Worm Composting presentation by Shelley Umezawa, The M.e.t's Outreach & Volunteer Coordinator

1. Global Worming
Composting With Worms
The Metropolitan Environmental Trust
Shelley Umezawa

2. What is Vermicomposting?
The process of using red wigglers and
microorganism to convert food scraps
into dark earthy smelling, nutrient
humus.

3. Why Vermicoposting?
 Red Wigglers can consume their own weight in organic
matter each day.
 Reduces household waste
 Provides a year round composting activity for home
and/or school.
 Great option for apartment dweller.
 Amazing Fertilizer – (Black Gold)
 Fun

4. Your Worms Expect:
 Moderate Temperatures
 55 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit
 Moisture
 Breathe through their skin
 Ventilation
 Oxygen
 Darkness
 To keep them focused on eating and reproducing

5. Feeding Your Worms
 Organic Matter / Non processed food
 Fruits & Vegetables, Breads & Grains, Leaves and
Bedding, Coffee Grounds, Egg Shells, Tea Bags
 Food to Avoid
 Meats, Dairy, Oils, Salty Food, Sauces, Garlic, Tomatoes,
Onions, Fruit pits,

6. Using Your Castings
 Enrich Potting Soil
 Transplanting Seedlings
 Worm Tea
 Fertilize Mature Shrubs and Trees
 Lawn Fertilizer

7. Harvesting Worms
 Dump and Sort
 Newspaper or plastic
 Light
 Container for castings
 Migration
 Feeding on different sides of your worm bin
 Divide and Dump
 Remove about 2/3 of your worm bin

8. Reproduction
 Hermaphrodites
 They reach maturity in 2 to 3 months
 They produce 3 or 4 Cocoons a week
 Cocoons take up to 11 weeks hatch
 Cocoons average 3 hatchlings each

9. What else lives in my bin?
isopod (sowbug) fruit fly mite centipede
white or pot worms mold spores springtail millipede