I know, worms don't even "sleep". A pound of worms (around 4,000) can eat half a pound of organic material in 24 hours!

What's left after their digestion, called castings, is one of the best and safest fertilizers around. It's also ph neutral meaning that it's halfway between acidic and alkalinic -

While recycling is certainly more prevalent these days; we are also consuming a lot more and therefore generating more waste per person (on average) than we were a couple of decades ago.

Something most of us can do to minimize the amount of garbage we send to landfills is to compost our organic waste such as newspapers, vegetable waste and cardboard - even coffee grinds and eggshells. There's a very easy way to do so that has minimal smell, doesn't take up much space, can chew through a heck of a lot of waste quickly and leave you with a very valuable product.

The workers you'll need to assist you are worms and the process is called vermicomposting.

Our worms, collectively known as "Bob II" have been working hard for us for a couple of years now. They require minimal care, are quiet, never go on strike and incredibly cheap to maintain. Even setting up a worm farm isn't terribly expensive; our ready-made farm cost $50 and the initial worms about $15. Since starting a worm farm we've cut down on the amount of waste we'd usually bin by at least 25%. Over a year that translates into hundreds of pounds.

Our worms spend their entire lives eating our trash, stopping only to reproduce. As far as I know, worms don't even "sleep". A pound of worms (around 4,000) can eat half a pound of organic material in 24 hours!

What's left after their digestion, called castings, is one of the best and safest fertilizers around. It's also ph neutral meaning that it's halfway between acidic and alkalinic - j

such as newspapers, vegetable waste and cardboard - even coffee grinds and eggshells. There's a very easy way to do so that has minimal smell, doesn't take up much space, can chew through a heck of a lot of waste quickly and leave you with a very valuable product.

The workers you'll need to assist you are worms and the process is called vermicomposting.

Our worms, collectively known as "Bob II" have been working hard for us for a couple of years now. They require minimal care, are quiet, never go on strike and incredibly cheap to maintain. Even setting up a worm farm isn't terribly expensive; our ready-made farm cost $50 and the initial worms about $15. Since starting a worm farm we've cut down on the amount of waste we'd usually bin by at least 25%. Over a year that translates into hundreds of pounds.

Our worms spend their entire lives eating our trash, stopping only to reproduce. As far as I know, worms don't even "sleep". A pound of worms (around 4,000) can eat half a pound of organic material in 24 hours!

What's left after their digestion, called castings, is one of the best and safest fertilizers around. It's also ph neutral meaning that it's halfway between acidic and alkalinic -

u are worms and the process is called vermicomposting.

Our worms, collectively known as "Bob II" have been working hard for us for a couple of years now. They require minimal care, are quiet, never go on strike and incredibly cheap to maintain. Even setting up a worm farm isn't terribly expensive; our ready-made farm cost $50 and the initial worms about $15. Since starting a worm farm we've cut down on the amount of waste we'd usually bin by at least 25%. Over a year that translates into hundreds of pounds.

Our worms spend their entire lives eating our trash, stopping only to reproduce. As far as I know, worms don't even "sleep". A pound of worms (around 4,000) can eat half a pound of organic material in 24 hours!

What's left after their digestion, called castings, is one of the best and safest fertilizers around. It's also ph neutral meaning that it's halfway between acidic and alkalinic -

r ready-made farm cost $50 and the initial worms about $15. Since starting a worm farm we've cut down on the amount of waste we'd usually bin by at least 25%. Over a year that translates into hundreds of pounds.

Our worms spend their entire lives eating our trash, stopping only to reproduce. As far as I know, worms don't even "sleep". A pound of worms (around 4,000) can eat half a pound of organic material in 24 hours!

What's left after their digestion, called castings, is one of the best and safest fertilizers around. It's also ph neutral meaning that it's halfway between acidic and alkalinic -

I know, worms don't even "sleep". A pound of worms (around 4,000) can eat half a pound of organic material in 24 hours!

What's left after their digestion, called castings, is one of the best and safest fertilizers around. It's also ph neutral meaning that it's halfway between acidic and alkalinic - just like water. Castings feel and smell like good soil because effectively that's all they are; in fact, it's said that worm castings are 5 times richer in nutrients than good topsoil.

Castings aren't the only valuable product created, a fluid called leachate that seeps through the material the worms digest is also highly prized. Brown in color, it has no odor to speak of,

"Worm tea", another non-smelly popular worm by-product is made by soaking worm castings in water.

So, what can you feed your worms?

• coffee grounds
• paper
• cardboard including egg cartons
• vegetable peelings and waste
• eggshells

The general rule of thumb is if it the waste is plant based, worms can deal with it; with a couple of exceptions; being:

• pineapple - contains an enzyme that will dissolve the worms
• citrus and highly acidic vegetables such as onions (ok in small amounts)
• green grass clippings should be added sparingly as large amounts generate excess heat and produce ammonia which will kill the worms

You can purchase worm farms at most hardware stores or make one yourself. You'll need:

• A plastic tub with a lid