Worms are fascinating creatures.  They are like nature's recycling center.  Worms love to eat your scraps and leftovers, keeping food waste out of the landfill.  In return for all the wonderful food you feed them, they give you castings (manure) rich in nutrients for your plants and garden.

So once you get your worm bin started, what do you feed them?  Below are some Do's and Don'ts to feeding worms.  Remember to keep your worm bed moist as it is the moisture that helps the worms to breathe.  Soil should be damp like cooked stuffing or dressing, but not wet enough to form into balls or to be soupy.

 
What to Feed Worms:

Brown Compost (Carbon)
Peat Moss
Coconut Coir
Shredded paper, newsprint and mail [Black/white only.  No shinny/glossy paper.]
White paper towels and napkins
Brown leaves and pine needles
Twigs, chipped tree branches/bark
Stray/hay
Dried grass, plants, flowers and trimmings
Sawdust & woodshavings
Nutshells
Old potting soil
Corncobs & stalks
Dryer lint
Cotton fabric
Corrugated cardboard [Without any waxy/slick paper coating]
Corn meal, dry uncooked
Oats, dry uncooked
Cereal, dry and no sugar
Stale rice, pasta, spices beans
Wood ashes

Green Compost (Nitrogen)
Coffee filters and grounds
Tea bags
Green grass, plants and mower clippings
Flowers and garden plants
Farm animal manure [After is has set and dried for a couple of weeks.]
Manure & bedding from small pets like hamsters, rabbits, and birds
Fruit & vegetable scraps  [No oil/fats or seasoning on scraps.]
     Vegetables
     Apples
     Pears
     Peaches
     Melons
     Bananas
     Strawberries and other berries
     Avocados
Pruning and hedge trimmings
Seaweed
Spoiled juice
Rinsed, and crumbled egg shells
Feathers
Weeds

Feed in Small Amounts:
Coffee grounds - Can make soil too acidic
Bread - attracts red mites
Onions, garlic, ginger, potato skins - worms consume these slowly

Do NOT feed:
Meat
Dairy products
ANY food with LIMONENE as it is TOXIC  {Lemons, Limes, grapefruit, oranges and similar fruits.)
Cat/Dog feces  [Worms are okay with it but you do not want this in your fertilizer.]

Fancy containers don't have to be used for a worm bin! A good bucket or other container that could be found around the house works great!

How to Use Vermicompost

     Quality vermicompost sells at a premium, so you don't want to fill your entire container or garden beds with it.  Instead, prepare your planting area with peat moss and other soils first.  When it's time to add your plants, add a handful of vermicompost in the hole you have dug for the plant before placing the plant in. Fill in the hole around the plant with soil. When planting is complete, sprinkle a little vermicompost on top of soil around the plant. Water, and you are done. The same procedures can be followed when planting seeds. 

Buyer Beware!
How to know quality Vermicompost

Here are some good questions to ask your farmer before purchasing worms.

1.  What type of material are the worms fed? What you don't want to hear is peat moss, or black peat moss. (Unless it's mixed with other good items at the startup of a new worm bed.) You are listening for things like farm animal manure (NO dog or cat waste), food scraps, lawn clippings, brown leaves and small branches, shredded paper (black & white), and garden waste after plants have been harvested or pruned. Any items in the list on the left side of this page.

2.  How long are the worms left with the material to make the castings? You don't want to hear something like a couple of weeks, 21 days or a couple of months. I know when I start a new worm bed it's going to be a good six to nine months before I even think of using the compost! And even then, I'm not going to use it unless the soil has turned rich black in color.  Be cautious in judging the vermicompost by color alone, as the worms may have been fed black peat moss.

3.  What type of worm feed are you using to supplement their diet?
You don't want to here grains, worm chow, peat moss or other purchased feeds. Again, if the farmer is feeding the items on the left, there should not be a need to supplement. There might be a need to find scrap and waste items from other sources if enough is not produced on the farm. The whole idea is for worms to turn waste products into soil, keeping usable waste out of the landfills!

4.  How long have you been in the worm casting business? A short amount of time does not necessarily mean a lack of knowledge. But it might mean a lack of worm castings and aging of the worm bed.

5.  How long has the ready to purchase product sat around?  Inventory pre-bagged and stored as inventory for several months, or left over from last season is not what you want.  Dry casting also want to be avoided. Moist vermicompost stored for a few months in bulk would be decent.  The best, is that just harvested from the worm bed.

6.  Are the worm castings 100% pure?  (If the answer is yes, run!) Face it, castings are worm poop. Not large in size. They are a lot like fine coffee grounds.  So, who do you know that would remove worm poop from soil? Even if it could be identified and removed.