The New Pets---Vermicomposting

I recently invested in a worm compost to take care of all the coffee grinds, rotten veggies and egg shells without having to take them down to the green bin. So far it seems to be working really well. There has been no smell and I haven't even had to add extra paper. At the beginning there was a crazy cotton candy looking mold growing over the top but the worms didn't seem to mind.

Fits nicely under the sink.

I initially thought I would make my own compost centre but found it difficult to find worms at a decent price. A quick search through Kijiji led me to my worm guy. For $25 I was able to buy the whole kit which had already been started. All the worms I had looked at before finding Jason were anywhere from $25-40 per half pound. My kit probably had upwards of a half pound, but came in a pre-drilled rubbermaid with happy worms crawling throughout.

I thought the rubbermaid would be a lot bigger and had cleared a space for it in the closet. The pictures I had seen on the internet had led me to believe it was a space consuming project as it was never presented relative to anything. I was surprised how easily it fit under the sink in our small kitchen.

I've been adding almost all the organic waste we've had. I questioned things like kleenex and pastas but have just been wetting them before putting them in and adding them in small quanitites. I stay away from citrus being put in as the worms aren't fans.

So far I've been able to keep them alive and well fed. I'm hoping to see some terrific results in the spring in having beautiful, nutrient rich soil. I hope to figure out the picture posting process and keep an update on the worms and what I've been learning throughout the process.

Here goes!

So here it is. My attempt at making my home a food producing, efficient haven and my first attempt at blogging. My hope, in writing and experimenting with indoor agriculture in a small space, is to identify projects that can be done by most urban dwellers with relative ease.

 Will the apartment smell of rotten food if I have a worm compost? How many harvests of mushrooms can I get out of different indoor mushroom kits offered throughout Canada? Is there a way to grow vegetables throughout winter?

These answers are what I hope to find in the next few months of apartment living. The importance of food in cities is not to be overlooked and in these adventures I hope to make clear how apartment food growing projects can be beneficial to one's meals and wallet.