I've had worms for years and years. One year I put a bin underneath the sink at my kids' kindergarten. But the one I have at home is one of those fancy schmancy "worm condos" available commercially (it was a present). The worm bin in a plastic bucket under the sink worked fine.

There's a yahoogroup with tons of info on worm composting if you need this.

I can't think of any downside. I don't pay as careful attention to the thing as one might want, so having it outside in sunny socal suits me, but inside would be fine if you just made sure everything was always covered up as it should be so that no flies appeared. From postings on the yahoogroup I gather sometimes, rarely, people have troubles with escapees or run-away goo, but I've never had it. Let me know if you need the yahoogroup link; it's filled with the TWO (Totally Worm Obsessed) as you might imagine.

For design and materials there are tons of offerings on the web. For the one I made I just used a oblong plastic bucket and stuck a mesh on the bottom -- I'm not even sure that's necessary. It's one of those things you can make complicated... or not.

Hi Aliris! Do you think that indoor worm bin could replace the need for compost bucket inside? I would like the link to the yahoo group when you get a chance. I am all for experimenting, usually, but for my brand new spanking clean kitchen I do not have that same attitude. I want to settle on a new system, in advance, without making a lot of changes later. The space for waste disposal inside the kitchen is very limited. We generate very little garbage after taking into account recycling and composting. I guess it is the way that I cook. on the kitchen porch will be the recycling. Inside I just need something for garbage and compost. Under the sink it is only 12.5" deep on one side and 17" wide on the other. Are worms my answer? If so, how? Thanks!!

Hmmmm.... I don't want to scare you off of worms, not ever. In fact I even just erased a paragraph, worried that it was too skewed toward my personal experience and failings which isn't relevant to your experience.

For me, relying on worms alone wouldn't work. But I have a family and am very busy; I spend hardly any time nurturing my worms. Sometimes I go weeks without feeding them. Sometimes I generate 15 litres of scraps in a day. I don't myself have a steady enough set of habits to keep enough worms happy ( the population will grow or shrink to match your needs, but the change isn't automatic of course) -- my kitchen habits can vary sufficiently that the worm population may not easily incorporate spikes in volume. That sort of thing. I deal with it by having two compost piles; worms and one that I completely ignore (I even toss occasional meat scraps in there; I just don't mind the wildlife we attract but don't tell my neighbors. Thing is, they're attracting vermin too, just in different ways). Plus I suppose there are additional ones going for yard waste. We live in SoCal so it's a year-round proposition. Bazillions of folks maintain worms year round in freezing climates too but this may take a tad more attention perhaps.

Again, I don't want to scare you away and I could be wrong. IME, composting with worms is flat-dead simple and rewarding and useful; basically a free lunch personified. I can think of no reason not to use them. However, I would personally want a secondary system as well.

This is an arena that lends itself beautifully to the sort of OCD types all around this TKO forum. Worm folks can focus thousands of words on minutiae of bedding humidity and thickness and type. There are people out there who process their scraps for the worms. There are people who vermicompost huge horse-farms' worth of refuse. It's pretty amazing what a working ecosystem can process. And -- trust me on this -- it can be 100% odorless and ickless as well.

Please sign up for the yahoogroup the_worm_bin [crimeny: I just tried to post the link and was blocked by GW complaining that this is a source of spam; dunno -- but this info should be able to get you there. Contact me offlist if not please]. I haven't really paid attention to the forum for a while; it seems to be less active than formerly. However I'm sure you could find from the folks still left there where everyone went. I vaguely recall unhappiness with the yahoo server a while back and an en masse decampment. That will all be archived there.

Let me know if you can't find them from the yahoogroup; I'll look through my archived messages.

this is very helpful Aliris. I do not have time to nurture along another genus and species as I am busy with my two little Homo sapien boys and their menagerie, and job, etc. etc. So the worms would also get tough love in my household. I would always have a backyard compost (that I also do not nurture along and sometimes put cheese and meat and shrimp shells in) for all the gardening stuff. So overflow could go there. I live in zone 7 so the winter gets below freezing on some nights but often not. We have cold snaps and heat waves here. Inside the house, under the kitchen sink would be relatively stable though. I did hear from a day care that they tried to do the worm thing and came back to school after a long weekend with worms having tried the great escape and met their dry fate on the carpets all around.

I'd like to read the censored para's!!

nap over for litte guy. gotta run

raro - I've read about that sort of mass escapee-ism. I don't think it's common and it seems to be comprehensible among those who like to comprehend the movements of worms. I seem to recall that some worms like to high-tail it if/when things get too wet.

I haven't personally experienced this. I understand it can be avoided with knowledge. I don't think of that sort of knowledge as time-consuming, personally. It just sort of accumulates from reading.

My dad bought this many, many years ago: worm condo and while I would never shell out for it myself, I do love using it. It has been virtually attention-free worm composting for nearly two decades. Truthfully, given LA's acid air, what do you know that is left outside and is still around? That alone is astonishing. It's a good product, IMO. It's a good example of one of those items that while wildly expensive, just might be worth it at that. If you want to do this, have a little extra cash and no extra time, this might be a good way of just wrapping up the problem. Absolutely definitely you can get perfect systems going in no time at all with no problems at all in a $5 plastic bucket. But this is also a way of buying something that works. period.

Just a thought. You'd want to set the whole thing on a pan though if it were going underneath your stairs. Drips, etc....

BTW, I'm happy to give worms to anyone interested in grabbing them from WLA. Contact me offlist please.

Very intriguing discussion. Can we have a worm condo if we travel a week at a time several times a year? In the summer we usually have one two week block.

Yup - no problem at all.

Which reminds me, it's been a week or two since I've checked on my pets ... better get with it.

Mine don't like citrus skins so when I've been using a lot of them I have to either sort the compost, get organized about filling up buckets to contain only work-ready scraps or ignore the wrigglers for a time. The latter usually wins. But there are people out there who cater massively to their worms' gustatorial needs, including freezing and food processing. Amazing.

That said, I'm very fond of my thousands of hermaphroditic pets.

Hey there! I found a local source of expertise. The Scrap Exchange gives classes twice a year in vermiculture and they have a bin at their storefront. Also, the local farmer's market has a vendor that sells worm tea and castings. What I want to have in my kitchen is a waste pull-out that is also a worm bin. I think I will start with the pull-out and then see how to tailor into a home made worm condo. But for now, it is going on my very long list of projects to do before/once we move back into our house. thanks for the inspiration.

anyone in the buffalo ny area that has a worm farm? i just bought one and am excited to try it out. ordered the worms yesterday and will be ready to start this weekend..