There is something soul destroying about putting organic waste in the bin. You know your recyclables are destined for a new life. But there are your eggs shells and apple peels alongside plastic films and casing destined for a land fill site or worse, one of those floating islands off the coast of China.
What to do? Composting in inner London is just not an option with urban rats and foxes lurking around the corner. Then there is the smell . Ok if you've got a big garden but not so great for those with a small patio.
The solution. Urban worms. Yup, that's right...worms. These far from attractive invertebrates munch through your organic waste providing you with nutrient filled compost and a viscous waste liquid that plants just love. High in potassium and phosphorus and rich in essential minerals and trace elements.
The reality. My wormery kit arrived and I excitedly tore open the box to reveal the plastic parts for my new guests home. Shiny black plastic not the most attractive of materials but made of recycled materials. Then to my horror buried beneath a bag of bedding, the worms themselves. Red, wriggling and utterly disgusting. Ewww!
I assembled the wormery and donned my pink marigolds, carefully emptying the bag of worms into their new home. Placing a small amount of waste in the corner for them to snack on as instructed.
The next few nights were some what sleepless with nightmares of escaping worms. But after a while I adjusted to my new pets. Happy to have them in residence as I fed them the majority of my left overs and vegetable waste. Leaving out meat for fear of maggots.
It's now six month later and we have successfully harvested our first tray of compost. There has been no smell, no escaping worms but there was one major issue. Flies. By mid July our wormery was swarming with very harmless but no less irritating flies. The way to get rid of flies is not not feed the wormery for a couple of weeks and the flies disappeared. Harmony was restored to our garden.
I sleep better a night knowing that my plants are well fed and my waste output is considerably reduced. For those interested in getting their own worms. We brought ours from Original Organics.
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