- 1). Rip sheets of newspaper into approximately 1-inch strips. Dampen the strips until they are moist but not soggy, similar to how papier-mache feels.
- 2). Fill an 8 to 12-inch deep plastic storage bin with a half-foot layer of the damp newspaper strips. Make sure the bin is clean of dirt or dust before adding the newspaper.
- 3). Put about a handful of garden soil in with the newspaper strips and mix it around. This completes the worm bedding.
- 4). Put one pound of red wiggler worms into the bin and put the lid back on loosely, allowing air to pass in and out of the bin around the rim.
- 5). Give the worms three to five pounds of food a week, separated into two feedings. Bury and spread the food around in the worm bedding, making sure it isn't just clumped in one part of the bin. The worms eat vegetables, fruits, bread, coffee grounds and other commonly composted items that are meat and dairy free. If you are not sure if something is compostable, double-check by visiting a composting website such as the one included in the resources section below.
- 6). Check the moisture level of the compost every week or so. If the bin starts to get too moist, add more dry newspaper strips. If the bin starts to dry out, mist the bedding lightly.
- 7). Harvest the compost two to five months after building your table-top worm composter. The compost is ready once all of the original newspaper and soil bedding has been broken down and replaced by a soil-like, earthy smelling substance. Stop adding food two weeks before you plan to harvest the compost, so the worms have time to process everything thoroughly.
- 8). Push the worms and compost over the one side of the bin and add new bedding and food to the other side. By adding food to the new side, the worms should migrate out of the completed compost and over to the fresh bedding within three weeks.
- 9). After the worms have moved to the new bedding, remove the completed compost from the bin and disperse the new bedding until it covers the entire bin. Repeat the process over again, and continue to generate rich soil out of your table scraps.
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