Worms Eat My Garbage: How to Set Up and Maintain a Worm Composting System, 2nd Edition

I was thinking about buying a multi-tray Worm Composter, I thought it might be easier and provide Humus quicker than normal Composting. While reading the reviews on one of the multi-trays a reviewer recommended buying and reading this book before trying to Vermicompost (Composting with worms). I’m glad I took the reviewer’s suggestion; Vermicomposting isn’t quite as easy or quick as I thought. I planned to get a multi-tray composter buy some worms from the Local Bait Shop and add Organic waste as I accumulated it, after a few weeks I figured I’d have Humus. What I learned from the book is it’s not that simple, you need to determine how much Organic waste you produce in a week (the Author tells you how) and from this determine the size of the Worm Composter you need, she helps you with this also. Once you have your Composter you need to have bedding for the worms, the book tells you how to make this, materials to use. The book explains that not all worms are the same, some are better than others. The book lets you know which ones are best to use. Worms decompose waste by ingesting and excreting it, the excrement called castings keep getting re-ingested by the worms creating Vermicompost. This goes on for two to four months, at two months you should have more worms but less Vermicompost and at four months almost no worms and all Vermicompost, depending what you’re trying to achieve dictates how long to keep it. I live in the Midwest so the weather would be a concern, either the heat or cold. The author suggests having an insulated Composter and keeping it in a garage or in the house. Vermicomposting isn’t complicated but this book gives you information that’s critical if you want to do it right. I haven’t decided when I’m going to start Vermicomposting, my garden isn’t that large and I already have a Compost heap but it is something I’m going to try. I’m trying to reconnect with the Natural World. I grew up in a time when it was believed that there was better living through Chemistry, that Technology would solve all our problems. I now realize that we can’t create a synthetic world custom designed to our whims. I realize that I’m a child of this Planet and I was DESIGNED to eat natural foods. The fact that the air I breath which is essential to me living is a by-product of the plants I grow and the CO2 a by-product I discharge is essential to these plants means we’re interconnected, we are one. Why would I not provide the best environment for that which is a part of me to flourish? There’s one point the author made that I found interesting. She says recycling her waste reduces her garbage bill, the city she lives in charges her for garbage pickup by weight. Imagine that, we are forced into living Life by DESIGN because our synthetic world costs too much.

What a wonderfully informative little book! We were very interested in vermicomposting, but also very intimidated...with two kids who ADORE worms, the last thing we wanted was to mess it up and end up with a bin full of dead ones! But this book answered all of our questions and made setting up our worm bin very easy!The illustrations are especially helpful to me, as I am a visual learner. I like the conversational style in which it was written--I kind of felt like I was just chatting with the author.This book has everything from setting up your bin to understanding worm anatomy and mating, to taking good care of your worms...after reading it we felt very comfortable ordering our worms online and diving into vermicomposting.My stepkids LOVE our worm farm and they happily brag about it to everyone they know! We have scraps for the worms on a regular basis and the kids love seeing how quickly the worms eat everything. We keep ours in a closet indoors and have NEVER had any problems with odor or flies/pests. Whenever I go in that closet I smell a delightful "earthy" smell. Exactly what it should be!If you're at all thinking about vermicomposting, this is the book for you!

I enjoyed reading this book and felt that the book provided a good basic foundation on starting the worm composting. The only reservation I have in recommending this book with 5 starts is the published date. It was written awhile back and with the new composting options, it would have been nice to have the information on different composting bins and the pros and cons of the current systems. This book was recommended with the Worm Factory. I bought the Worm Factory and I am waiting to see the results after 3 months before posting my review but since the book is fairly old in its creation, there wasn't a worm factory product at the time and therefore no mention of the pros and cons of using the system.

I had just begun composting my kitchen scraps with a worm bin and my worms were surviving, but I still had questions and not sure where to turn. Everyone had a different idea and I was uncertain as to the best things to do. Then I heard about "Worms Eat My Garbage" during a lecture on Earth Day this year, but the speaker wasn't sure the book was in print anymore. Amazon had it, of course! I ordered it, and I believe it is a must read for anyone wishing to do vermicomposting (worm composting). It is so informative and educational, very clear and directive, and funny. My worms are fat, sassy, and making bunches of little worms, and I have no concerns what-so-ever that I will be successful with this adventure. I am already recommending this book to my friends and I recommend it to you, too. Worm composting isn't the messy process I thought it was going to be, I keep mine indoors, and I have no smell at all.

Worms Eat My Garbage is a great book. It's simple enough for your run-of-the-mill recycling/gardening geek like me to understand but the author goes out of her way to teach the proper scientific terminology of both the animals and the processes that will occur in your worm composting bins, so there's something in there for science geeks as well.I had setup my worm bins prior to reading the book and couldn't understand why I was losing worms, attracting flies, and getting a rancid smell coming off my bins. In just a few short hours this book taught he how to properly setup my vermicompost operation in a way that's healthy to me, the worms, and my home. They're now eating my garbage, reproducing at a rate that leaves me with plenty of worms for fishing, and there's nothing stinky or offensive about it.

Cool little book if you're into this stuff. You can tell she put her heart into it. Very straightforward. Cute but basic illustrations. She explains scientific material very clearly in basic terms which is helpful for folks with no scientific background.

Lots of good information and an easy read!

I loved this book. It was simply written and an underlying sense of humour i really enjoyed. It was extremely informative especially about improving soil quality.

Bought this book as being used,but it arrived in new condition.well written for those interested in completing food with Worms.Recommened for everyone.

Great book, lots of information , book is like new

My family recently started a worm bin, and we all read this book to find out how to compost using worms. It's concise and clear - couldn't ask for a better guide.