September 26, 2011

A Basement bin keeps composting active during the winter

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After you've cleaned up the garden and lawn of the dead and old debris, and turned the compost pile, you might remember that once cold sets in not much is going to be happening there in the winter. One idea to conteract that lull is to start some compost in your basment. It's easy to do.

You'll need a large wooden box or plastic bin with air holes and a cover. It can be filled at least half way with well-moistened, shredded, plain newspaper or leaves. To this, you add about a pound of red worms, ordered from a worm farm or collected from an old manure or compost pile. Then you're ready to add vegetable scraps from your kitchen, but no more than about half a pound per day. To keep the smell fresh be sure to bury the scraps completely, and avoid really tough materials like corn cobs and nut shells that the worms can't handle.

I've tried this in a primary school classroom for a science project and to explain organic gardening techniques and the kids loved it.

At Composting red worms