{ worm pix }

[WormCam]
An infrared camera captures the action inside our bin. New video of the last 24 hours uploaded every 3 hours. Look for quick, momentary movements and bedding in motion.
(Hey, they're worms. Not that much happens)

Our excellent bin is a Worm Wigwam, by Sustainable Agricultural Technologies.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

 

WormCam FAQ

A worm composting system, also known as a "Vermicomposting" system, is a small ecosystem within a container, much like a fishtank.

"For the love of Pete...WHY?"

1. Incredible compost for the garden.
2. Turn our kitchen waste into a valuable resource and keep it out of the landfill.
3. Where else can you have thousands of pets, generally ignore them, feed them garbage, and not get in trouble??
   

"What am I seeing?"
You are actually seeing the inside of the bin. A camera sits on a small wooden platform along with a small infrared light. You may see the worms poking up through the bedding material and nibbling on the bacteria and decaying food scraps. You can also see worms crawling up and down the side walls of the container, although they don't try to escape unless something is wrong with the system.

"What do the worms eat?"
Well, the lumpy bits you see are kitchen scraps, such as apple cores, lettuce leaves, potato skins and banana peels. We feed only vegetable kitchen scraps--no meat, no dairy. The worms particularly enjoy the mysterious, blackened masses we find in the far back of the veggie drawer in the fridge. We go easy on citrus peels, since the acids hurt the worms' delicate skin. The kitchen waste wil "ripen" for about a week in the compost bucket before we dump it into the bin.

Why only vegetables? Can't worms eat just about anything?
Although worms will eat about anything that bacteria can first break down, decomposing waste from meat and dairy will make the bin smell like the aftermath of a monkey frat party. The forbidden list also includes droppings from carnivorous animals like cats and dogs, as they can carry diseases that you don't want in a garden. However, composted manure from herbivores like cows, sheep, and chickens is acceptable. For those that are interested, there are vermicomposting systems that are specifically designed for dog poop...you just can't use the resulting compost on any plant you might eventually be eating.

Before we go any further, why is there a fork in the picture?
The fork is made of a compostable cornstarch material. I'm curious to see how long it takes to for it to actually compost, so I'm keeping an eye on it.

"How much do you put into the bin?
It depends. We usually feed a kitchen scrap bucket worth of waste once a week. This is also dependent on temperature. Since the worms have no teeth, they rely on bacteria to do the "heavy lifting" for them for a few days before they can dig in. The bacteria are sensitive to temperature: if it's too cold, they slow way down and the worms go hungry. If it's too hot, the bacteria are happy, but the worms try to escape by climbing out of the bin. We use a heater in winter, but we still reduce the amount of waste during the cold months. In ideal temperature conditions with a large worm population, we've seen an entire bucket of scraps disappear in a few days.

"What is the other stuff scattered around?"
The long, flat stringy material scattered around the food scraps is shredded newspaper as bedding. The bedding is moistened to the consistency of a well-wrung-out sponge. The bedding may also be dead leaves, straw, or coconut fiber. The worms prefer to have their food placed beneath the bedding. The waste would disappear much faster if we buried it under the bedding, but there are a few worms that don't seem to mind crawling around on top of their bedding to get to food. So, in the interests of exploiting the worms for educational and entertainment value, we have some of our waste partially exposed. We also add pieces of moistened, torn-up cardboard for a source of carbon and an ideal nesting matrix for the worm cocoons.

"...Worm Cocoons?"
Yes. Worms reproduce by forming a mucous band around the clitellum, which is the paler, thick band visible behind a worm's "head." Although worms have both male and female sexual organs, they still prefer mating with another worm. The fertilized eggs collect in the mucous band and the worm slides it off like taking off a t-shirt. The hardened mucous forms a cocoon.

"How many worms are there?"
When it's going full-steam, there can be as many as 18,000 worms in our system.

"That's gotta stink."
Nope. It smells like the forest floor: rich and loamy. The worms keep everything tidy in there. If it smells nasty, that means the decomposition has become anaerobic and something is wrong.

"Do you need to replenish the worms?"
Nope. In an ideal situation, the worms will breed and create a self-sustaining population.

"What sort of container is your worm bin?"
Our system is a "Worm Wigwam," which is 3 feet in diameter and about 3 feet high. It has an integrated heater for cold weather, and a built-in harvesting crank. A marvelous bin, although a bit pricey. Our first bin was a homemade stack of three, old, Rubbermaid bins with holes drilled in them. The Rubbermaid system worked very well, until we just plain needed more compost.

"What sort of creatures am I seeing?"
The large worms are Redworms, eisenia foetida, which are the best composting worms and the stars of our show. In the infrared light, they are pale gray. Regular earthworms--the garden-variety nightcrawlers--do not work in a worm composting system, since they prefer long, deep tunnels. Unlike nightcrawlers, the redworms are surface feeders, and happily conduct their lives within the first few inches of the worm bin. They can tolerate a wide range of temperatures, although they prefer it moist and dark.

You may also see:

• Tiny, threadlike, white worms, called Potworms or Whiteworms (Enchytraeidae). These are also beneficial, composting creatures. We've seen them completely exposed, crawling around on the garbage. They seem to prefer apples.
• Swarms of minuscule, beneficial little bugs, called Springtails. These are hard to see on camera, but once in a while some get close enough to see crawling around on the food scraps. Look for moving dots.
• Mites. An almost microscopic spider-like creature. In small numbers, these critters are usually not a problem. If there's an infestation large enough that you can see them as a rippling sheet of dots on camera, that's not good, but mite explosions tend to be self-limiting.
• Sowbugs "pillbugs" or "Roly-Polys." These familiar arthropods eat the hard-to-digest stuff, such as cardboard, dead leaves, and twigs.
• You may also see Fruit Flies. These flying insects are annoying, but they're generally harmless to the system and the worms. For those who keep worm bins inside their houses, these pests can be very aggravating. Since our bin is in a separate building, we're not as concerned about fruit flies.
  
• Millipedes and Centipedes. These long, creepy-crawly arthropods are usually harmless if there are only a couple. Millipedes are pretty innocuous; however, centipedes are predatory and do enjoy a tasty earthworm snack, so we try to keep an eye out for these sorts and remove them from the bin.
• Our bin is enclosed, protecting the contents and the inhabitants from rats, mice, and dogs. They would definitely wreak havoc if they were to get into the bin. Since these critters are clever and resourceful, we still watch out for them.
• Bears. Yes, bears. A bear demolished our bin over the winter, eating all the half-finished compost and most of the worms. The bin, although torn up, popped back together very nicely. If you see a bear on camera, you may as well relax and enjoy the show, because we're not going anywhere near it.

"Do you have pictures of some of the critters?"
Here's a picture of mites and springtails on an avocado skin. The mites are round, white specks, the springtails are oblong, white specks:
                          
Start of an infestation

 

"Help! My worm bin is full of mites!"
Once mites have blossomed into a full-blown invasion, they're pesky critters to have around, depending on the mite. If you see brown mites on your worms, these are predatory and are dangerous to your worms. As far as the other mites go, they're relatively innocuous. Worms don't seem to enjoy the garbage that is beset by mites. Mite "blooms" tend to be self-limiting, and an infestation will most often times disappear on its own after a few weeks. Meanwhile, a good way to reduce the mite population is to use pieces of melon. Canteloupe works well. Mites adore melon (so do worms, BTW); it's like mite flypaper. Wait a couple of days then remove the mite-infested melon and toss it into your regular compost pile. If you have a mite problem, re-evaluate how much food you're putting in the bin and how damp the environment may be. Too much food or too much water can lead to mite issues.

"I'm a geek. What sort of gear are you using?"
The camera is a wireless Logitech WVC200 with a Cisco external antenna. The infrared emitter is some cheapie thing I got on eBay from Hong Kong. I use WebCamXP to upload and archive the still pictures. To get the timelapse, I groom the archived images with a quickie C# application I wrote, then I string the images together into a flash video with mencoder, a part of MPlayer, which is a great open-source media program from Hungary.

"You're a geek, you know that."
Yep.

If you'd like to learn more...

The Worm Digest
City of Fort Collins, Colorado -- the queen city of recycling.
Worms Eat My Garbage -- the vermicomposting bible by Mary Appelhof
Red Worm Composting
Worm Wigwam -- The model of our bin, a veritable Ritz-Carlton of worm luxury.
Google's list of worm bin stuff
MPlayer - The program we use to create the timelapse video.