Today I finished creating a four-foot wide by eight-foot long vermicompost bin. I used 18 cinder blocks ($40) to line the top of the bin and to provide long-lasting structure. This bin is one foot deep and provides 32 cubic feet for composting with red worms. It is important not to make the bin deeper than one foot because increased depth leads to excessive compaction of damp bedding and food scraps. Since worms are strict aerobes, they cannot tolerate the reduced oxygen environment of an anaerobic composting bin.

The bin is located along the northern fence line and takes advantage of the afternoon shade. For optimal feeding, the worms prefer a temperature that ranges from 68°F-77°F. Since the bin is rather large it has a greater insulation capacity should not be difficult to maintain temperature in the mild Mendocino county winters. However, I am certain that some form of shading will be necessary to keep the worms happy in the hot summer. After the construction of this bin we have plenty of room on the Northern fence line to create 2-3 more bins.

Binet Payne recommends starting with one bin and building up, from there. In her system at Laytonville Middle School, Binet uses four, 32 cubic foot, bins to manage the flow of lunchroom wastes. These are large bins and each bin can hold a maximum capacity of 64 pounds of red worms! As a general rule, 2 pounds of worms can consume 1 pound of food scraps per day. As you can guess, a fully stocked bin is capable of processing a maximum of 32 pound of food scraps a day! I have yet to determine the weight of food scraps produced daily at the restaurant we are going to begin to collect scraps from. I want to be able to match the restaurant's production, but I also have to watch the budget as red worms cost around $30 a pound. At present I think I will not invest too much and let the population ramp up in the next few months. Who knows, there might even be someone in the community with extra worms to spare for the project.

Construction of vermicompost bin

Halfway Finished With Cinder Block Border

Cinder Block Border Completed