key things are what caused my old worm bin to fail miserably. Luckily Henry gave me insight so I can correct it next time. Chapters include advice about overcoming your fears about worm composting (will they escape?); how to set up a successful bin (with plans); which worms to consider purchase (and where to get them). I even learned how worms procreate.

Perhaps the most helpful items are the reference materials included in How to Start a Worm Bin. Now I know what to do if other critters show up, several ways to harvest those wonderful worm “droppings”, and where to go for troubleshooting if I get stuck again.

Henry Owen is a vermicomposting expert, having successfully started worm composting while working for Friendship Gardens, a nonprofit project he helped start that teaches gardening and grows food for Friendship Trays, Charlotte’s Meals On Wheels program. Friendship Trays serves 750 meals each weekday, and Henry was responsible for composting all the food waste from meal prep! Some 750 meals a day means a lot of onion peels, apple cores, and broccoli stems. They used three large flow-through worm composters and hundreds of thousands of red wiggler worms to eat through all that food waste each day. Informally and professionally, he’s been teaching people to worm compost since 2008.

Now, he spends his days as executive director of the Nature Discovery Center in Bellaire, Texas. He is a husband, father, educator, adventure play advocate, garden nerd, and worm composter. Follow Henry on Twitter @rhenryowen. If you have any worm composting questions, I’m sure he’d love to help. You can find him at Worm Composting HQ.

Find it at Amazon:

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Preparedness Mama and its collaborators have created a one-stop shop of critical resources for families looking to prepare for disaster. We know firsthand that getting ready for the worst with a big family poses some particular challenges.
 
We’ve learned from the past so that you don’t have to make the same mistakes again. Fear of the unknown is one of the scariest things in life, but we hope that Preparedness Mama’s treasure trove of practical advice will make that unknown less daunting and ultimately help take the scared out of being prepared for every single one of our readers.

Comments

  1. Zoe Brown says

    October 12, 2015 at 6:34 am

    Great article! I’m considering to try worm composting and this article was very informative and interesting to read. Tips are quite helpful. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  2. Direct Compost says

    August 12, 2016 at 12:49 am

    Great article.Thanks for sharing information.

    Reply
  3. Joe-h says

    June 21, 2020 at 7:43 am

    I don’t have to worry about freezing, but am concerned about heat here in Florida. Thoughts?

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. The Preparedness Mama Blog Reviewed "Worm Bin" BookWorm Composting Headquarters says:
    June 13, 2015 at 7:09 pm

    […] from Preparednessmama.com read and reviewed my book: How to Start a Worm Bin. In her review (posted here) she reveals that she has tried worm composting before but gave up after making a few mistakes. […]

    Reply
  2. 4 Permaculture Principles Every Gardener Should Embrace says:
    July 15, 2016 at 8:43 pm

    […] a vermicomposting system. Red wiggler worms are your friend. They convert organic waste and vegetable scraps into […]

    Reply
  3. How to Start Worm Composting – Info You Should Know says:
    May 19, 2017 at 5:48 pm

    […] How to Start Worm Composting […]

    Reply

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