What to feed your worms

From WormWiki

The worms don't eat the food we put in the bin, they eat the microbes that accumulate on the food as it decomposes (see What do worms eat? for more information). In general, everything that was born or grown can be put in a worm bin -- BUT, some items might decompose in ways that you or other people in your household might not like. For example, some items might create unpleasant smells while others might have temporary adverse effects on the bin, such as creating too much moisture.

The lists below reflect the experience of worm bin owners with what has worked in their bins. The easy list includes food sources that are easy for you to feed your worms, and easy for the worms to process. When starting a new bin, you should probably stick to the foods on the easy list.

The challenging list includes food sources that require a bit more care to use. Some vermicomposters may never use these foods, while some may rely on them exclusively. Whether and how you use them is up to you. Once your bin is up and going and your worms have been processing easy foods for a while, you can introduce some challenging foods to see if they irritable bowel syndrome work for you. This should be done only gradually -- try a bit (maybe a couple tablespoons worth tucked in a corner) and see what happens. If nothing bad happens, try a bit more. Don't try many new things all at the same time, and practice moderation. You'll eventually get the hang of what works for your worms, in your bin, in your situation.

No matter what foods you put in your bin, take care to not overwhelm the system with too much food, and be sure to add extra bedding to control moisture in your bin. If in doubt, you can almost never go wrong adding extra bedding.

Easy foods

These foods are commonly accepted as easy foods for a worm bin. They are easy for the bin owner to use, and easy for the worms to process. They do not require much trouble or consideration.

• All fruit and vegetable matter
  • Spoiled fruits, such as old mushy banana fruit (not peels, see below), rotten apples, moldy strawberries
  • Spoiled vegetables, such as rotten spinach, old lettuce, slimy green beans
  • Peels of all sorts, such as banana, carrot, potato, apple
  • Rinds of melon and squash, such as cantaloupe, watermelon, butternut (these are worm favorites)
  • Trimmings from preparing food, such as broccoli stems, the outer leaves of cabbage, the root end of carrots
  • Strawberries and their leafy tops, including those that have started to mold
  • Cooked vegetables, as long as they aren't swimming in dressing or oil

• Grains (only in moderation -- these items can cause heating in the bin)
  • Discarded bread, including bread that has started to grow mold as well as bread crusts that have been cut off
  • Cereal that's gone stale
  • Rice
  • Leftover oatmeal (cooked without milk)

• Other kitchen or garden waste
  • Paper muffin wrappers
  • Used coffee grounds with filter
  • Used tea leaves or tea bags (remove the staple)
  • Leaves
  • Eggshells (preferably dried and crushed to powder)

• A small amount of grit for their gizzards
  • Crushed Egg shells
  • Fine Sand
  • Rock dust
  • Dirt (soil from your garden may also contribute composting microbes, useful when starting a bin)

Challenging foods

These foods are commonly accepted as challenging foods. These foods require a bit more care and consideration when put in a bin, should probably not be put in a new bin or used by a new vermicomposter. As your bin matures and you learn more about it, you can start adding them with care. The main problems with these foods are that they can smell extremely bad as they decompose or they can take a very long time to breakdown. Follow the links to read about special considerations for using each food.

• Meat
• Milk and milk products like cheese
• Spicy left overs
• Oils
• Onions, garlic
• Citrus
• Corn cobs - provide aeration, many users have experienced slow decomposition times
• Papaya seeds (the worms love them but it makes them sterile.)
• Cooked rice
• Banana peels

Special Considerations

The items below describe some "not recommended" things people have successfully fed their bins, and some "recommended" things that haven't been so successful, and suggests things you might want to think about or be cautious with. These are not meant to be hard and fast suggestions or guidelines.

• Some fruits and vegetables (such as melon or tomato) may contain lots of seeds. These seeds may survive processing in the worm bin, and may sprout in your garden. Whether you consider them weeds is up to you.
• Some foods may sprout in your bin (such as garlic heads, potato skins, seeds of various sorts). If this happens, you can simply pull the sprouts and stick them back in the bin as food.
• Some foods may be successfully precomposted, such as citrus, before adding to the bin
• Some organic matter from outdoors can be added to your bin, such as weeds, flowerheads, and other soft items. Do consider whether you want to add seeds from these items to your bin, as the seeds may survive processing. Also, harder materials like branches or thick stems might be better processed through some other means of composting.