We had our vermicomposting bin setup with the help of two friends (Xavier and Malou Peña) over the weekend. They brought a kilo of African Night Crawlers (ANC) worms and showed us how to properly prepare the bed.

Our bed is about one-half foot deep, two feet wide and six feet long. We just used half of the total area and reserved the other half for use later when the worms have completely consumed the first bin. The idea is to just let the worms migrate to the other half of the bed. We will then harvest the vermicast from the first bin and begin piling more worm food.  We used adobe bricks as a border and plastic sacks as bed lining.

Above: The composting bed with chopped banana trunk as first layer

Above: Some kids helping spread the cow manure

Above: Spreading some used coffee grounds

The first layer of the bedding was chopped banana trunk, followed by partially decomposed grass clippings, discarded petsay leaves, other greens and dried cow manure. We then introduced the worms and covered them with a thin layer of soil and used coffee grounds that my wife has been collecting from Starbucks. There was no need to moisten the mixture because it was raining so the mixture was already wet. All we had to do was cover the bed with plastic sacks once we were done. We just used stones to weigh the sides of the covers (sacks) to secure them in case the wind blows. Sticks of bamboo were placed on top to weigh the sacks down without necessarily pinning down the worms. And presto, we now have our first ever vermicomposting bin. All we have to do moisten the beds from time to time and wait for the worms to do their work. In about three weeks time we can have our own vermicast for our plants.

Above: Some worms on my palm

Above: This is what a harvested vermicast (worm castings or droppings) is after about three weeks

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