How many pounds of worms do you recommend starting out with?
When deciding how many worms to purchase, the ratio of 2:1 or two pounds of worms for every pound of kitchen waste produced per day by the household is generally used. It is recommended that a family of four utilize one pound of worms.
 

What type of bedding material would you recommend?
Typical bedding materials used are: Shredded paper and cardboard, shredded leaves, wood shavings or chips, chopped straw or hay, sawdust (avoid cedar), or peatmoss. 
 

How do I harvest the vermicompost?
Harvesting the vermicompost can be done several ways, but the most popular two are dumping/ hand sorting  and side harvesting.  Dumping/hand sorting is done by first preparing new bedding.  Then, the old bin material is turned onto a large sheet of plastic and a bright light focused on the top of this pile.  Since the worms are photosensitive, they burrow away from the light. The top of the pile can be scraped away.   The worms uncovered will then burrow away from the light so the top can again be scraped away.  Repeat this process until most of the vermicompost has been harvested. 
Side harvesting is accomplished by only feeding the worms on one side of the bin for a few weeks.  The worms will all migrate to that side.  Then harvest the vermicompost from the unoccupied side of the bin.  Put new bedding in the harvested side and feed the worms only on that side for a few weeks.  The worms will then migrate to the new side so the remaining vermicompost in the old side can be retrieved.
 

How often do I harvest the castings?
The vermicomposting process takes two to four months.  After about six weeks of the worms eating scraps in your bin, you will begin to see worm castings.  They will have an appearance of dark granules.  After eight weeks, the vermicompost should be ready for harvesting.
 

What problems might occur and how do I solve them?
Some vermicomposting problems that can occur are odor, flies or other pests, worms escaping from bin, mold forming on bedding, bedding drying out, and water collecting in the bottom of the bin.  These problems can be easily eliminated.  There will be no odor or pests, if food is properly buried.  Worms will not escape, if screening is on bottom of bin to cover ventilation holes.  Mold will not form, bedding will not dry out and water will not collect at the bottom of the bin, if the bin is kept appropriately moist.
 

What should I feed my worms?

Just about any non-dairy and non-meat kitchen scraps will be perfect for your worm bin.  Dairy and meat products can attract pests and make your compost greasy.  Worms particularly like melons, but remember, if you add the melon seeds, you will find them growing in your garden or compost bin.  Melon rinds are very desireable.  They can be put in whole, but  the worms  can compost the rinds more rapidly if you take the time to cut them up a bit. 

Egg shells are good to add to your bin since they provide calcium for the worms.  You will see your worms curled up inside the egg shells.  Coffee grounds, coffee filters and tea bags are fine too.  Pasta is great, but it is best not to add spaghetti sauce along with it because it is oily.  We prefer our vermicompost to be moist and crumbly, not greasy and stuck together.  Some people we know even tear up used paper towels and add them to their bins.

Dried leaves can also be fed to the worms.  Remember, in their natural environment, redworms are found in mounds of wet, composting leaves and manure.  They are not overly picky.  However, you will find that redworms shy away from garlic, onions, and any citrus fruit or citrus peel.

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