How-To Links
Here are the worm how-to guides that I'm thinking are most useful to people brand-new to Vermipractice.
I figure anybody can use Google, so allow me to offer critical review of these links. In particular, most of
these guides are quite good but have one or two errors or omissions, at least as far as I understand things.
But I am a beginner, so, at least until I get a chance to check on some of my criticism on the forums, take
my addendums with a grain of salt. Hopefully you won't have to use more than a pinch, though. :-)
I've chosen to concentrate on indoor worm bins only. I am focused on the urban (downtown) environment but
it's not like much changes for suburbia or elsewhere. Indoor and heated is what matters.
Non-Commercial Sites
Perhaps the best straight-up step-by-step guide I've found is from New York City:
nyccompost.org
They kind of skip putting the first layer in, and they don't give you quantities to use, and they
don't really talk about ongoing feeding of the bin. But they do have a nice
troubleshooting guide,
good illustrations and
harvesting guide.
Cornell University has a nice page for Vermiculture in the classroom:
Worm Composting Basics
WikiHow has a good guide, it's stronger on maintenance of the bin and gives some dos and don'ts that
you may not see elsewhere.
wikiHow.com
For a pdf that packs all the basics into one document, we click back to New York City:
nyc.gov
If you're looking for a blast from the past, and you want to know that you are well-read in this subject,
then you need to burrow. That is, you need to read the burrow. Now I don't know all the history behind
us in this practice, but it is clear that Brian Paley had been studying and experimenting with great
energy and diligence for many years before the World Wide Web appeared. As soon as people could have
their own websites, he did, and it was apparently called the burrow. Run the clock forward to 2009
and his vast amount of (a little controversial and unconfirmed) content is at
jetcompost.com/burrow
Speaking of vast amounts of content, you must know about
Worm Digest. They are not focused on
vermicomposting - there are a lot of Earthworm species in the world - but if there is an article
on our subject in the media just about anywhere, it looks like they will have a link to it. So this
is another site that you need to go to to be a well-read Vermipractioner. Curiously, I don't find an
actual how-to guide there, maybe I'm just missing it.
Commercial Sites
Discovery.com has a page dated from 2000 that covers the same territory BUT it features the
pre-eminent pioneer in the practice of vermiculture, Mary Applehof, so it has to be first.
yucky.discovery.com
It also is missing some details, but is full of good solid worm knowledge all worm bin keepers
should know.
(You are reading content in progress - more on this Commercial list as I sort thru the raw list below)
Personal Sites
Now for those sites done by passionate Vermipractioners - this is the good stuff. It's last of the three
categories only because I want to make this a really long and complete list. There is good video out
there and I'll be embedding that, where permissions are given. More importantly, these are sites by
"those who came before" and these folks have much practical wisdom for us newcomers - many of these
folks are active on forums and I'm really looking forward to getting this website released so I can
start participating there. Hopefully my approach is not too radical, and they will provide the
corrections to my understanding of things that I'm looking for.
This list is going to take some time to develop, so for iniital release of this site it isn't
organized at all for you, or even linked. But I can give you the raw list I made as it stands so far,
I need to go through it for this page.
http://www.finegardening.com/how-to/articles/worm-composting.aspx
http://journeytoforever.org/compost_worm.html
http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_h/h-164.pdf
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/verm/
http://www.nyworms.com/vermicomposting.htm
http://www.wormwoman.com/acatalog/vermicomposting.html
http://theherbgardener.blogspot.com/2008/05/how-to-start-vermicomposting-bin.html
http://www.acmewormfarm.com/vermiculture1.html
http://www.redwormcomposting.com/
http://www.writeseniors.com/compostworld/how.shtml
http://home.howstuffworks.com/vermicomposting.htm
http://www.yougrowgirl.com/garden/vermicomposting.php
http://thegardenforums.org/viewforum.php?f=42/
http://www.wormmainea.com/
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1413479092268182242
http://www.bae.ncsu.edu/topic/vermicomposting/vermiculture/
http://www.marthastewart.com/article/vermi-composting
http://www.planetnatural.com/site/index.html
http://www.franklincountywastedistrict.org/vermicomposting.html
http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/HG-45.pdf
http://www.recyclingadvocates.org/pdf/pubs/vermicomposting.pdf
http://vermicomposting.org/
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/ce/eek/earth/recycle/wormcomp.htm
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/hobbies/article_457.shtml
http://www.vermicoast.com/
http://www.vermico.com/
http://www.cathyscomposters.com/
http://www.viddler.com/explore/CompostGuy74/videos/1/
http://www.eoearth.org/article/Vermicompost
http://www.mass.gov/dep/recycle/reduce/vermi.htm
http://www.wormwigwam.com/
http://www.besmart.org/hazwaste/resident/leaves/vermicomposting.html
http://www.wormpower.net/
http://www.goldenrod.net/compost.htm
http://www.goldenrod.net/avsa-2.htm
http://www.proprecycles.org/Vermiculture.html
http://www.google.com/Top/Science/Agriculture/Animals/Worms/Vermicomposting/
http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/Organics/Worms/
http://www.howtocompost.org/
http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_h/h-164.pdf
http://lancaster.unl.edu/pest/resources/vermicompost107.shtml
http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/Redwormsedit.htm
http://bouldervermicomposting.com/
http://www.bigsteamypile.com/worm_composting.htm
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/the_worm_bin/
http://www.happydranch.com/cowtalk/index.cgi
http://www.extension.org/pages/Vermicomposting_Animal_Manure
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-326724950530810106
http://www.plantops.umich.edu/PlantExchange/2002-09/6.html
http://www.jgpress.com/BCArticles/2000/110051.html
http://greenliving.suite101.com/article.cfm/start_a_vermicomposting_bin
http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/rrr/composting/vermi.htm
http://www.worms.com/worm-pdfs/whats%20vermicomposting.pdf
http://www.marionparsons.com/Marion_Parsons_Songbook/Vermicomposting_Song.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdJjyoHdnIA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27lFfm23Ew4&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4xo2hAa-LY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IK6MeJhYxCQ&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96QC7U4Us80&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwVVdxR2mrw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt926VColow&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxhEQEA0GN8&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSYDtPB4_TI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTB_363FLAQ&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJWcyvDASNo
http://www.compostsantacruzcounty.org/Home_Composting/Worm_Composting/worm_bins.htm
http://www.acornnaturalists.com/store/WORM-BIN-CREATURES,-Alive-Through-a-Microscope-(video).-P2103C220.aspx
http://www.icewatch.ca/english/wormwatch/resources/anatomy.html
http://www.magicworms.com/step_by_step.htm
http://www.copperwiki.org/index.php/Vermiculture
https://www.vermitechnology.com/
http://earth911.com/blog/2007/04/02/composting-with-worms/
http://www.new-ag.info/99-3/focuson/focuson8.html
http://www.vermiculturenorthwest.com/
http://www.cityfarmer.org/wormcomp61.html
http://working-worms.com/content/view/40/62/
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/7/57
