Worm Farm: Day 5

I set up my Worm Factory on Monday.  My worms arrived by mail on Tuesday, very healthy and in great condition, from a place called Uncle Jim's Worm Farm, and they seem to be living very happily in their new home.  As I kept homemade worm bins before, I feel fairly confident that I know what I'm doing in terms of maintaining the bin.  So, far I have only given them some tiny bits of food, in addition to their bedding, and I plan to add a tiny bit a day, gradually increasing the amount.  I stared with only 500 worms, so I will probably be using this first tray for a while. 

I would have ordered the worms and bin from the same place and have them arrive on the same day EXCEPT that I ordered the worms on impulse and then had to figure out what I was going to do with them, and I decided to order a commercial bin.   I know it's weird to order 500 red wriggler worms on impulse.  Most women buy shoes and purses on impulse--I buy worms.  I'm a freak. 

My main concern with this indoor bin is the possibility of attracting fruit flies--how I hate flies.  I am putting layers of damp cardboard on top, right under the lid, to keep the fruit flies out.  If they do show up, it's easy to make a fruit fly trap (I know from a terrible infestation we had last fall--unrelated to worm bins).  [To make the fly trap, just put cider vinegar in a container, put plastic wrap on top, and punch a few holes in it.  Works great.]

If I get ants, I will just put a Terro ant trap next to the bin.   I love those things.  They are safe to use around pets and kids, and they have worked wonders on any ant we've gotten in our house. 

I'm still pretty excited about the new bin, as are my kids.  I've calculated that within a year, we should  be able to put all of our veggie scraps into the bin (except for the garlic, onion, and citrus, which can go with the garden waste in the backyard pile).  My garden is so huge that, even at full capacity, the Worm  Factory could not even make a dent in the amount that I need each year, which is about 2-3 cubic yards for all my vegetable beds and front flower beds.  Still, I like the idea of efficently using our kitchen waste and less trips to the compost pile, both of which the Worm Factory should afford me nicely.