Worm Composting

Composting is not just an outdoor activity. It can also be done indoors to get rid of those food scraps in your kitchen.

Worm composting involves using worms to turn food scraps, newspapers, and cardboard into a rich compost, which can be added to potted plants, lawns and gardens. It is convenient, and you can do it indoors (even in apartments) or outdoors.

Don’t worry! When done correctly, worm composting will not cause an odor or have worms crawling all over your house. The worms are quite small, but could still be used for fishing.

Worm composting (or vermicomposting) is one of the easiest methods for reusing fruit and vegetable scraps from your kitchen and yard. All you need is a container filled with moistened bedding, worms, and food scraps.

Even in cool winter weather, where outdoor compost piles lie dormant, you can compost your food scraps indoors with worms and reduce the volume of your household garbage by as much as 25%. The end result is unsurpassed as an organic soil builder and plant fertilizer, containing high amounts of nitrogen.

Worm composting is easy, rewarding, and fun! Given the right environment and a little routine attention, a handful of worms will multiply rapidly and digest your kitchen scraps.

Worm composting is a great way to recycle food scraps indoors all year long. 

To learn more about vermicomposting make sure to read Oregon State University Extension’s “Composting with Worms"

Published in Canton Daily Ledger Column 1-28-2006