I think the worm blog is a great idea. It will be interesting to see your logs as the bins (or 'herd') matures even further...sortof the evolution on the learning curve.

After reading it, I question your feedstock that includes meat (chicken) and dairy (milk) as this is generally not recommended. I also question adding dryer lint to my worm bin.
I guess if these things break down w/o ordor and pests, it's 'okay', I just don't think I would add them in my bins.

Thanks AbbeysDad! The blog is sort of fun. It is actually encouraging me to overfeed the worms, though, since I like posting.

Come on, people! Give me some love. Read about my worms. They WANT their 15 minutes of fame.

I read the one you added today. Do your worms eat all that stuff that you put in like the leftover rice and the wontons and that fried stuff? or does it even matter if its fried because you put it in the food processer.

Just checked out your blogs, sounds like you have "junk food" worms, ha ha.

Anyways how about some pictures? I'm new to vermicomposting and live in an entirely different climate. It's interesting to note that in the warmer sections of the US compost worms a very active at this time of year. Mine are not THAT active right now but maybe when it warms up a bit around here they'll go to town.

Living in the south perhaps presents different problems for compost worms when temperatures soar to the 90s and 100s. Is this true?

Just my $.02 Jason, but it seems that maybe you are over feeding and you might want to rethink some of the stuff you're tossing in there like meat, dairy and soda pop.
Since these are fairly new bins, how many worms in each bin? I was thinking you have 1 lb. in each bin ?

First off, I wanted to thank everyone for checking out my blog. I started it hoping that others would enjoy it, and I will definitely incorporate any feedback I receive. (I am working on the pictures...We have a digital camera but for some reason recently the pictures won't download to the computer. Haven't spent the time to figure out the problem. I'd like to post some pictures this week.)

Yes, the worms are eating a lot of junk food. Interestingly, writing this blog is making me much more conscious of what I'm eating, since I'm recording what leftovers the worms get. I'm trying to do better...Of course, a lot of this is stuff that I, my wife or the boys DIDN'T eat, or didn't finish. Most of the leftovers are from eating out--we tend to do a lot better with portion control and type of food when we eat in. Excuses, excuses. If I'm not careful I'll have to buy the worms a gym membership. I certainly could use a little exercise going into the new year.

The worms absolutely eat the fried stuff. (Well, I don't know if they eat it, but I do know that it breaks down in the bin). I haven't had any problems with any of it when it goes through the food processor. Interestingly, I still have some tator tots that HAVEN'T broken down from several months ago that I just threw in there. They just got really moldy.

AbbeysDad - I am ABSOLUTELY overfeeding the worms. I am actually experimenting to see what their max is...I should have mentioned that in the blog. They've been doing a pretty good job keeping up with the volume, but I think this last feeding put them over the top. I started with 3 pounds of worms. I suspect I have more than that now, just based on the number of worms I've seen.

The meat hasn't been a problem. For the total volume of food I put in there, the meat is a very small portion. I stayed away from it entirely for several months, but slowly introduced it after Thanksgiving after reading Kelly's response to my follow up question on the "What are worms favorite food" thread:

Posted by: Jason_MacKenna Dallas TX on Sat, Nov 19, 05 at 14:24

"I'd asked this on another thread -- but if worms eat the bacteria, protozoa, mold & fungi, then why no meat or dairy products. Dairy molds up like crazy, and meat is chock full o' bacteria after a few days in a nice worm bin. It would seem that this high bacteria food would be WONDERFUL for worms."

Posted by: Kelly_Slocum sw WA state on Sun, Nov 20, 05 at 1:34

"...Jason, the prohibition against meat and dairy products has nothing to do with their being problematic for worms (despite the erroneous claims one can read on the internet and in some books that worms are vegetarians), rather it is we humans who find such feedstocks potentially challenging. Because the worm cannot ingest meat or dairy until it rots, and because the smell of rotting meat and dairy is distasteful to humans but highly attractive to vermin and houseflies, the inclusion of these materials can cause problems with bins kept in or near human living spaces. While these challenges CAN be managed, and some folks do include some meat, fats and cheeses in their bins, the general statement is to avoid these materials to ensure the bin is user friendly..."

Kelly, please let me know if I'm misinterpreting your statement. I definitely wouldn't want to offend the Great Worm Goddess.

I generally don't add soda, I just threw that in there for the hell of it.

Mickey2 - I definitely had some problems with high temperatures earlier this year. I can't remember exactly when I started, but my first, small bin was inside. They moved out to the garage about a month later on the tail end of our high temps, where the worms en masse attempted to leave the bin and return to the air conditioned comfort of my office. I'm relatively new to this, so I haven't been through an entire summer. I think I'll have to rely heavily on the advice of the great sage and eminent scholar Chuckiebtoo, who I am sure, as a fellow Texan, has dealt with the vicissitudes caused by our high temperatures, variable rainfall, and idealogues.

Thanks again to everyone!

Updated with pictures today.

Here is a link that might be useful: Jason's Worm Bin

Thanks Jason for the photos.I won't pretend to say I know a lot about vermicomposting, but I think I would leave off the feeding for a week. Maybe someone more knowledgable than I can suggest something regarding the smell (if it isn't the garbage).
Keep us updated with photos.

Nice blog, Jason! You seem to be enjoying both your worms and communication about them, and people who read what you've been up to will benefit from both.

I don't find any pictures, however, and am not able to identify it if there is a link that should take me to the pictures. Can you help me? I'd really like to see what you've done!

Your interpretation of my comments on use of meat and dairy products in a worm bin is spot on, and I am delighted to know that, with full knowledge of potential challenges, you have decided to try some of these "forbidden" foods and write about the experience. I'll be reading to see how it goes for you.

Know, too, that even healthy worm bins tend to have a pocket or two of anaerobic activity, and, as you noticed when fluffing through the bin material, these pockets can release a bit of odor when disturbed. If the general worm activity throughout the system is good, and if the system is processing a reasonable volume of food for its size and maturity then there is no reason to try and "correct" these conditions. A small pocket of odor is rarely sufficient to attract vermin to your bin, and a pocket or two of anaerobic activity rarely has any measurable impact on worm activity. You seem to have a good perspective on this issue judging by the lack of panic you exhibited over it in your blog, and sound as though you're well on top of things.

Remember, too, that some foods, like broccoli, naturally off-gas smelly compounds, even when they decompose aerobically. If you've added a bit or two of broccoli, cauliflower or cabbage this might be the source of the odor as opposed to anaerobia.

I'm intrigued by the dry, crusty layer in your bins. Do you find these layers to be difficult to re-moisten? Are you able to identify, or have you some sense of the feedstock or bedding materials with which they are associated? Do you have a sense that, as the dry layer is a phenomenon of both systems, it is formed by the same materials in each?

I look forward to reading more about your project, Jason, and will direct folks who email me with questions to your blog so they can get a flavor for how things work. I think the enthusiam you display coupled with your laid back approach to issues like a bit of odor or the inclusions of "forbiden" materials will make folks new to the idea see vermicomposting for the natural, simple process that it is.

Well done, my friend! Well done!

KellyS

Nice! I left a comment from my blog. Great pictures!!

Kelly, you have made my day - I've been grumpy and off task all day, and reading your feedback about my blog really put me in a great mood.

I think I may have been updating the blog about the time that you posted, Kelly, so that may have been the problem. Try the urls below:

http://jasonswormbin.blogspot.com/2006/01/heres-some-pics.html
http://jasonswormbin.blogspot.com/2006/01/pictures-of-inside-of-bins.html

Alternatively, click on the link "Jason's Worm Bin" at the bottom of this post, then on the right hand side of the page, under "previous posts", click on "Here's some pics" and "Pictures of the inside of the bins".

If this doesn't work, I have no idea. I'm not a super tech head, but I have checked this in Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Opera, and it seems to be working now. Let me know if you continue to have problems - at the very least I can send you the pictures!

I think I found the source of the stench - the leachate wasn't draining properly from Bin 2; once I cleared the blockage, boy did the leachate start to flow! Yuck.

I think the crusty layer is probably paper towels and/or Kleenex. My understanding is that it is more ecologically sound to recycle waste paper than to use it as bedding, but paper towels are not readily recyclable, so I started trying to use those as a portion of the bedding. That's really the only think that I can think of that I've changed recently. That sort of makes sense - paper towels are highly absorbent, but when they dry out they basically turn into paper mache. They are difficult to remoisten as well. I'm planning on leaving the bins alone for a few days, and if the clumps are still there, I'll pull them out and try to determine exactly what they are (de)composed of. Then I'll throw 'em in a bucket of water for a few days. If they don't break up/moisten then, I'll use them to build a retaining wall. Or maybe for target practice...

I've been running the paper towels through a blower vac to shred them into smaller particles, but I don't think that's working as well as I would have hoped. I had read on the composting forum that paper towels, napkins, and Kleenex are the slowest materials to break down, generally. I thought the worms might accelerate the process, but it doesn't look like it. I'm open to suggestions on that front (or any other, for that matter).

Thanks again to everyone for their comments.

Here is a link that might be useful: Jason's Worm Bin