composting worms – Crazy About Compost

The Worms Are Back!

Although winter is far from over, it hasn't been consistently below freezing for at least a few weeks...today was 60 F. I remember going outside to empty my food scraps in the bin when it was well below freezing thinking that all the worms must have perished by now. Fast forward to today, and I found one climbing out of the side. They must have burrowed deep to wait it out... glad they're back! It definitely helps speed up smaller scale composting efforts by throwing in some red wigglers.

winter challenges

It's starting to be consistently below freezing, and I wasn't able to shred leaves in time before the snow. Luckily, I still have a trash can's worth in the yard and a bunch of food scraps...and a bunch of worms. I added my stuff to the pile at mid day to minimize any last heat escaping while I opened it up. I'm surprised they've stuck around in the large bin- it certainly helps for when the composting process slows to a crawl. The trash can composter is completely stopped, so I'm trying to figure out how to get that kickstarted again- too small of a system to add compost toilet material to, and it's filled to the brim anyway. How have you been handling the colder temperatures?

Year-Round Heroes: Leaves and Worms

I haven't been paying much attention to the large compost pile lately, but it made it through the first snow with no problems- the snow wouldn't melt on the center- good sign! While emptying a week's worth of food scraps into the center, I couldn't help but notice all the red wigglers present... if I can keep them warm, I'll be doing just fine through the winter!