No room for composting? Tell it to the worms

Vermicomposting creates garden gold in a small space

Did you know I have worms?

They're cute little red wigglers, and they're working hard in their bin, munching on kitchen scraps and making the world's best soil amendment.

Although I've had a regular compost bin going for about 20 years, I never thought about setting up a worm bin. But I had a class last winter with Sacramento County's most enthusiastic worm wrangler, UCCE master gardener Patty Peterson.

She taught us how to put together a worm bin, an easy process that I'll link to at the end. As luck would have it,  I won the bin that my group was putting together. I lugged it home and thought, "Oh great, now I have to keep these worms alive, or risk embarrassing myself with my class."

The bin took a spot outside, in the shade on the north side of my house, with a towel over it to keep it warm in the winter weather. I kept up the food supply, and made sure the bedding stayed moist (but not too moist). The bin started with only 24 tiny worms, and early on whole weeks would go by when I wouldn't see any, or maybe one that had attached itself to the plastic covering.

These worms actually helped keep me sane during the early weeks of the pandemic shutdown. Apple cores and squash peelings were easy food, and I had something else to focus on away from the news.

The worms' bedding began to break down after a few months, so I went to Western Feed & Pet Supply and bought a bale of Eco Flake animal bedding, which is mostly pine shavings. It'll last me a couple of years, I think, but it was worth it.

Gradually the worm population grew, and by the late spring it was thriving. I had no problem spotting at least a few of the residents.

Here's the worm bin with the top removed, with the newspaper sheet on the bedding and the photographed worms (above) on top. The bin is in a bathtub now but will go back outside soon.

When that happens, I intend to harvest most of the castings, and start the process again. And my garden gets the homemade treat.

Worm composting really is the space-efficient way to compost, whether you have a big garden or just a few containers to use the castings in.