Well, We're Movin' On Up...

Close-up of a worm egg capsule.


The worms continue to progress well. 2.5 months after we first started the worm bin, they're nearly ready to move up to the next working tray: the vermicast, as noted in the instructional booklet which came with our bin, is now at an inch above the inner plastic ribs of the current working tray. In order to prepare for the big migration and the addition of the new tray, we've stopped feeding them, in order to ensure that there's little to no unprocessed organic food still remaining in the bin.

Apparently, the worms have been eating well: they've been congregating en masse, a wriggling red bolus within the damp layer newspaper covers and laying eggs, sometimes termed cocoons, like mad. The egg capsules are ovoid, tapered to a point on two ends, and resemble orzo, only in miniature, a little smaller than grains of rice. See above graphic for a close-up.

Foods that Worms Love, and Foods They Don't

Pikake: worm delicacy.


After observing the worms for the past month and a half, I've noted the following observations about their likes and dislikes:

Love: papaya shells, strawberries, melons of all varieties, mango, cucumber, squash, potato peels, grains: rice, cereals, bread, eggshells, coffee grounds, tea leaves, pears, tomatoes, basil, rose petals, gardenias, and pikake. I received a beautiful pikake and rose lei for my birthday, given to me by a former student, Q., and after a few days, dismantled the withered flowers from the string and placed them into the bin. The worms devoured them within the day. The worms also enjoy damp newspaper shreds, bedding in them, hanging out in clumps within the layers of the "damp cover", and eating holes in the paper. According to the Cornell University Agriculture Extension website, a certain percentage of newspaper shreds to organic waste is not only necessary for optimal decomposition conditions, but will also offset any odor problems caused by excess organic waste.

Neutral: banana peels, apples, lettuce, green, leafy vegetables. These do get eaten, but not immediately, like the above.

Slow to process: onions, shallots, grapes.