Composting with worms
Adding red worms to your compost pile is probably the easiest way to get started composting with worms. There are no bins to make no special bedding required. All you have to do is add a bunch of composting worms to your compost pile and you are done.
To the left is a picture of my ‘compost pile’. I’m not sure it really qualifies as a compost pile since all it really is is a pile of dead grass I pulled up when I was tilling my garden. It also has some leaves and a small amount of kitchen scraps. It has been very neglected.
Today I decided to check on things and see how it was doing. The pile has been sitting there for a few months. I have not turned it or added much to it. I did add some worms to it a while back also.
Let me preface this by saying it is winter here and we just had a big snowstorm (well big by southern standards). When I went to check on the pile, I kind of expected not to see much. It has been getting down into the teens some nights and I was very afraid that all of the worms would be dead.
To my surprise this is what I found:
There was actually a good number of worms in there, still alive! They were moving a little slow, probably due to the fact that it was about 25F outside! This just goes to show you that red worms are very tough. They have been out there all winter and I haven’t done a thing for them. Once it starts to warm up around here, I plan to start adding more organic waste to the pile and see how quickly the worms multiply.
After taking the pictures, I put all the worms back in the pile and went it, since it was terribly cold outside! Most of winter is already over, and i can’t wait until spring to start my garden again! 
Feel free to contact me with any worm questions. I like to blog, I just have trouble thinking of post topics. If you email me, I’ll answer your question on a post so everyone can benefit.
Uncategorized | admin February 12, 2010
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By Heidi, February 12, 2010 @ 6:27 pm
Hello! I’ve recently re-started my worm farm and found your great blog via Blotanical.
I’ve also just overhauled my compost bin which had some earthworms in the bottom. I had wondered if I could add red worms. It’s great to know that they will be ok in the cold (our winters in my part of Victoria, Australia do get chilly), but are they also ok in the compost bin in the heat of summer?
By admin, February 14, 2010 @ 12:19 am
Heidi,
Yes, red worms can take some pretty warm temperatures. If the compost temps stay below the high 90s (F), then the worms should be fine.
Some tips to keeping the bin this cool include:
1) Keeping the bin in the shade
2) Not overfeeding so the bin doesn’t start to hot compost.
3) Add frozen water bottles in heat of the day and refreeze at night (put them in a plastic bag so they don’t get dirty).
By Heidi, February 14, 2010 @ 3:00 am
Thanks for that great info, very helpful!
I think I might have to move the bin again before adding worms as it is in a very sunny spot. Temperatures over 90f/32c are not unusual during summer in my part of Aus.
By Steve, May 29, 2010 @ 6:46 am
Thanks for that great info, very helpful!
I think I might have to move the bin again before adding worms as it is in a very sunny spot. Temperatures over 90f/32c are not unusual during summer in my part of Aus.