Really Fat Babies: Green or Gross

02 March 2009

Green or Gross

Funny video on HuffPost, showing two worm bins side by side and giving a little critique of the differences.

I gleaned some good advice -- looks like I'm putting too much food in. You shouldn't put food in the next highest level until it's all eaten in the current working level, but I've got food to spare and it's in the higher levels. What this means is that the food will sit around longer and get a little grosser before the worms are ready to come up and eat it.

What this also means is that I either need more worms... or another bin. Who's going to tell Pete?

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Glossary

Vermicompost = A mixture of vermicast, pastially decomposed organic waste, and bedding. It may also contain worm cocoons, other insects, and various other organisms.
Vermicast = worm manure (undigested material, soil and bacteria deposited through a worm's anus). Don't get grossed out -- if you dig in the dirt outside, you probably touch this stuff all the time.
Bin composting = dumping material into a structure and either leaving it be (cold composting) or actively aerating, dampening and layering to build internal heat (hot composting).
Tumbler composting = using a barrel mounted on a stand to make turning easier, usually used with quick batch composting, rather than continuous bin composting.
Green waste = material that provides nitrogen, such as grass clippings, shrimp heads, wheat bran, coffee grounds, raw potato skins, apple cores -- in other words, material that tends to be "green, succulent, gooey and dense," to quote Rodale's excellent book on composting.
Brown waste = material that provides carbon, usually stuff that's generally brown or yellow, dry, coarse and bulky, like wood chips, shredded paper, straw and sawdust.