paul mostardi

Justin and I inherited a worm composter from the previous tenants of our house. Since we moved in the middle of February until now, its been too cold to really take stock of our worms. However with the warm weather upon us, its now time to belly up to the bar and partake in the exciting world of vermiculture.

The Worm Wigwam composter we have is like a large barrel, split half way up by a screen grating. The bottom remains empty, and the top half get filled with compost. Its supposed to be a fairly simple operation. Insert a balanced mixture of shredded paper and used coffee grounds along with any spare bits of fruits and veggies from the kitchen into the top of the bin. Maintain the moisture inside the bin to that of a wrung-out sponge and in a few months you get healthy, biologically active, nutrient enriched, worm casting-compost out the bottom. Its a constant process, always adding the new stuff on top, and removing the old, decomposed material out of the bottom.

A well maintained compost bin should smell like healthy fertile soil, like a verdant forest after a summer rain, as of course our does. However we had also inherited a large stockpile of coffee grounds that had been sitting for several months in garbage cans. Coffee, itself being a very aromatic substance, can really reek after stewing in its own juices. Not having been mixed and diluted with a Carbon-rich substance like dead leaves or shredded paper, the coffee became too Ammonia laden and toxic for the biological process of composting to take its course. Subsequently our first few weeks after emptying these garbage cans way back in the far corner of the yard were characterized by a smell not too dissimilar to Parmesan cheese.

Apparently worms are a pretty lucrative business these days. This site sells worm poo for $6.95/lb?!?! Now of course the price goes down to about a $1 per pound when you order in bulk and thats about in line with the local street prices. Supposedly this thing puts out about 10lb per day when it gets crankin. I'll let you do the math. Needless to say my retirement will be quite a bit sooner than anticipated.