Resources

Here we list the available online and offline resources we have on composting and growing food in the city. More later!

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. COMPOSTING

2. FOOD PRODUCTION

3. OTHER EDUCATION

COMPOSTING

Worm Composting with FoodCycles (Vermicomposting)

Content by Susan Butler, edited by Sunny Lam

FoodCycles Garden Fair Brochure on Vermicomposting 2008

What is Vermicomposting?

Vermicomposting is composting with worms. Worms and microorganisms turn organic waste into black sweet-smelling humus that may be used as a nutrient-rich soil conditioner. It helps the environment and cuts down on waste!

How do they do it?

With worm composting the worms do most of the work, what the worms do is eat all decomposing matter that they come into contact with. They eat both decaying and fresh plants, and bits of soil. The worms used in vermicomposting are red worms, also known as litter or manure worms.

These worms can process their weight in organic waste daily. As the worms eats, the chemicals in their bodies free the nutrients of the materials that they are eating. The worms then excrete what they have eaten in the forms of castings, which are more rich in nutrients regular humus and provide most of the benefits of humus.

How to set up a vermi composting bin

A container (You can use a large size plastic bin or a small one. It’s up to you how big you want your vermi bin.)

Worms

Bedding

Soil

Kitchen scraps

Spray bottle

Water

Setup the Bedding

The type of bedding you can use are shredded cardboard boxes, shredded newspaper, computer paper, you don’t have to worry about ink being on the paper. Leaves can be used but you don’t want to bring anything undesirable from outside to your bin. The amount of bedding depends on the size of your bin. Moisten any type of bedding material before you use it. It is good to use more than one type of bedding material to create a moist, but fluffy, environment.

What to feed the worms

Vegetables

Fruits

Crushed egg shells

Bread

Coffee grounds

DON’T FEED

Dairy (i.e. cheese), diseased plants, meat scraps, oily food/oil, starchy stuff (i.e. jello)

Starting the bin

Step #1: Drill holes into the lid of your bin. If it’s a small bin drill 5 holes, 1 in each corner and 1 in the middle of the lid. For a larger bin drill 6 holes, 1 in each corner and 2 in the middle.

Step #2: Add about 3 or 4-inches of shredded newspaper (or egg boxes if you have them) in the bottom of the bin loosely packed.

Step #3: For a small bin you add 1 handful of worms, for a large bin you put 2 handful of worms.

Step #4: Add a cup of fertilizer free soil and cover the worms with it, This helps to keep away fruit flies from the food that you bury.

Step #5: Add food scraps. Scrape back a small area in the soil layer and bury food. Try to bury food in a different spot each time you feed your new friends.

Step #6: Spray the bin with water until the bedding becomes moist.

How to maintain your worm bin

Feed the worms once or twice a week. For a small bin give them 1 cupful of food. For a larger bin give them 2 cupful of food. It’s up to you after a while to choose how much food you want to feed them and how often.

Always check the moisture level. Worms needs a moist environment to live, but will suffocate in too much moisture. Your bin should never be drippy, but should always feel slightly damp to the touch. Worms will avoid areas that are too wet or too dry.

For the 1st few weeks continue to add small amounts of bedding.

Worm Harvesting (Method 1)

Once you have been feeding the worms for about 3 to 6 months (depending on the size of the bin) you will notice that the material no longer looks like what you had 1st put in. In place of shredded newspaper (egg boxes) there’s rich dark worm casting or vermicompost. This means that it’s time to harvest. This method is best done under bright light.

Step #1: Dump the contents of the worm bin unto sheets of newspaper or a washable work surface. If your bin is very large, you might want to harvest half of the contents at a time.

Step #2: Divide the big pile into a number of small piles.

Step #3: Brush the vermicompost off of the top and sides of the first pile. The worms will move slowly to the centre of the pile to avoid the bright light. Do the same for each pile until as much vermicompost is removed as possible.

Step #4: After you have separated the vermicompost, you will find that the worms have clustered in the centre of each pile. Gently remove them and put them into a clean container or directly back into the worm bin

Step #5: Scoop the vermicompost off the newspaper and place it in a container. It’s all right if there are a few worms still in the vermicompost if you are going to use it in a garden. If you are using it in potted plants, it’s best that no worms are left.

Step #6: Fill your bin (or the half that you harvested) with fresh bedding. Gently pour the worms onto the surface and they are ready to be fed again.

Worm Harvesting (Method 2)

Step #1: Shift all the material in the box to one side.

Step #2: Separate the larger pieces of bedding from casting pile, place in the fresh bedding side.

Step #3: Gather fresh bedding and place in the fresh bedding side.

Step #4: Put your kitchen scraps and feed only in the fresh bedding side. In the next week or two the worms will migrate from the finished vermicompost into the fresh bedding.

Remember….

Composting reduces the amount of carbon dioxide emissions by 40%, which is better than 100% when simply discarded on the curb.

Fast and Slow Composting

By Bob Kennedy, Board Member for Canadian Organic Growers Toronto (http://www.cog.ca/toronto) and a member of Rooster (http://www.rooster.ca/)

Bob wrote a wonderfully detailed piece on fast and slow composting. ‘Tis a bit more technical my friends! If you need any help figuring it out just give us a shout! Mike Nevin from FoodShare whose on our team could certainly share some of his expert down to earth advice (from long years of experience)!

It can be found here at: http://www.cog.ca/toronto/documents/Fast%20&%20Slow%20Composting.pdf

FOOD

RT @nancyoverbury: #Urban #Agriculture: A Guide to Container Gardens http://tinyurl.com/antnlz #gardening #food

OTHER EDUCATION

FoodCycles Information Poster (bright v2)

FoodCycles Parc Downsview Park Earth Day Info Cards 2009

JOIN our MAILING LIST here http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub=554138
JOIN our FACEBOOK group: http://bit.ly/157doi
ADD US on TWITTER: http://bit.ly/ev4rB

VOLUNTEER with FoodCycles – FILL OUT our application form http://bit.ly/GvxEc

VIEW our FoodCycles EVENTS calendar http://bit.ly/3Ikr3
Check out our PHOTO GALLERY @ http://bit.ly/rdfPA
JOIN our FoodCycles Google Group at http://bit.ly/199J0F