Monday, November 24, 2008

Impressed by the vermicompost

Things works at a slower pace right now, and this has been the case for a while (I wonder how long I've been ill). A couple of days ago we finally fed the worms. I've invested in a tight tin for vegetable scraps so we don't have to disturb the vermicompost with every other hour. The plan was to empty it every third day...

When we finally emptied the tin I had lost count on how many weeks it was since last. It STUNK! I'm not a squeely person, but I couldn't clean it out afterwards, even at a second try. The only thing I could think of was
"Bokashi, I'd rob a bank to buy a bokashi!"

Of course the vermicompost started to smell once we'd fed it and the odour spred far beyond the understairs cupboard where the wormsies live. I passed it several times agonising on our resale value since I was convinced this stench would dig itself into the walls. At the same time I noticed it was diminishing, but attributed it to the nose getting used to it.

The next morning the odour was gone - completely. To be sure that my senses didn't play tricks on me I stuck my head into the cupboard and took a deep breath through the nose. The only thing I could smell was wet leaves. I asked the hubby to do the same, and he didn't feel anything either. In a few hours the wormsies had devoured all the stinky stuff - and I have a feeling they found it delicious.

1 comment:

Hydroponica said...

I try my best not to let things sit around too long before I dump them in the bin - I've found that if you give the scraps to the worms right off you never get the smelly result. As soon as something gets enough bacteria to start to smell, the worms have already eaten them.

It keeps everything within tolerable limits for my wife that way.

Barring that, I'd suggest trying something that isn't quite airtight. I think it's probably the anaerobic conditions that's making most of the stink. You'll want a tight mesh, almost like cloth, to prevent fruit flies and what have you.