apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Best DIY worm bin ever!
http://www.instructables.com/id/Worm_bin_bag_for_indoor_vermicomposting_and_easy_s/
It regulates the moisture really well, pretty easy to make (I put mine on a metal Ikea laundry hamper frame instead of building the wood one) and they seem to love the bag!

I killed my worms outside; it gets very hot here. Don't have room inside. But they do methane-harvesting for electricity in a lot of the landfills here, so I don't feel terribly bad for throwing food scraps away.

I doubt that keeping worms in the house is going to become mainstream any time soon. The NatureMill seems to have greater potential for apartment composting. I'm going to get one. Think of it as the AeroGarden of composting. The price of the NatureMill or a competitive product will come down as the sales volume goes up.

I have been keeping pet worms in my kitchen for years, unless I tell folks, no one knows. I just moved my worms last year into the same setup that deirdre mentioned, I like that it is basically as convenient as a dispos-all, but I get compost instead of a higher electric and water bill. The worm-bag has no odor, even in the summer.

First let me say that I love all the posts on composting! I'm researching before I start to find the best options for me in my apartment and general knowledge and your posts and links help out tremendously. I was wondering if someone could answer some other questions for me though. Is there a composting method that I could use eggshells and coffee grounds in, not just fruits and veggies? Also do you think that a bowl of apple cider vinegar and a few drops of dish soap sitting on top of the container would work to keep the fruit flies down? It works for me near my hanging fruit baskets. LOL guess that was more of a suggestion! Can I assume that, since it hasn't been mentioned, that I don't have to turn the mixture at all when using the vermicomposting method and that the worms do that work for you? Thanks to anyone that has any answers!!!

Lindsclou - I was actually at the class. You can use eggshells and coffee grounds in the method discussed in the article. One of the pamphlets they handed out included directions for fruit fly traps using apple cider vinegar and detergent. They also suggested that freezing your fruit scraps would keep the fruit flies down and you can add the scraps to the bin frozen. The worms do the work so you do not have to turn the mixture. Hope this helps you out.

Fairgirl you are AWESOME! Thanks so much for answering those questions for me!!! I do believe this is the method I am going to go for starting as soon as I get back from my vaca!!! Thanks again!

Has anyone tried out Gusanito Worm Bin Farm 3 Tray Garden Composter, It looks like an easy alternative for me, as I don't think I'll be building my own compost worm home's... or if you have experience with other worm bins?
thanks!

I've not done much research on composting because I'm not sure I could handle it--I have a strong gag reflex. But I'm curious. No one ever mentions how you "harvest" all that healthy humus the worms will make for the garden. I can imagine all sorts of icky and horrible possibilities, which are probably what keep me from even considering composting. I wish people would talk a bit more about the *whole* process.

I totally put eggshells and coffee grounds in with my worms. You shouldn't give worms anything greasy, meat and too acidic (citrus). My dog gets any meat scraps and I give my citrus scraps to my mom to toss outside around her acid-loving plants because the worms don't like an overly acid environment.
They really don't smell and there are no bugs as long as you don't over-feed and keep a layer of newspaper bedding over the top. The bag is the way to go - Seriously. Tried the DIY version with rubbermaid boxes the 1st time around and it was a total flop. Way too hard to regulate moisture. The only maintenance I do is that I put a rubber glove on every week or so and reach in and make sure things aren't getting dry and aerate it a little - it can get a little compacted towards the bottom. Otherwise its maintenance-free.

Parhelia:
So basically, red worms (composting worms) dont like to be at deep depths and move upward to feed so it depends on your system. The bag setup, they eat at the bottom and move up to feed as you add scraps, so once they do their work, you open up the bottom of the bag a little and mostly castings will come out. You just stop harvesting when worms start coming out (no worries, just add the ones that came out back to the top of the bag). If you do a box setup, most of them are setup in tiers. You start them in the bottom bin, then as they do their work, you add another bin that nests on top of that. The 2nd bin has holes in the bottom and you add your scraps to the new bin and they move up through the holes into the next bin to feed. You then harvest the castings from the bottom bin once the worms have migrated up. Some people do it very rustic style all in the one bin or side-by side and that's tougher because you basically dump out the bin, sort the worms out of it by hand and then use the castings. (Icky). Basically, if you're squeamish, its probably best to use a tiered commercially available system like http://www.songbirdgarden.com/store/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=4891 where you never have to touch the worms and the harvesting is very easy.