Wormery Episode 5: The Worms Strike Back

Duh duh duh, duh duhduh, duh duhduh! Ok so it’s not quite Darth Vader striding along to the Imperial March from Star Wars but yes, it’s true, the worms are back and they are ready to kick some food waste butt!

Now that I’ve finally moved, I’ve decided to give the womery another chance after my first attempt ended in disaster. This time though it won’t sit in direct sunlight for any portion of the day so it shouldn’t get too hot – which is what I think caused all my worms to die last time around.

I’m also going to be careful not to:

1. overfeed them
2. chuck big chunks of stuff in there – I’ll cut everything up into small pieces so it starts to decompose quicker and is more worm friendly
3. let too much moisture accumulate in the wormery – I may leave the lid off for a little while on occasion to let it dry out if I see it is becoming too moist
4. let the soil get to clumpy – in other words I’ll gently move the soil about every week or so to break it down slightly and to oxygenate it

Whether or not it was a good idea, I kept the soil that was already in the wormery from my first attempt as it seemed like good quality dirt – it did not smell, it was a good colour and there was no evidence of any organic material still breaking down so I’m hopeful that the acidity is ok (I have added in a little lime mix to ensure it’s to the worms liking).

I’ve also bought a bag of pelletised worm treats which are sustainably resourced, non contaminated wood waste which rapidly absorbs excess water and can then be munched on by the hungry worms. I’m hoping this will always guarantee that there is something for them to eat if the food I put in is not to their liking.

I have started again with 150 tiger worms which should be enough given that I live by myself and don’t produce a massive amount of food waste.

I’m hopeful that everything is going to go well this time and that I won’t have to parody Episode 6: Return of the Jedi but I’ll keep you all informed of their progress either here on the blog or on Facebook and Twitter.

Are you thinking about buying a wormery or have you got success/failure stories to share? Leave a comment below.

Steve (156 Posts)

I am chief writer and editor on Green Steve. Blogging since 2011, I like to delve into a wide number of topics to help people reduce their carbon footprint. You should follow me on Twitter here. And add me to your Google+ circles here.

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