How to Turn Food Scraps Into Garden Gold with Vermicompost

In this episode, we dive into the fascinating world of vermicomposting with Lewis County Master Gardener and Master Recycler Composter Program Coordinator Jason Adams. Jason takes listeners through how worms transform kitchen scraps into rich, nutrient-dense compost that boosts garden soil. He discusses the basics of starting and maintaining a worm bin, troubleshoots common worm bin issues, and reviews the numerous benefits vermicompost offers to garden soil health. He even tells a real-life cautionary story highlighting how resilient worms are for any listener who might be worried about how much care a worm bin needs. He ends with a call to action to get into vermicomposting—“Anybody can do it. Kids love it” he says.

Jason is the WSU Lewis County Master Gardener and Master Recycler Composter Program Coordinator. He developed a fascination with soil and soil organisms early on while helping his mother in the garden. He became a Certified Master Gardener and Master Recycler Composter in 2017 and has incorporated (and expanded) his agriculture and sustainability education from OSU and WSU as a volunteer and Program Coordinator. Jason loves learning from and teaching others and enjoys researching answers to the many questions people ask in the clinics and outside of work.

• Composting with Worms
• Vermicomposting: The Basics
• Worms Eat My Garbage, 35th Anniversary Edition: How to Set Up and Maintain a Worm Composting System: Compost Food Waste, Produce Fertilizer for Houseplants and Garden, and Educate Your Kids and Family
• Lewis County Extension Website
• Episode 12 – The Basics of Soil Biology

[00:00:00] Erin Hoover: Welcome to The Evergreen Thumb, your go-to podcast for up-to-date research-based horticulture and environmental stewardship knowledge to help you grow and manage your garden. Produced by Washington State University Extension Master Gardener Volunteers and brought to you by the Master Gardener Foundation of Washington State.

[00:00:16] I’m your host, Erin Hoover, a WSU Extension Master Gardener since 2015 and a certified permaculture designer and modern homesteader.

WSU Master Gardener volunteers are university-trained community educators who have been cultivating plants, people, and communities since 1973. Are you ready to grow? Let’s dig into today’s episode.

[00:00:44] Welcome to episode 39 of The Evergreen Thumb.

My guest today is Jason Adams. Jason is the WSU Lewis County Master Gardener and Master Recycler Composter Program Coordinator. He developed a fascination with soil and soil organisms early on while helping his mother in the garden. He became a certified Master Gardener and Master Recycler Composter in 2017 and has incorporated (and expanded) his agriculture and sustainability education from OSU and WSU as a volunteer and program coordinator.

[00:01:17] Jason loves learning from and teaching others and enjoys researching answers to the many questions people ask in the clinics and outside of work.

Jason, thanks for joining me today. Welcome to the show.

[00:01:29] Jason Adams: Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it. It’s really exciting.

Jason’s Work with WSU and the Master Recycler Composter Program

[00:01:33] Erin Hoover: To start off, why don’t you tell us a little bit about your work with WSU and the Master Composter Program?

[00:01:39] Jason Adams: Yeah, well I, along with being the Master Gardener Program Coordinator, also manage the Master Recycler Composter Program, which is a partnership between WSU Lewis County Extension and the Lewis County Solid Waste Utility.

And so what we do is, our focus is, obviously composting is in the name, so composting, things of that sort, we still do and teach, uh, but we focus more on, um, you know, basically reducing, reusing, and, uh, recycling solid waste, and, uh, you know, we do a lot of upcycling type things, we do, um, school waste audits.

[00:02:17] We did, we’re just now launching a tool bucket library, kind of a lending library, um, so folks can come in, get some low-cost or free tools to use.

So, yeah, we do a little bit of everything, similar to the Master Gardener program.

How is Vermicomposting Different than Typical Composting?

[00:02:32] Erin Hoover: All right. So you’re here to talk to us today about vermicomposting. So, can you tell us a little about what that is and how it is different from typical composting?

[00:02:41] Jason Adams: Yeah. So vermicomposting, or just worm composting is basically just using worms primarily. There are other, uh, microorganisms to consume, uh, and break down food scraps. Um, I don’t use food waste, but food scraps and bedding, usually paper bedding. It is typically in a confined space indoors, um, designed to keep the worms in, you know, keep them in a, uh, optimal environment and to keep other pests out.

[00:03:15] Some things are still going to get in, but bins are usually either going to be stackable, um, where there are multiple trays, basically they stack inside each other, or just, uh, an open tub of some sort of a container. And some people can actually, yeah, you could do this even outside. It’s not preferred, um, to have like an open bin system because you get all kinds of other worms and stuff in there, you get slugs and snails and things.

[00:03:43] So in that regard, it does get rid of food scraps, but it turns into more of like a, a cold composting system where you’re just kind of throwing, throwing food in there and whatever eats it, eats it.

It’s different from traditional composting, uh, in that you can, although you can have a cold compost system, which just means you just put your materials in a pile or in a bin and just walk away and don’t do anything.

[00:04:10] Uh, it just takes a little, lot longer to compost. So it, in a way it is a cold composting system, but I say it’s, you get hot compost results and hot composting is that’s where you’re actively turning. You’re actively adding, you know, getting the right carbon-to-nitrogen ratio. You’re doing a lot more work to make it happen.

[00:04:28] It’s actually the bacteria in the compost that that’s doing the bulk of the work. So you’re not going to get a hot pile of, you know, in a worm bin. You don’t, they’ll die, right? So it’s going to take you a little bit longer, um, than, than normal composting to get, what we call castings or vermicompost.

[00:04:54] Uh, you’re not going to get as much. It is, I believe, uh, better, um, nutritionally than typical compost, but you don’t get as much of it. So it does take a little bit more patience, but it does require a whole lot less work and a lot less space.

The Benefits of Vermicompost vs. Traditional Composting

[00:05:11] Erin Hoover: So what are the benefits of worm composting over traditional composting?

[00:05:17] Jason Adams: You know, for folks that aren’t already composting, um, or, or maybe just don’t have room to compost, this is a great way of getting rid of food scraps, um, you know, we’re throwing away, uh, not just food scraps, I guess, but even usable paper for bedding. Um, it’s something like 40%, um, of American, uh, waste is, or what Americans will typically throw away and this can all be used in, in warm composting, a lot of it can, at least.

[00:05:42] And so we’re reducing what goes into the landfill, reducing our garbage fees, right? So we’re not having to spend as much to dump our food. You’re getting free nutrient-rich castings, which will reduce chemical fertilizers.

[00:06:05] It’s easy to maintain. Worms can be left unattended for a long time, uh, for weeks actually. Actually, I have a story I’ll tell you later, but a little longer than that. And I always joke with people when I teach, um, teach a public class, uh, if you’ve ever wanted to have a farm but don’t have a room, room for it, a worm bin is the way to go.

[00:06:23] It’s, it’s just a microecology, microhabitat with so many different things and it just really does take up very, very little space, but you get a huge return if you have the patience for it, you know, you’ve got to wait a little longer.

Best Species for Vermicomposting

[00:06:37] Erin Hoover: Are there particular species of worms that are best for this form of composting?

[00:06:44] Jason Adams: Yeah. So for indoor, um, composting, indoor, uh, worm composting, um, Eisenia Fetida are the red wiggler worm. Uh, sometimes it’s known as a dung worm. Um, when we say red worms there are other types of red worms. So I try not to just say red worm because those can also be, you know, earthworms and things.

[00:07:06] Um, those are the best ones because they have the, um, the highest weight to food ratio where they, um, they basically eat there, their weight or half their weight in, in food every day, and they have the best, uh, reproduction rate. Um, they’re also surface dwellers.

[00:07:27] So there are different types of worms that live in different levels of the soil. And so red wigglers are, they are usually going to be like in the top foot, foot and a half of the soil, uh, consuming, scavenging organic matter. So it is well suited in this kind of a system for red worms, cause that’s where they’d be in nature.

Materials for Vermicomposting

[00:07:45] Erin Hoover: What type of materials are set up? Do you need – you mentioned paper for bedding. What else do you need for like an indoor setup?

[00:07:53] Jason Adams: Red wigglers are, um, called photophobic, so they don’t have eyes, but their skin is very, very sensitive. They breathe through their skin. And so they are extremely sensitive to light, so you want to make sure it’s opaque, your container. Whether it’s wood or plastic, plastic is a little bit easier to maintain, it’s a little lighter, easier to clean, things like that.

[00:08:13] You want to make sure that their, whatever system, whatever, you know, container you have, you have to make sure there’s good aeration and good drainage. Um, you can kill worms really quickly just by not having enough drainage, because leachate, which is the, the total amount of liquid from the food, from their waste and everything, condensation, will actually, um, you know, sit in the bottom of a container.

[00:08:39] So you got to make sure that there’s, that there’s adequate drainage. I prefer the stackable systems. Um, this is not an endorsement, but, um, I have three, um, worm factory, three 60, um, worm bins, and, and those are fantastic. So there are other ones like that. You can also use like a 10-gallon or, you know, around a 10-gallon Rubbermaid tub, that, that type of thing.

[00:09:03] That’s what we used to give out at worm work, um, when we did our worm workshops. Um, you don’t want anything really any deeper because it will make it a lot harder to, um, to harvest the castings and whatnot. So you’re, you have to have enough space. So you’re going to need at least a cubic foot per, um, one pound of food scraps for every one to two pounds of worms.

[00:09:28] And so a 10-gallon tote is about one, one and a half, 1.4, whatever cubic feet. So that’s the perfect size, um, just to get started. Your bedding should be biodegradable, uh, first of all, and, um, as clean as possible. So, I use shredded paper, like office, uh, shredded paper. I use, um, ripped newspaper and things like that.

[00:09:53] Um, coconut coir is another one that you can use as biodegradable. It’s, you know, got the sustainability aspect of it. You know, I would just say use whatever you can get the most of because you will use a lot of paper doing this. Um, you can use things like sawdust, uh, shavings, things like that, but you do want to use small amounts.

[00:10:12] Um, and really moderation is huge. You want to, um, you don’t want to have just paper, you know, or just coconut coir, or whatever. You want to kind of mix it together. You want to make sure that it doesn’t compact. So that’s a problem when you use one, one thing like sawdust, it’ll compact and you want them to be able to, to move around.

[00:10:33] And the bedding needs to be wet. I say as wet as a wrung-out sponge and I always add some soil, one tablespoon of plain old garden soil is going to have about a billion bacteria. I’ve counted them. No. And that kind of inoculates, inoculates bend. And really this is, this is the order. So, um, you know, container first, bedding, soil, using some type of a grit, um, either like ground up eggshells or rock dust or something like that.

[00:11:05] Garden soil can do the same thing because that’s how they digest their food and whatnot. And then you add your worms, obviously. Then after that, you put in very, very small amounts of food. You’re actually going to stress them out if you just dump them into a big pile of food in a new environment.

[00:11:28] So you want to let them acclimate. So yeah, otherwise what’s going to happen is you’re going to have worms that are going to be crawling out the sides and they’re going to be dried up on the floor by morning. And so I may know that from experience.

What Can’t Worms Eat?

[00:11:41] Erin Hoover: Okay. So are there things that you can’t or shouldn’t feed the worms?

[00:11:47] Jason Adams: Yeah. So, um, fruits and vegetables are probably the best things you can use, but you can also use, um, you know, tea bags without the staple and coffee, uh, coffee grounds, things like that, coffee filters, obviously anything synthetic, um, you don’t want to throw in there. Bread, plain bread, uh, cereal, pasta, things like that.

[00:12:10] You do want to make sure that it doesn’t have, you know, your bread isn’t buttered or, uh, the cereal doesn’t have a lot of sugar in it. Pasta. You want to make sure you’re not just dumping in a big pot of pasta with a bunch of salt in it. So those are some things that you don’t want to get them.

[00:12:27] Cause you’re going to burn them. Right. Um, so things like meat, similar to a compost, like a traditional compost system, uh, meat, fish. Yes, there, it will compost, it will break down, but it will get really, really stinky really quick. Acidic or spicy foods, um, aren’t good for worms.

Um, again, yes, other things will eat them, but, uh, and then oily and salty foods, like I said, because it can, it can coat the, um, coat the worms so they can’t breathe, and it can also burn the worms.

[00:13:00] And then dairy, mostly just like in a traditional compost bin. Um, these, all these things will attract, pests that you don’t want. Fruit flies mainly, and so you want to try to avoid that.

Conditions to Help Composting Worms Thrive

[00:13:15] Erin Hoover: So are there any other requirements or conditions you can think of that they would need to thrive?

[00:13:22] Jason Adams: Yeah, so going back to what to feed them, you want to make sure you have a good balance of um, you know, fruits and vegetables and things like that.

[00:13:31] Because if you’ve put vegetables in there that may be a little bit too acidic or a little bit too alkaline, it’s going to adjust the pH. Really, the pH is huge, just like in our gardens, right? So, the optimal pH of a worm system, worm bin system is about five to six. So, they can live in, you know, from four to six pH.

[00:13:55] But we get to that, you know, slightly acidic, um, pH by offering things like leafy vegetables and then, you know, carrots, apples, things like that. So things that kind of balance each other out. And, um, the other thing too, about that is if it is too acidic in the worm bin, you’re going to attract pests.

[00:14:19] And usually potworms, which are just tiny white roundworms. They’re so small, they actually ride on the backs of, um, of our red wigglers and then, um, red mites. Yeah, so those things will, um, they love that environment.

They love the either too acidic or too alkaline environment, uh, and then obviously temperature, um, going to be really important, uh, water temperatures is, you know, I’ve never actually, you know, did a research study on this, but 55 to 77 degrees is the optimal, optimal temperature.

[00:14:58] They feed better if it’s a little bit warmer, but anything colder, um, than 55. So like 50 to 85 is kind of that threshold that I try to stay in. They can survive, but they, they just, they don’t. Everything slows down. They stop eating as much and reproducing.

[00:15:24] I actually have my, this is my embarrassing story and I’m kind of ashamed of it, but just to show the resiliency of worms, uh, during COVID we, or just before COVID we’re ready to do, you know, a series of workshops, including worm composting. So I had all these worms that we’re going to give out to the public and I didn’t know what to do with them. So I ended up taking them home, and maintained them for a while.

[00:15:45] And then, you know, how everybody gets during things like COVID we got busy, and I just forgot, after a couple of months at least. And so, I left them out there for a couple of years actually. And, uh, thinking I was going to just have a bunch of dead worms and actually it was a sealed container too with the lid and everything.

[00:16:05] And they were doing quite well. There’s no um, noticeable food, no bedding. It was pretty much all castings, but yeah, so they, they are fairly resistant, um, resilient rather. Don’t do that. Don’t make the same mistake I did. Okay, so that was my embarrassing story. So, uh, another requirement is, um, you know, moisture.

[00:16:26] Um, you want to keep your, your bin roughly, you know, 70 to 90% water, you know, so that doesn’t mean, um, you know, dumping a five-gallon bucket on the top of it, but just make sure that it’s, um, that there’s a high enough moisture for them to, to get around.

Um, I already mentioned, um, adequate space, you know, enough space to hold a cubic foot for one pound of food and then one to two pounds of worms.

[00:16:53] And the reason I say that is because there’s, I call it the 1:1:1 rule. In a healthy environment, um, where they’re established, one pound of worms eat one pound of food. Uh, as you’re starting out, they may only eat half a pound. And so, you gotta, make sure that, uh, you’re starting off with half a pound of food.

[00:17:16] Uh, and it’s gonna work your way up. And then, yeah, and then, you know, as I said, proper bedding that doesn’t, doesn’t compact, make sure it’s aerated and things like that. So those are the main things. I hope I’m not making this sound really complicated because it really is way easier, um, to raise worms.

How to Know When to Harvest Worm Casting

[00:17:38] Erin Hoover: How do you know when you can harvest the castings and how do you separate the worms from them to harvest them?

[00:17:45] Jason Adams: Yeah. So it really depends. Sometimes it, I mean, it could take six months, you know, if your system is not very active. Two months is the soonest, the earliest I’ve gotten castings and, and so I, you can actually, I mean, you can see that, that everything’s broken down.

[00:18:06] So when you basically, when you can’t distinguish between the bedding and the food. When it all kind of just all looks the same. Um, and it’ll have kind of a kind of a muddy chocolate or, um, not chocolate, more of a coffee ground type, uh, texture. Um, and when you’re not seeing a lot of stuff, you may see some paper, maybe some eggshells, things like that.

[00:18:31] Um, but it’s ready. And, um, what you do then is just depending on your system. So for the stacking systems is what, what makes the stacking system so great. You just take off the top, the lid and you let, um, all that light shine in there. You kind of stir up the castings a little bit and you, and you, you force the worms to go down into the next layer, um, below.

[00:18:56] You can also, if you just have a regular bin, just like a, like a tub or whatnot, you can do the same thing with light, you know, have, have light on one side of that bin, make them go over, um, to the other side, or you can, you can lure, lure them with food. So you would bury food maybe in the, on the other side somewhere, kind of get them to, to travel over and just starve them out on, on one side.

[00:19:21] And then from there you just harvest out your castings on that one side, and then you just switch it over. That takes a little bit longer, and that’s why I like the stacking systems, but it works. Uh, another way is to just dump out, on a tarp, you just dump out your bin, and you just pick through it. It takes a little bit longer.

[00:19:42] I mean, and you’re committed to it because as you’re picking through and as those worms are exposed to the light, heat would be even better because it’s, um, they’re going down deeper just to get away from that, but you’re able to pick through and get those castings and you’re going to lose some worms here and there, but they reproduce very, very quickly.

[00:20:02] You can also just sift them out. If you have a, like a colander or something, you’re not going to get as, much, and it will be a lot more time-consuming, but if you don’t have a lot of space or you don’t want to dump them out, you can just sift them out like that. Especially if you don’t have a lot of castings to begin with.

[00:20:17] But again, stacking systems by far are the easiest way to go.

How to Use Your Vermicompost

[00:20:23] Erin Hoover: Once you’ve got your finished castings, what’s the best way to use them?

[00:20:28] Jason Adams: Um, well you can use them as plant or soil inoculant. So if you have maybe some, some soil, that’s not very fertile, you can mix it in there. Your plants are actually going to be healthier for it.

[00:20:44] There’s a lot of bacteria, a lot of enzymes, uh, micronutrients, whatnot that are in that, that that’s going to just give, you know, and give a shot to the soil and as a plant kind of give it a heads up or leg up rather.

You can use it to, um, to speed up seed germination just because of the, all the bacteria breaking down, um, the seed and, and, um, you can use it as a, uh, a potting soil, um, just kind of mixing in. It’s not real hot, so, but you can, you can, put a little bit in there.

[00:21:12] You don’t want to use a lot of it unless you’re producing a lot of castings. And, and that’s the thing, so we call it black gold. Um, some people call regular compost that. But because you don’t get a lot of it, it is very, very valuable, but you can either mix it with the potting soil or just use it as potting soil for, for established plants.

[00:21:35] I want to say, just, you know, don’t put a seedling in a bunch of castings and whatnot. It probably would be better just to mix it in with something, but, and it’s also, you can use it as a slow-release fertilizer, and that kind of goes with a plant and soil inoculant, but you can also make worm tea out of the castings, which is just, and there’s a lot of controversy about that.

[00:21:58] I get it. But basically you’re just steeping the castings. You put it in a bag or like a pillowcase or a sock or something and put it in, into a jar or, or a bucket of water depending on how much you have. And just let it soak. You can aerate it, uh, kind of speed up that process, and you can use that directly on your plants.

[00:22:18] I mean, directly, even as a foliar spray, there’s also leachate and I didn’t talk about that, but, um, I mentioned it. But, um, you can also use the leachate that collects in the, uh, whatever system you have, if it’s a stackable system, there’s usually like a nozzle or a little spigot, so you can get that out, but you can drain that out and you can use that.

[00:22:39] Um, it’s recommended to do like a 10 to one, uh, water to leachate ratio. You’re not going to kill a plant. Uh, apparently one of our volunteers, here in Lewis County years ago tried to kill a plant as an experiment, and then it didn’t work and so but you don’t want to do it directly on food like 1:1 ratio on food just because of the bad pathogens and there’s still going to be some good bacteria and whatnot but um, you know, there’s going to be, there’s going to be bad stuff in, in the leachate.

[00:23:10] Erin Hoover: So best not to use it as a foliar fertilizer for food crops?

[00:23:15] Jason Adams: Not the leachate, not the leachate, but the worm tea because it’s um, because it’s going to be aerated or, or steeped, um, you’re going to get, uh, more of the beneficial bacteria and all that.

How do Seasonal Weather Changes Effect Worm Composting?

[00:23:30] Erin Hoover: So how do factors like seasonal changes and climate change affect the ability to vermicompost? You talked about how there’s some temperature sensitivities and things like that.

[00:23:44] Jason Adams: Yeah. Yeah. And I tell you what, what happened to me with my forgetfulness kind of challenges this, but because they did survive, um, in extreme temps and for two years, um, but like sudden drops in temperature or sudden increases, you know, we’ve seen that a little bit, but this is mostly if the worm bin is going to be outside, uh, inside, not as big of a deal.

[00:24:13] Obviously, if it’s kept outdoors, rainfall, heavier rainfall, uh, maybe, you know, unexpected snow or whatever, you know, who knows what’s going to happen. Those things are, um, are going to make a big difference. But again, and I only say this because of my accidental experiment, they’re really resilient.

[00:24:40] And so I guess it comes down to, you know, how many worms you have. If you already have a big, healthy population of worms, they’re going to be able to withstand a whole lot more, I guess, not they, as in every single one of them, but you’re going to have more worms at the end of whatever extreme situation that happens. You’re going to lose some, but you’re going to be able to keep some.

[00:24:59] And so that’s the biggest thing. Don’t expect to, um, not lose worms. That’s just gonna happen.

Is adding Non-Native Worms to Gardens a Concern?

[00:25:07] Erin Hoover: So if you’re using the vermicompost, like if you’re top dressing or mixing it into garden soil, are there any concerns with introducing the red wiggler worms into your soil because it’s a non-native species?

[00:25:25] Jason Adams: Oh, no, no. In fact, it’s going to do a lot of great stuff in there. I mean, there’s already worms in our system, in our soil. Right? So, um, so they’re going to be kind of mingling with earthworms and, you know, things that are going to be down a lot, a lot lower in the soil surface, but they’re, yeah, they’re still going to be fertilizing.

[00:25:45] And so, no, no. In fact, you want that. You really do want, uh, as many of those beneficial bacteria and microbes in the soil, um, as possible.

Worm Lifespan and Reproduction Rate

[00:25:57] Erin Hoover: How long do these worms live? What’s their typical lifespan and how quickly do they reproduce?

[00:26:04] Jason Adams: Yeah, so they can live up to, well, two years is kind of like the standard, but, um, I read somewhere that somebody had worms for like five years.

[00:26:16] And so I’m not sure how they did that research, but they can, in roughly three weeks, they can produce probably 20 worms or more. Uh, they’re basically mature at probably a couple months. Um, and so every couple months you’re doubling your population. So if you have a good healthy environment, uh, for your worms, you can have multiple bins and that’s exactly what, what happens is you, you can start to take, you know, a pound of worms from this system, put them in this system because they’re, uh, once it gets too populated, they’re going to split, they’re going to try to get out of the worm bin.

[00:26:57] So yeah. So that’s why the red wigglers are so much better because they produce, they have these cocoons, um, that, and they have like two, two to five eggs per cocoon that are hatching out every, what, two to three weeks.

Other Possible Worm Bin Issues

[00:27:13] Erin Hoover: So, are there any other issues that you can think of to troubleshoot in a bin?

[00:27:19] Jason Adams: Yes, and a lot of it, just like with gardening, there’s going to be trial and error no matter, no matter who’s doing it. Um, but the main thing is just a lot of it’s real common sense. Um, you know, if you’re, if the worms are trying to escape, there’s something wrong, right? They’re either, uh, it’s either too crowded, or maybe they have the wrong type of food.

[00:27:37] You know, it’s something, something that’s not, uh, friendly to them inside that bin. So just trying to figure out what’s causing the worms to want to get out. It might be too wet, or too dry. Maybe all the bedding is gone.

[00:27:58] And so you just look at that, whatever, whatever the issue is, and just, the solution to none of bedding is add more bedding, right? Too wet, you add more bedding. Um, if it’s too dry, you know, wet it down. Usually, the thing that people complain most about is fruit flies. And I’m one of those people. And, and really that is going to be from exposed food. And, uh, maybe real high sugary or fatty foods, things, uh, or high nitrogen foods.

[00:28:26] I’ve had people trying to be helpful, um, put things in my worm bin and I’m like, please don’t ever do that again. And I instantly had flies, you know, after that. So removing that type of stuff, if it’s food that should not be in there, someone throws a steak in there, I get it out. You can bury food, bury it under wetted bedding.

[00:28:45] It just, it causes, creates this kind of a barrier. So, uh, so the flies can’t, fruit flies can’t smell it. They can still get to it if they’re crawling around in there. Also, uh, freezing like vegetable scraps and things like that, disrupts the reproduction of other flies. Yeah, you’re still probably going to get some, but it just kind of reduces what you have. I just put fruit fly traps all over so it’s not that big of a deal.

[00:29:06] So, stinky bin, that’s the other thing too. Just like in a regular compost pile, um, it usually means there’s not enough air, right? So it’s becoming anaerobic and that could be because it’s too wet, maybe there’s too much food, things like that.

[00:29:27] So you just you know, make sure you increase ventilation, aeration, things like that. The nice thing, about worms, um, and I think I’ve proved it embarrassingly, is that they can go weeks without food, right? Um, and so if it stinks to stop feeding them, and that’s another great thing. You can go on vacation and, and just, and not even worry about it. The worms will be fine.

[00:29:48] And then usually adding more bedding is going to be, that’s going to be the answer to a lot of things, uh, whether it stinks or whether it’s too wet. And so that’s why you want to make sure you have, whatever bedding you use, make sure you can get a lot of it. So, shredded paper, uh, working for the extension office, I got plenty of that.

[00:30:11] So, so that’s, that’s why I use that.

Final Thoughts About Vermicomposting

[00:30:14] Erin Hoover: Any final thoughts about vermicomposting or raising worms?

[00:30:19] Jason Adams: I think everybody should just go for it. Just try it. Like I said, with gardening, with regular composing, there’s trial and error. I hope you learned what not to do by listening to this. But, uh, as far as, the forgetting about them, but it doesn’t take a lot of money to get into it.

[00:30:36] It takes very little space. Anybody can do it. Kids love it too. So, I think everybody should just try it. Should just do it. And, um, if you don’t like it, just bring your worms to me and I will promise not to leave them outside for two years.

[00:30:50] Erin Hoover: It’s been, it’s always been something that’s kind of been on my list of things that I want to try and I haven’t, I still haven’t done it.

[00:30:55] So maybe, maybe this is the year.

[00:30:57] Jason Adams: Yeah, it’s so easy. It’s so easy, so easy. And anybody can get a hold of me if they if they have any questions. And there are people that, that are more of an expert than me, but I’m definitely willing. I love, I love talking about anything composting or worms or whatever, so.

[00:31:11] Erin Hoover: And we’ll have a link to the Lewis County Extension site on the show notes so that they have a way to get a hold of you.

[00:31:19] Jason Adams: Perfect.

[00:31:20] Erin Hoover: All right. Thanks for being here.

[00:31:22] Jason Adams: Yes. Thank you for having me. This is a lot of fun.

[00:31:25] Erin Hoover: Thank you for joining us on this episode of The Evergreen Thumb, brought to you by the WSU Extension Master Gardener Program volunteers and sponsored by the Master Gardener Foundation of Washington State.

[00:31:36] We hope that today’s discussion has inspired and equipped you with valuable insights to nurture your garden.

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[00:33:00] The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed by guests of this podcast are their own and do not imply endorsement by Washington State University or the Master Gardener Foundation of Washington State.