Indoor Worm Bin: Pros and Cons

Last night, I freaked out, thinking that my worm bin could be a part of our mouse problem, and wrote a post called The Worm Bin Must Go.  I was extremely upset to come back from vacation and find that a new family of mice had moved in while we were away and our cat and dog were being boarded.  I didn't even sleep in my bed--I slept downstairs on the couch, since the mice are upstairs. 

After having a night to sleep on it, I realized that I have no objective reason to think that my worms have contributed to our mouse problem.  I have found no mouse droppings near the worm bin.  We even kept a loaded mouse trap right next to the bin for several weeks, including while we still had known mice, and the bait was not even taken.  The sleeping spot I selected as being safe was just a few feet away from the bin, in fact! 

I have decided to keep the worm bin for now.  However, I have decided to relocate it outside, partly because of the small possibility that it has been or could become a source of food or bedding for mice, but for other reasons as well, which I will explain in this post.

I have had the worm bin, the Worm Factory 360, for nearly 2 years.  Years before that, I experimented with a couple of homemade bins.  I thought it was time to write an updated review of my experiences with indoor worm bins.  I will try and be as objective as possible. Sometimes I think that websites that sell compost products or that promote composting and sustainable living offer too rosy a view of worm compost.  I just want to offer an honest assessment based on my experience. 

PROS:

• You can compost some kitchen waste, cardboard, and junk mail year round.  The compost never needs to be turned, as the worms do all that.  For people who have long winters, they can continue composting even in the winter.  
• You get some really nice finished compost to add to your garden.  Worm castings are supposed to be very high quality.  Sometimes I'm a little skeptical that these worm and organic websites overstate their benefits somewhat.  I planted all my garlic bulbs with castings in the fall, and the bulbs do seem to have done exceptionally well, for what that's worth. 
• Especially with a shelf-type system (where the worms move up to different shelves), harvest is very easy.  
• It may be the only way that apartment dwellers and renters can compost.  
• Worms are really interesting to most kids and to some adults.  
• You don't need to walk out to your compost pile to compost.  
• Indoor compost bins are less likely to attract gross bugs (of course, when it does happen, it's much more disturbing).  
• It can be extremely cheap to make your own bin, and it doesn't take much space. 

CONS:

•  The bin has an earthy smell.  If you don't have a good place in your house to keep it (like a laundry room perhaps), this can be a problem.  If you are careful about what you put in the bin, you won't get a really bad smell, but, still, most of us don't want our living space to have a strong soil aroma, even those of us who love to play in the garden.  
• It's not for the squeamish.  Some people are truly grossed out by worms, so you have to be careful about mentioning it to people.  In this way, it can occasionally be a social barrier.  Some people may take a "Love me, love my worms" attitude, but for others of us, things may be more complicated. 
• Sometimes, gross bugs can show up in your bin.  If it's indoors, this can be extra upsetting.  Although when done correctly (absolutely no greasy, fatty items or bread in the bin ever), if pests get into your home, they may like your worm bin.  This happened to me with a homemade bin, when I was living in an apartment complex infested by cockroaches.  There was no food waste in there for the cockroaches, but I did find a couple in there.  Maybe they liked to hide or rest in there--maybe they can eat worms.  Ants also tend to visit worm bins as well, especially if the moisture level is off. 
• It's possible that mice (or rats--shudder) could even use some of the shredded paper to make nests, especially if the top part gets a little dry, and in nature, mice do eat worms.  If you are trying to eliminate all food sources during an infestation, this is a problem.
• If you do put the wrong thing in there, you can end up with a very yucky problem.  Fruit flies are the most common.  The problem is solved by adding bedding and moisture and setting out cider vinegar traps, but it usually does take days to get rid of them all, and they are nasty.  If you put anything fatty in there, you could easily attract cockroaches or rodents. 
• You are very limited in what you can put in it.  Ideally, you need to chop everything up into small pieces and freeze it or microwave it to really compost larger amounts of kitchen waste, so that they break down faster.  Onions, garlic, broccoli, and cauliflower cannot be added because they will smell bad as the worms break them down.  Citrus is too acidic. 
• Growing mold is part of the process.  The worms eat the mold.  This is probably not good if anyone in your house is allergic to mold, and even in the absence of allergies, it is probably not healthy to have extra mold spores in your house, because you will be breathing them in.  
• Worm bins inevitably will have some kind of problems that will have to be troubleshooted, the most common being fruit flies or odors.  No composting system is going to work perfectly all the time for all people, and this can be yucky and smelly when the problems occurs in your living space.  Some people can't get the moisture level right in their worm bins, or put too much acidic foods in them or something and end up with escapee worms.  This has never happened to me, but I would think it would be very disturbing to find dead worms on one's floor.  
• A commercially made worm bin can be pricey.  

I do like my worm bin in some ways, but I am tired of keeping it indoors, especially since I don't feel like I have an out-of-the-way place to keep it.  I don't want to smell dirt anymore.  I'm going to try it outdoors, and see how I like it there.  I have put it in a shady spot, but it will probably be a little hot for the worms at the peak of the summer.  They will probably die when it gets cold in the winter, but the eggs should hatch again in the spring.  I will definitely report back to this blog on how well the Worm Factory worked outdoors. 

I do recommend a commercially made bin over a homemade bin because I think the chances of success are higher, and harvesting should be much easier.  If the instructions are followed carefully, potential problems will be minimized.  Composting is always a process of trial and error, and it is pretty much guaranteed that the occasional pest or smell problem will have to be dealt with. 

All and all, I am much happier with my outdoor compost pile.  It stays moist enough where it could not become a shelter for rodents.  (I have simple flexible plastic bins with holes in the side, open on top and bottom, and we get lots of rain here).  I do get some larvae and bugs in there sometimes in the summer, but I just see them as part of the process. 

I do not have to be overly careful about what I put in my backyard pile.  For my greens, I put in all my garden waste, all fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, and eggshells.  For my browns, I use fall leaves, shredded paper, and cardboard (often not even cut up that well).  When I turn it once every 3-6 months and start a new one, I really do make a good amount of compost.  I use it as more of a top dressing, so I don't worry too much about it being completely finished.  Our winters are mild enough that I can add to my backyard pile year round.

I never, ever, ever add animal waste, meat, dairy, or grains to my backyard pile, as I do not want to attract rats, mice, or other rodents.  (I did see a raccoon visit it once, after I added a bunch of rotten mangos, which did not make me happy).  But, if a mistake is made, it's much more easily dealt with outside, several yards from my home, than it is indoors with my worm bin.  I learned to bury things better after the raccoon incident, and to be particularly careful about that when adding large quanities of slightly rotten fruit. 

My opinion on worm composting is that it is one interesting option for composting that has its pros and cons.  A person has to be very committed (and very crunchy) to keep it indoors.  I think a plain old backyard pile is the best choice when possible.

The Worm Bin Must Go

EDITED:  I wrote this when I was very upset, and after going to bed, I had a different point of view.  Still, I am leaving it up just to show that even a compost enthusiast can get creeped out  by keeping worms inside the house.

We've been out of town for a week (and the pets have been boarded for 9 days), and we returned to a disturbing discovery: mice.

Late in 2013, we had a minor mice infestation after losing both of our beloved cats (one got lost and one died due to illness).  My husband killed around 6 mice with snap traps.  A few weeks went by where we didn't see any.  We then adopted a cat, and not just any cat.  We chose a large (15 pound) male cat with all of his claws.  The rescue where he had been living for 3 years (he is about 4 years old) kept him partly in a garage and partly outside.  Therefore, his hunting instincts are probably intact.

Anyway, we didn't get him to kill mice for us.  We mostly got him because we love cats, but we also hoped that his catly smell would serve as a deterrent to any rodents who might want to take up residence in our home in the future.  We have not seen any mice or evidence of them in several weeks, although one night I heard a rustling sound that made me suspicious.

Anyway, there were at least two mice waiting for us when we returned home from our vacation this evening.  My husband has killed one and injured another with snap traps.  I am assuming they were new mice because they seemed so shocked by our presence and didn't seem to know where to hide from humans.

Our recent infestation was caused by having a couple of old bags of cat food and no cats.  All cat and dog food has been sealed in canisters.  I took out the trash before we left.  We have been very strict about not letting the children take food upstairs (although some candy has been illicitly consumed up there), and the dog eats all downstairs crumbs.  Still, something is attracting these creatures.  Part of it is probably scent trails from the mice that came before, but I read that mice can eat worms and also be attracted to the smell of decay.  

That means it is time to say goodbye to my indoor worm bin.  As soon as I get up tomorrow, I will be dumping its contents into my regular compost.  I'm afraid I'm not a committed enough worm farmer to run the risk that this is contributing to our rodent problem.  I was very careful about not putting scraps in there that would be attractive to rodents (I never, ever put anything fatty or greasy in there), but if the worms themselves are attractive, then I can't consider keeping them.

I haven't seen any real evidence that the worm bin is attracting mice.  The mice seem to mostly prefer the upstairs, and the bin is downstairs.  Because I can't rule out the possibility, however, I'm not going to take the risk. 

In addition to getting rid of the worm bin, I am going to be cleaning out every closet this week and doing everything possible to declutter and make this place less hospitable to mice. My husband will have to inspect the house for mouse openings and possibly set traps in the attic.  I'll be picking up the cat and dog tomorrow morning--I would give anything to have our cat to sleep with tonight--I'm not sure how I'll even fall asleep.

EDITED:  I wrote this when I was very upset, and after going to bed, I had a different point of view.  Still, I am leaving it up just to show that even a compost enthusiast can get creeped out  by keeping worms inside the house. 

Worm Bin: One Year

Wow, I can't believe it's been a whole year since I got my worm bin, the Worm Factory 360.  I am just now getting ready to harvest my first tray.  I meant to do it quite some time ago but didn't get around to it.  I have four trays in use now.  When I examined them today, the bottom one was seemingly empty of worms and is completely made up of castings, except for some very little bits of paper, cherry tomato skin, egg shells, and cherry pits.  I am going to add it to my tomato plants out in the garden tomorrow.  I have put it on the top tray and left the lid open, so that it can dry out just a little, and to make sure all the worms migrate down. 

The next-to-bottom tray also appeared to be mostly castings.  I will add it to my garden in July.  The next tray from the bottom is still a work-in-progress.  The top tray is kind of smelly right now because I added some old blanched cauliflower a couple of days ago.  I added additional paper to cover the smell, but I think the worms are just going to have to eat it to make the smell go away, so I won't add any more food for about a week. 

I continue to be very unscientific with feeding my worm bin.  I try to give them a lot of variety, and I feed them when I think it might be a good time.  If it gets smelly, or I get fruit flies, I know I have overfed them.  I'm glad I have a backyard compost also, because my bin isn't yet able to handle most of the fruit and vegetable waste that we get rid of. 

I'm very excited about adding the castings to my tomatoes! 

Worm Bin: Six Weeks

It's been about six weeks since the purchase of my Worm Factory.  There's not really too much to say about it.  I shred up cardboard, crush up eggs, put in vegetable/fruit scraps and coffee grounds, and the worms eat them.  The cardboard is so absorbent that I haven't had any drainage at all into the reservoir.  I prefer using cardboard to shredded paper because of that.  The paper gets so soggy.  I just stick my shredded paper in my backyard bin. 

I do wish that I had bought more worms initially so that they could have eaten all of our suitable fruit and vegetable scraps right away.  I was cheap and only bought 500.  But that's okay--they will be fruitful and multiply. 

I do love opening my bin and checking on my worms, even though I know it's bad to disturb them. 

Worm Farm: 3 Weeks

I continue to like my Worm Factory.  After 3 weeks, I have had no problems with it.  Like everything else I do, I have been totally unscientific about it.  On most days, I add a small amount of vegetable scraps or coffee grounds, but I don't measure it out.  Every few days, I've been added damp shredded cardboard from cereal or K-cup boxes (tearing it up is therapeutic).  When I use eggs, I grind them up in a paper towel, wet them, and stick them in to keep the soil loose.  I've been surprised at how fast things are decomposing.  I don't cut my scraps up into tiny pieces or freeze them either because I don't want to.  I've had no pests and have decided that worms make the most interesting and low maintenance pets. 

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. 

Worm Bin: Here We Go Again

I love composting.  I'm a lazy composter, however, and mostly buy have my compost delivered.  I don't make nearly enough compost to supply my entire garden.  And it's very slow to actually become compost since I don't turn it much or really do much of anything other than put our kitchen scraps and garden waste in their, combined with shredded paper and cardboard. 

Before we had a house with a yard and room for a compost pile, I experimented with some homemade worm bins.  I eventually grew tired of them and stopped my worm composting.  I found my homemade bins to be messy annoying to harvest compost from.  However, my children loved raising caterpillars so much that I thought they might enjoy some other critters.  This time, however, I'm going to give it a shot with The Worm Factory, a commercially made bin. 

The advantage to a bin like The Worm Factory is that it minimizes the time involved in sorting our your castings from your worms and unfinished compost.  

I think this is going to make the experience a lot more enjoyable.  Also, it will mean less emptying of the dreaded compost bucket that I keep under my sink.  I can add a lot of things to the worm bin as I go, rather than putting them in the bucket.  It will take a few months for my worm population to build up to the amount of kitchen waste we produce, but the composter can support a lot of worms.  And there are still some fruit and vegetable scraps that I will need to save for my compost pile, like onions and citrus, that worms don't really care for. 

I'll be updating this blog with some new adventures in composting and how my new bin works out!  

For more information on worm composting:

• The Worm Digest
• Worm Woman