[Greenbuilding] Compost issues

[Leslie Moyer]

Lawrence Lile wrote:
> Maybe I'll retrofit with a luggable loo lid, and try the 5 gallon model
> for a while. Do you use BioBags?
>   

We do.  In the summer they dissolve almost too quickly to make it a 
perfect choice, but when it's not terribly hot, they work fine.  We 
tried the paper bags, too, but because I bring my own bags to the 
farmers' market or the grocery store, we just couldn't keep enough paper 
bags around to use.  We bought a huge case of them that will end up 
lasting us about a year-and-a-half when they're all gone (for a family 
of 3).  I believe it cost us about $90 for that quantity.

> What about vericomposting in a compost toilet? Does that work?  
>   

I don't know much about how it works, but yes....Tom Watson (of "Watson 
Wick" fame) mentioned these when I heard him speak in October at the 
Natural Building Colloquium in Kerrville, TX.  When I got home, I looked 
it up (http://www.wormdigest.org/content/view/44/2/ -- scroll down) and 
it appears that it doesn't work all that differently from just your 
average compost toilet.  However, the "deposits" would either have to be 
made directly into a larger worm container or you're still left with 
dumping into a central collection unit where the composting is done 
separately.  I think "finishing" humanure with vermicomposting could 
work very well--a great way to ensure the compost is fully digested.  
I'm getting ready to expand my vermicomposting to include my chicken 
litter so we may throw a few batches of humanure in there, too.

> And where did you get your worms - some special ones or garden variety?
>   

Red wigglers.  I ordered my last batch from "Trinity Ranch" in southern 
Missouri....they were some of the cheapest I found and they were 
geographically pretty close to me so they wouldn't be in the mail too 
long.  (It was winter when I ordered and the order took longer than I 
would have liked because of the weather....Trinity didn't do very well 
at communicating the delay to me, but I've read enough good things about 
them to assume it was an isolated incident.) 

My first batch of worms I got free at the County Extension booth at the 
fair....they were giving away only TEN worms, but they multiplied very, 
very quickly.  It was a great way to learn. 

I've tried many different set-ups, but currently I'm vermicomposting in 
a commercial bin like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=330187089905&Category=20540&_trksid=p3907.m29

I like it, but it's really not that much better than a plain rubbermaid 
container.  If you're up for making one, I think this one would work 
well and would be very easy to build:
http://cgi.ebay.com/LARGE-CEDAR-WOOD-WORM-COMPOST-BIN-WITH-5-TRAYS-AND-LID_W0QQitemZ150181880866QQihZ005QQcategoryZ75665QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem

 I love vermicomposting!!  :-)

--Leslie