Carmen is a recent composting convert, who went from composting nothing to composting her food scraps, and those of her neighbour’s and workplace’s too. She shares her worm farming journey with us.
Tell us a bit about how your composting journey began.
Composting was something I didn’t ever think about doing until I began reading about the food scraps collection rolled out by Auckland Council. My appreciation for composting grew even more after I attended a local composting workshop hosted by Judy.
How did you get started on your personal composting journey?
I recently had some time at home to work through personal grief. Around that time, Auckland Council was rolling out the food scraps 
collection service. As I read more about this, I became more interested in composting. I came across the composting hub grant and the timing was right – I was ready to give life and hope to something again, so I started the hub.
Tell us about your hub.
Together with my four neighbours, we started the ‘Feed My Worms Hillsborough Hub’. Started with a boost from Compost Collective’s grant, we hope that this is an inspiring example of how a small group of households, with a shared vision of reducing waste, enriching their soil, and contributing to a healthier planet through responsible composting practices, can come together to make a positive environmental impact.
We have listed the hub on ShareWaste, and I also have a composting caddy in my workplace lunch room to collect food scraps.
What did you use the money from the Community Composting Hub fund to purchase?
I used the money to purchase a Hungry Bin system, tiger worms, worm bedding material, a portable weighing scale, lime powder, a bin fork, a community compost caddy, and a cold compost bin.
What would success look like in a year’s time for your community composting hub?
I think it is already a success getting the hub up and running, and having everyone aware and on board. In a year’s time, I would like to have the worm bin processing at its maximum capacity. Secondly, I would like to have ALL our neighbours on board, and all our food scraps diverted into the appropriate composting system. And, thirdly, I would like to be harvesting enough worm wee and poo to distribute to our neighbours for their vegetable garden. Let’s get this circular economy going!
What composting method(s) do you use?
I do vermicomposting (worm farming) and cold composting. My preference is vermicomposting as I enjoy seeing food being broken down so quickly by worms. Vermicomposting is a fast dynamic ecosystem and I enjoy not knowing what to expect every time I open the bin. Cold composting is a great set and forget system, and it is used as my backup for excessive and inappropriate food scraps that can’t go into the worm bin.
How do you make composting an easy part of your everyday life?
I have a container on my kitchen bench that is just for my worms, and I have a caddy in my work lunch room, both easy to see and use. I also freeze my scraps if I anticipate I might be short of food scraps in the next few days or weeks. I have set days where I feed my worms, and a diary to document the weight of each feed and issues, if any.
Have you faced any challenges while composting?
My work compost caddy was overflowing with ground coffee. I was unsure whether it was okay to feed this to my worms, but then decided to only add a little with each feed. I began to notice more and more mites in the bin, and the bin was very wet. I did everything the internet
says which included stop feeding, adding more cardboard, and hoped for the best. Two weeks after returning from an overseas trip, there was a mite population explosion!
I learnt that while worms do in fact like coffee, too much of anything isn’t great. The excess of ground coffee was making the farm heat up, and the lack of ventilation coupled with the hot weather made a perfect environment for high humidity. Apparently mites can co-exist with the worms, though they do eat their food and can become a problem if the conditions support an infestation.
I made some changes – I put a fabric mesh over the bin, and left the bin to air for a few days. I also added more dried bedding, and used a fan to blow on it during our free hour of power. This did the trick, and now we are more mindful with what we put in the bin.
What is one thing you would say to someone starting their composting journey?
Do not give up when you run into problems with your composting system. Just like with every new skill and habit, it takes time to adjust. Problems will always remain problems if you give up trying to solve them.
leave a comment