Muggles wrote:
....
I just finished setting up a worm composting box. I wanted to get rid of
a pile of paperwork and didn't want to have to shred it all, so anything
that had text on it with identifying info I layered in one cardboard box
and sprayed each layer with water. A second cardboard box I just tossed
in papers that didn't have identifying info on it and lined the bottom
of that box with it. I also wrapped both boxes with some packing tape
to give it some extra support allowing it to not fall apart as quickly.

I had a spot in a flower bed I hadn't planted anything in this summer,
so I set up this composting box there. First I layered a bunch of
kindling type sticks in an area just a little bigger than the box, and
then put the second box on top of it. Then I filled that box with more
kindling and small branches to the top of it so it would help support
the weight of the first box.

I stacked the first box lined with wet papers that had the identifying
info on to on top of the box filled with kindling and branches. Then I
added a nice layer of kindling on top of the papers, went around the
yard and dug up some worms, different sizes, and added some soil and
worms on top of the sticks. I kept adding worms and soil 'til it was
about half full and then started adding a combo of soil and
compost/broken sticks til it was full.

The plan is to keep adding worms to it and as they compost the debris
and make worm castings it'll begin to rot the paper at the bottom,
absorb the castings liquid and eventually drip down into the box under
it rotting out the bottom of the top box and eventually the entire
set-up will fall apart in that flower bed.

When that happens, I just collect the plastic packing tape that I used
to wrap around the boxes for support, and spread out the compost in the
same flower bed.

It's an experiment, so, if it works, I can do the same thing with other
beds, too.

sounds like a bit of fun.

most papers with writing on them i shred and
feed through the worm bins. layering it on top it
gradually gets wetted and then eaten by the various
critters and fungi in there.

my worm bins are buckets. no holes in the bottom
so all nutrients are retained. i restart them each
spring from a few buckets held back. the rest are
all taken out into the gardens and used for the
heaviest feeding plants. it's a nice cycle of
nutrients as all household food and paper scraps go
through there and it ends up improving the garden
soil.

some of the worm species i use are natives so they
will survive. some of the worm species are not
native and i never find them the following spring -
but they are such good composting worms i won't get
rid of them.


songbird