Vermicompost Lesson 2  In this lesson we will be adding the bedding, safe zone, worms and patiently WAITING. Some facts about worms to help you better understand how they work, why they work and what that work produces. Red Worms are called by different names for a good reason, manure worms, composting worms, etc, they can stand the heat and process that is associated with composting.  Other worms can not and will die/flee if put into these same circumstances.  They  are very unique in that regard, but they will not hang out long in your garden, especially if you don't have it covered in manure or something for them to eat that is organic. I'm experimenting with putting them into "earth boxes" but even then I have to add a row of manure down the middle for them to feed on, as they help aerate the box and leave their castings (worm poop) behind. More on that later. The first few week after the unit/kit is set up is the most critical time, the bedding is breaking down, the worms are trying to eat it all up, and the ph is going from high to low.  This is the time to really pay attention. Do not Panic, do not feed them and only water a little at a time when they need it.  You will do fine, just watch for foul smells, the bedding heating up (put your hand on top, it should be cool to the touch), the worms acting funny, crawling on top of the bedding or trying to get out of the bedding.  These are all signs that something is wrong.  DON'T panic, we can fix it! Red worms are the most forgiving of our mistakes of any critter I know.. The problems that discourage some people and give worm growing a bad name is simple: Over watering, mixing food into the bedding, feeding too much.

• Over watering can be a problem, there should NEVER be standing water in the unit. The bedding should be about 50% moisture content.  Squeeze a handful, it should not have drops come out of it, just moist. For these small units a cup of water at a time, when they need it will do, let it soak in, check it again. Check your kit every day or two until it gets about half full, and water accordingly, it will dry out faster, when it is first started.
• Do NOT mix the feed into the bedding, it goes into one area.  Do not feed anything until half of the bedding is turned into black castings.  About a week or two, this is the patience/wait I mentioned above. Red worms will consume about their body weight in food per day, so roughly figure that handful of worms and how long it will take for them to eat half the bedding.
• Do NOT over feed, especially to start with.  When you get your new worms, put all of them into your hand, note how full your hand is, when it is time to start feeding them, this is how much you put in, wait until that feed is half gone and add some more, about the same amount.  Putting it in same area and cover with paper, cardboard.

Now to set up your kit:

• Put the soaked bedding into it, evenly across bottom about 3 to 4 inches deep.
• Put in your safe zone, the compost/dirt/etc. this should be moist as well. I usually run this the length of the drawer, on one side only, it just gives the worms a place if they need it to get out of a real bad bedding situation.  Some don't use this method, but I find it works for me.
• Now put your red worms onto the safe zone, cover with a sheet of newspaper and wait!

While you anxiously wait to feed them.

• Check your kit daily, look for signs that the worms are ok, they are active, cool and going into the bedding.
• Check the moisture, is it damp?  Is there any heat building up in the bedding? Put your hand on it and feel how cool it is.
• Are you starting to see the castings? That black stuff.
• Do you see any egg capsules? They will look like yellow rice shaped little jugs. Each egg capsule can contain between 6-10 babies, that is how they multiply so quickly, which will become breeding size in about 90 days.
• That handful of Red worms (100) should become about two handfuls in 90 days, so on until in one years time, you should have about 1,000 Red worms, enough to set up several more kits or move them to a larger unit.

Lesson 3 will be on Feeding, and Pests, controlling them, fixing problems in bedding.