Long, slimy, wiggly and ready to eat your garbage. Welcome to worm composting.
Vermiculture, the formal term for worm composting, is the process of using worms and worm castings (poop) to turn waste into soil nutrients.
Worm castings are "the best thing for your garden and for your plants," said Linda Leigh, systems ecologist and worm farmer. "There is not only nutrients but microbiological organics that make your soil come alive."
Leigh got the idea of starting her own business, Vermillion Wormery, by thinking of a way to involve the community of Oracle.
"The one thing we had was garbage," said Leigh. "I began to think of how people can take care of their garbage and how we can become a community without organic waste."
The cost of a worm-composting kit runs up to $55. That price includes a bin, 1 pound of worms, a book titled "Worms Eat My Garbage" and a one-hour composting lesson with Leigh.
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The two types of worms used for composting are red wiggler worms and earthworms. Both do most of the work by mixing and digesting the scraps that are put in. One-pound of worms can eat up to 3.5 pounds of garbage per week.
The worms are kept in bins with plenty of soil. From there, they can be stored in a garbage can or even under a sink. They can compost throughout the winter. The results produce liquids, such as worm tea, filled with rich nutrients that are a good fertilizer for houseplants, outdoor flowers and vegetables.
The Community Food Bank is also on the worm-composting bandwagon. It has held worm-composting workshops since November 2008 as part of its food-production classes. A composting workshop with the food bank will be held Nov. 2.
"There are people who have limited yard space or don't have a traditional compost," said Melissa Mundt, food-production education coordinator. "Worm composting pretty much takes care of itself when the bin is placed in the right area."
The workshops go through the basics of how people can start a worm compost, Mundt said. They also produce and provide their own worms and give them out in bins for others to start their own compost.
"After six months to a year, you have to split the population," said Mundt. "They reproduce a lot."
A surprising factor about worm composting is that there is no rotten smell from the bins.
"Cover the bin with a thin layer of newspaper, don't overfeed your worms, and the worms will eat the garbage quickly," said Leigh. "I always bring a bin of worms to the farmer's market and have people smell it. They are usually surprised that there is no smell."
Vegetable leftovers, fruit rind and eggshells are some of the things that can be given to the worms. Animal waste, meat and fatty foods should not be given.
Leigh said there are no real disadvantages to worm composting, but it does require a lot of attention.
"It's very much like having a garden. After all, we are dealing with livestock," said Leigh. "You have to have enough worms, which can take a lot of money and patience."
Even so, Leigh doesn't consider that a real disadvantage.
"In the end, there really isn't a downside to recycling things."
More information
• Check out Vermillion Wormery on Sundays at St. Philip's Plaza Farmer's Market from 9 a.m. to noon
Did You Know?
There may be 6,000 species of earthworms in the world. Some of the largest can live up to 50 years.
Jessica Canchola is a UA student who is an apprentice at the Star. Contact her at starapprentice@azstarnet.com or 573-4117.
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