Hi again. I've been thinking of building a worm bed for the castings. I have LOTS of nightcrawlers in my lawn, but thought maybe I could confine and use the worms to help out my compost. Will nightcrawlers work or do I need a different kind? What kind of, and how large does a worm bed need to be. I know nothing about them. Any advise would be helpful or information about a book, etc. where i can find the help I need. P.S. I live in zone 3-4. Does that make a difference?

I started mine with dry leaves,(which were soaked in water,and wrung out),and mixed with garden soil,(1-2 handfuls)add worms(red wigglers),a small handfull of kitchen scraps placed in one area on bottom under bedding,and shredded newspaperon top of bedding. You can get more info.on the web,by looking for "Vermicomposting".

My dad used to raise nightcrawlers for fishing bait. He used an old fridge and put worm bedding in(you can get it at wal-mart in the sporting goods dept). Just follow the directions on the box. I have used a styrofoam cooler in a similar manner. I just punched small holes in the bottom w/a bic pen, added the bedding, dumped in the worms, and left the lid ajar. They were happy. and yes night crawlers will help your compost pile.

There is a book out called Worms eat my garbage. It's about raising worms for composting. I can't remember the name of the author and I've never read it although I've been planning on it.

I've been doing small-scale vermicomposting for 2 years now, under my kitchen sink, in a habitat I made from a 5-gallon Joint Cement bucket. It's really really easy, almost effortless, to make your own worm castings this way, & SOOOO nice not to have to trek out to the big compost bin in winter, & just drop your table scraps into your indoor worm-based composter. NO (NO!) smell either, as 1000 worms can eat a pound of kitchen scraps a day. If you're interested, I did a short essay (2 page) for gardentown.com that I can send to you that tells you how to set one up with things you'll have around the house; just email me: lindapro@ptd.net

Thanks for all the information. I'm sending an e-mail to you tonight, Linda. What you are doing sounds really interesting.

Okay... I'm potentially interested in this although I have to admit being a bit squirmish about the worms themselves. I have a family of 6 (with baby #5 expected in April) so I'm wondering what's involved. How big of a bucket do I need? How many worms do I need for a family of 6 (soon to be 7)? How often do you clean out the bin? I'm not very good at taking out the "kitchen compostables" to the compost pile (especially in winter) and this may be my answer (if I can convince my husband).