WORMS AND FLIES

WORMS and FLIES
The not-so-glamourous garbage and compost post.

Our red crawlers (worms) arrived by mail without a hitch, and my son Ziggy and I set up our new MIO vermi-compost bin we got at Target last week!  The worms have provided us much entertainment, however… we have a glitch. We have so many flies, we are all freaking out.

My husband blamed the compost. We moved it far from the house. Still tons of flies. Then, I researched flies. Black flies love, well… they love manure and rotting flesh. mmmmm. They also love the smell of beer. hummmm. That clicked. I had a recycling bin for big bottles on my patio… a source of beer smell. Moved and cleaned bin & patio with vinegar. On to trash bins… maggots and flies crawling on the lid- horror. I stopped buying plastic kitchen bags for my garbage a couple months ago. I use paper bags, or no bags at all, but the garbage “juice” stays in the bin and attracts flies. After a garbage bin scrubbing, and a major cleanup in Minky’s dog run, the flies are virtually gone.

As for the trash bag situation… I bought some “BioBag” Tall Kitchen bags at Whole Foods that are 100% biodegradable. What little garbage I have can be contained in a non-polyethylene plastic bag (which take 100 years to degrade) and will keep the flies out. Yippee!

The compost has about a trillion tiny fruit flies that POUF! when opened… but we haven’t seen black flies or maggots around it at all. The worms are much more welcome guests than the flies, however I fear that my daily green waste is greater than the appetite of 2 pounds of red crawlers. I also had a friend/consultant who suggested that i need to match my green waste with the junk mail I receive daily and “feed that to the worms” proportionately, which is (unfortunately) do-able.

So… this week I got a handle on some waste issues. Below (as promised) directions for the MIO compost bin, compiled from a few different sources and my own experience with it.

MIO VERMI COMPOST DIRECTIONS

There are 2 levels of trays for compost, a “tea tray” with a spout for drainage , and a lid with holes for ventilation.
Here’s what you need to begin…

Worms (2 lbs. are the suggested amount, available on-line @ monsterworms.com)

Bedding Material – MOISTENED dry leaves, grass, shredded paper, corn husks or fibrous garden matter or straw. Enough for about 3 inches
of a loosely packed base.

Food  (2 lb. of food per week for 2 lbs. of worms) Egg cartons, Shredded Magazines, Junk Mail, Cardboard, Fruit and Vegetable (peels, scraps, cores & overripe waste),
Coffee Grounds & Filters, Crushed Egg Shells, Tea Bags, Dead Flowers, Leaves and Plant Trimmings.

Don’t put meat, dairy, oils, salt, vinegar, metals or plastic of any kind in the bin.

Put the bedding in the lower worm “apartment”, making sure that the grate on the bottom is covered (so the worms don’t fall down), but
air can flow and excess moisture (worm tea) can drain. Put the worms in… and watch them squirm into their new home. Mix in some food and voila… add food once or twice
a week, mixing it in with the bedding each time.

The first few days open the bin and check on the worms… some may fall into the tea tray and need rescuing.

Keep the worms moist using the moisture from the bottom to re-wet if necessary. Keep the worms cool, but don’t let it freeze. Says on directions that they can be kept indoors in a room with good ventilation — perhaps a garage or greenhouse would work in a cold or harsh climate.

Harvest the compost when the bottom bin is at full-capacity and touches the “apartment” above. It will look like dirt. Get the top level ready with first a loose bedding and start putting food in that tray…. wait 3 weeks, and the worms will migrate upstairs to the food. Remove the bottom tray and use the compost for your garden! Move the active tray back to the bottom, clean out the used bin and start the rotation over. The worm population is said to regulate their numbers.