Updated: November 28, 2020
What’s the best worm food for a worm composting bin? This is not as simple a question as you might think.
My worm bin was humming along for a while. Then I ran into trouble. The trouble was caused by what I was feeding the worms.
The worms were evacuating the bin in mass. They just didn’t want to be in there any more.
Plus, they weren’t many eggs or baby worms.
Let’s take a sec to get the legal words out of the way. This article may contain affiliate links. That means if you click and buy from my partners, I will make a tiny amount of money at no cost to you. This in no way affects my recommendations.
There was too much moisture in the worm bin and probably too much nitrogen. I also suspect that the pH was wrong.
I found out the hard way not to drop the video camera into the worm bin or you’ll be explaining to your wife why it has worm castings on it.
— Suburban Hobby Farmer
If I had used the following method, I would have avoided lots of problems. You can learn from my mistake.
The best worm food
Here’s my new process:
Step 1: Tear up some black & white newspaper into very thin strips. Take the strips and clump them together into a shape that looks somewhat like a bird’s nest.
Step 2: Push back the top bedding and dig a hole in a corner of your bin. Take the nest of paper strips and place it in the hole.
Step 3: Grab a handful of pre-composted fruit and vegetable scraps. My worms like chopped up banana peel, strips of carrot and lettuce. You probably know what your worms like.
If you can pre-compost it for a week or two, they will be able to eat it more easily. By pre-composting, I mean just let it sit around.
Although pre-composting is not necessary, it’s pretty easy to do and makes the food more digestible for the worms.
It’s not that important what you feed them, as long as it’s not something that has a strong taste or is too acidic (lower pH).
Related: How to Use Chicken Manure Pellets in the Garden
Step 4: Place the handful of food scraps in the nest in the bin. Cover the scraps with the top bedding that was already in the bin before you started this process.
The feeding process may sound easy, but taking pictures and video of worms is a little tougher.
Related: Do Tumbling Compost Bins Work?
For one thing, worms don’t like photo flashes. They run and hide. So I had to get their picture on the first try. They do a good job hiding.
I also found out the hard way not to drop the video camera into the worm bin or you’ll be explaining to your wife why it has worm castings on it.
Related articles that might interest you:
- Worm Composting Not So Easy, Part III
- Worm Composting Not So Easy, Part II
- Worm Composting Not So Easy, Part I
- Free 77-page Worm Composting Guide
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