Independent verification! ... almost

I love CleanAirGardening. The whole idea behind it -- a guy too cheap to buy a gas mower finding his eureka with a push reel mower -- tickles me. (I was inspired and now am the proud owner of a Scotts push reel mower, although sometimes I run out of inspiration to mow by July and Pete claims it doesn't really cut the lawn anyway.)

Now I'm perusing the wonderful website this morning and what do I find in the worm bin entry? Independent verification that vermicomposters can handle pet poop. Whew. The Book doesn't discuss much beyond cat and dog waste, but CleanAirGardening has a whole discussion about what can and can't be handled. Yahoo! [in a non-trademarked, completely spontaneous use of the word]

From CleanAirGardening, in the [Can-O-Worms] round composter description:

Can this bin handle Pet Droppings? Yes - worms will eat pet poop if there is no other food available. If you want to compost pet waste, you should not put any food scraps in the bin along with the droppings. When composting pet poop, you'll need a dedicated worm bin that contains only poo. The worms will avoid the pet waste if another food source is available, and the waste is likely to contain pathogens that can pose a health risk over time.

Some pet droppings should never be composted. These include kitty litter, pig waste, and bird droppings. Kitty litter is not biodegradable and can kill compost worms. The other types of waste are too likely to contain pathogens and are not worth the risk to compost.

Worms make short work of dog droppings, but they can also handle ferret and cat droppings if the waste is not mixed with gravel. Other animal waste that can be composted includes droppings from rabbits, hedgehogs, prairie dogs, chinchillas, and a few other pets. Animal waste from pure herbivores doesn't require a pet waste composter though - this waste is pathogen free and can be used as an activator for compost piles or compost bins.

Now, cavy droppings are not specifically mentioned, but if rabbit poop is a viable compost component, then the cavy waste should be as well -- they eat very similar food, they're both herbivores, the resultant waste is really small (and really numerous).

Basically, what I get from Lar's description (he's the guy who was too cheap to buy a gas mower), is that I can either put the used bedding/poop from the cages into the vermicomposter as the brown material (OK, pun intended). Or I can put it into my bin outside -- which I also do.

Whew. I actually used the used bedding/poop directly in my garden, using the material as the bottom level of "soil" in the raised beds I built last year. The vegetables and companion plants grew gangbusters.

Another reason to love CleanAirGardening -- it's enabling my reuse of cavy poop.

Can-O-Worms

Oops, Christmas refers to this post, not the last. Being crafty in my composting marriedness, I inveigled my poor spouse to procure the bin. I sent him pictures from Amazon and my favorite composters site. He ignored me and purchased the Can-O-Worms.

The Can-O- Worms is considered to the most popular home-vermicomposting system in the US. You get a legged base with spigot, three trays, and a top. The spigot is for releasing the liquid (called leachate) that may drain from the composted organic waste -- this makes prime fertilizer for indoor plants. The Can-O-Worms is made with recycled plastic and comes packaged in cardboard that you then use in the Can -- nothing is wasted.

You can vermicompost in just about any plastic or wood container that allows aeration. Some people get Rubbermaid bins and drill holes in appropriate places -- this would be horizontal vermicomposting, since they'd be using the entire bin at the same time. With horizontal vermicomposting, there's time and mess with harvesting out the finished product, separating the worms, etc.

The Can-o-Worms is a vertical unit that supposedly makes harvesting and separating easier. Ostensibly, you start with the worms and the food in the bottom bin until it's full, then add food to the next up bin and the worms migrate up once the food is fully digested in the lower bin.