Used coffee grounds are pretty much nuteral. I use them around slug-prone plants to deter slugs (and tho' some say otherwise, I swear by them for this use) But I'm talking about 2 pots worth of ground a day - not anywhere near the quantities that you are talking about. I don't know how that kind of quantity would affect or be needed with healthy soil. I do suggest you bring the question over to the Soil and Compost forum. There is bound to be a couple of wacko's that know the answer. One thing I can suggest....you might want to leak out word of what a great amendment coffee grounds are and where you are getting them. There's got to be a few interested gardeners near-by. Kay.

Dee, I too work at a library and started by "comandeering" banana and orange peels. Since I'm only in a couple of times a week, I asked if I could leave a 5-gal bucket in the breakroom. I pointed out that my bucket has a lid and our breakroom garbage does not, promised to switch it for an empty one atleast once a week, and would gladly accept plant materials from our houseplants and the floral arrangements a Friend of the Library freshens up regularly. I now have 2 co-workers who take buckets home with them and return when full plus the breakroom bucket. Slowly but surely! We have an old 10-gal aquarium that was donated eons ago for a summer kids project and I'm currently trying to figure a way to use it as a worm bin. I've never vermicomposted (yet), but I think it would be neat to have one in glass so the kids could sort of "watch the process". We get a lot of field trips during the school year and I'd like to make the most of their time at the library. If it's successful it could perhaps lead to worm bins in the classroom too :) Like Tox said: " As long as they get into a bin somewhere, consider it a success."

"Are BSF timid creatures, or am I most likely going to have them crawling on me or flying around when I'm checking out my bin?" Some people really love their BSFL, as much as we love our worms. They too worry about them when they have to leave them for a few days. My understanding is that when BSFL are about 3/4 inch long and smaller they are white. Then as they mature they turn black and hard like little armadillos. Then they hide. The flys that emerge are like large houseflies but they do not land on poop and then on food. They avoid people, poop and food and want to find a bit of rot to lay their eggs on. They fly erratically. Slow when they are just warming up. Then faster. They are black with some of their leg area white. I think you would like the fly and the mature larvae and not be afraid of them. The thing that is cool about the white larvae is if one puts lets say the remains of a fish that the fillets have been harvest from into the bin, the the BSFL boil over the remains so actively that the remains float over the top of the activity and wonder around the container while getting smaller and smaller until they are all gone. Maybe let your helper know that these types of things in the bin are normal so they will not be startled. There is the cutest youtube that shows a little girl with a handful of BSFL feeding then to her chickens. If they knew that even little girls are not afraid of them then they might be more ok with them. Me I do not even touch my worms except with a 10 inch stick. Not even with gloves on. Maybe the scarriest thing to ever happen was I had noticed a few things out of place around the bin lately. Things were a bit mess with the vermicomost. I thought I was just sloppy. One day I put food in the top of the bin and out of the bottom a mouse jumped and darted off of my leg. I screamed like a little girl. Then I laughed a lot because I screamed. Many people love furry mice as pets. Maybe not me. I wonder if he was eating my worms. I move the material around in my bin to learn what is going on. As I am more confident I know what is happening in there and as vermicomposting is not my newest hobby, and I am not possessed with knowing what is going on with the little guys, I am more likely to leave them alone. Then my activity with the bin would more resemble how sbryce advises. Like him I would flip the bottom material over for the same reasons. Or gain interest in flow through bins like I have. I would think the cloth worm inns would work nice for you. Just put the stuff food by the tons and bedding in at the top. Zip it in. Water frequently. Harvest at the bottom. Supposedly no need to separate worms. They do dry out fast but the activity of adding water is pleasant for some. Others may have fish tank change water they want to use. I would think that maybe the condition of the material might be gauged a tiny bit by just squeezing the bag. I do not have one. Some people sew their own. Having a strong enough stand to hold mega weight is important. I guess like not buying the first year of a car I am waiting for them to come out with the new and improved version. I think mine would dry out. That would be ... ... .,. very bad for the worms. A homemade plastic bin is more resilient in that way.

yes you can, just make sure you have some drainage holes so it doesn't wind up full of water - the air gets incorporated as you feed and work the bin, it's a component of the feedstock and soil .... unless you have a pretty large bin you'll need to be feeding it all the time, so keep it simple to be easy I'd think you could simply have a well insulated bin in a sheltered area and be OK, like surrounded with hay bales or such - I keep a , and while we've been seeing milder winters every year, it's subject to freezing, and they survive Bill