That would moisten the surface, but most of it would just run off, and it wouldn't count as a "green". What you should probably do is haul all that stuff out and then put it back in, mixing the greens in as you go. If you have alfalfa you were going to make tea with, use that. Water it as you add each layer to get all the dry stuff moist throughout, not just pouring it on top.

I just decluttered my kitchen area & got rid of a few of those infamous piles (as in how does all of this stuff accumlate so quickly?) - and filled up a whole waste basket of torn paper!!! yeah composting!!! My daughter (age 6) came up w/the solution to keeping the dog out of the basket (i.e. the dog who loves to eat any paper item). A family effort :) I just love it. My husband started giving me strange looks (actually called me that "obsessive" word) today about me taking the rotten grapes out of the garbage that he had thrown away instead of setting aside for the CP - I thought to myself that he hasn't seen anything - he should read some of the items on the "compost wacko" thread, on which I don't even YET rate :)

Well, they survived the first night. I do have a few questions I am going to have to find answers to. I originally purchased a worm factory 360 and 4-5 lbs. of worms. I got a shipment notification that the worms shipped but hadn't heard anything about the worm factory. I watched a bunch of youtube videos on DIY worm bins. I ended up making one in case the worm factory did not arrive before the worms. Ironically, I finished the DIY bin and an hour later, UPS dropped off the worm factory. So, I have both available to me. I decided to try the worm factory since I paid good money for it. Last night, I left the lid off with a light hanging over the top tray. That seemed to keep the worms from hanging out on the surface. This morning, all seemed well since I didn't see much activity on the surface. I lifted up the tray and there were about 500 (or more) worms underneath the tray, in the drain area where a little water had collected. I knew the light would make them dig down but I didn't want them that far! I scooped them all out and placed them back on top of the tray. I then put the lid on but left the light hanging overhead. I'm hoping that if they decide to climb up and towards the "free world," they will get hit with the light and turn around. I have this fear of my wife going in to our guest room and there being 5,000 worms crawling around our carpeted floor! There is also a slight musty smell coming from the bin. Obviously I am new to this but my guess is the bin is a little too wet. I was thinking about adding some dry shredded newspaper/cardboard to the top of the tray. I appreciate the responses Susan--thanks! Randy

We all poke around too much. I have had my worms for about 1 1/2 years, and I still poke around several times a day. (Yes, I know. I need to get a life.) When you first start a new bin, you have few worms in a large space. It will look like there aren't many worms. That is just because they spread out in the bin, and a lot of them like to crawl around in the wet areas at the bottom of the bin below the area where you are doing the poking. In a few months you will poke around and find worms everywhere. We all see worms die. I have had a couple of near misses, but have not lost my worms completely. The first time I figured out what I did wrong, did my best to fix it, and let the worms take it from there. It took some time, but the worms did their thing, and came back in force. I am dealing with a problem now that I cannot diagnose, though I have an educated guess, and the worms are still hanging in. Several years ago I tried to start a bin, and lost all of my worms. It was a matter of trying to do too much too quickly. I started out with a home made flowthrough bin that was 6 square feet of surface, and 5 lbs of worms. If I had started with one pound of worms in a RubberMaid tote, they would still be around and going gang busters by now. What you are doing now sounds good. I would put the lid on, and try my hardest to leave the guys alone for a week or so. If you are like me, that week will last about 2 hours. Worms really do like to be left alone. Change happens in a bin slowly, but it does happen. You want to see your new bin really take off. It will, but it could take two or three months to get there. Be patient, and let your worms do what worms do. If you have specific questions, ask. We don't always have answers, but we almost always have opinions that we think are answers, and we like to share them.