Urban Worm Bag - Continuous Flow Worm Composter

The Urban Worm Bag makes creating organic fertilizer inside your home or apartment easy!

Worm castings are rich in microbes that will help cycle nutrients, aid in water retention, promote faster germination, suppress pests and pathogens, while also feeding your soil. 

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Overview

The Urban Worm Bag is considered a continuous flow worm bin, as it allows for worm-free harvests by taking castings from the bottom. Simply remove the patented, zipper-free bottom, and place underneath the Urban Worm Bag to begin harvesting. There is never an emptying of the Urban Worm Bag.

The top layer of the Urban Worm Bag is where freshly-added food waste and bedding will go, and your worms tend to stay near these top layers. 

A properly-run Urban Worm Bag should not be producing excess liquid, called "leachate." However, if you want to collect this liquid, "worm tea", from the bottom, just operate the Urban Worm Bag with the bottom fully removed and place a tray underneath.

Composting worms can be purchased here!

Features & Benefits:

• Create compost year-round, indoors or outdoors
• Harvest castings easily using the removable, zipper-free bottom 
• Hold up to 5.3 cubic feet (~122L) of vermicompost
• Tool-free assembly
• Includes support frame
• If kept indoors, you can rest easy with a lifetime warranty on material and craftmanship

Please note the Urban Worm Bag does not include bedding material or worms. Composting worms can be purchased here, or from a variety of local and online sources. 

Using Your Urban Worm Bag

Start with two bricks of Coco Coir or a combination of other carbon-rich bedding like shredded cardboard, paper, peat moss, or a combo! Moisten the bedding material with water until it is as wet as a wrung-out sponge. 

Start with at least 1lb of composting worms, though the more you start with the faster the bin will reach a full population.  In the first few weeks, be very conservative with your feedings, adding only a cup or two each week until you see the waste is being broken down easily. Stop adding food waste and add bedding if you encounter foul odors, gnats, or fruit flies.

Adding food scraps is easy, just open the lid and toss the food in! Feed your worms about 50% food scraps and 50% fiber (e.g. paper or dry leaves). The amount you feed will depend on how many worms you started with. In general, worms can eat up to half their weight per day!

Use castings as a top dress, a side dress, or mix into growing media at a 10% substitution rate, by volume. The microbes will help cycle nutrients, aid in water retention, promote faster germination, suppress pests and pathogens, and will simply feed your soil.

What to Feed your Worms:

Most fruit and vegetable scraps, pulps from juicer
Cooked food
Tea leaves/bags and coffee grounds
Crushed/ground eggshells
Hair, vacuum cleaner dust, soiled paper, tissue, paper towels, shredded egg cartons
Shredded newspaper, cardboard, sawdust (untreated), wood ash
Lawn clippings in small quantities, weeds, clippings, prunings, dirt and leaves

What to Avoid or Limit:

Limit citrus and acidic fruit skin
Limit bread, pasta and other wheat based products
Avoid hard fruit pits
Avoid spicy foods, onions, garlic and leeks
Avoid animal products such as meat, dairy, or fats
Avoid shiny paper
Do not feed rotten food to your worms

Taking Care of Your Worms

Worms are low maintenance and will be happy as long as they are fed, have enough moisture, and are kept between 40° and 80° F. Worms should be protected from extreme temperatures, direct sunlight, and direct rain. The Urban Worm Bag can be left outside depending on your temperature, or it can be brought indoors. 

You don't need to feed your worms every day – just add scraps as you have them. Worms can survive up to 2 weeks without any new food. Worms reproduce inside the bin according to their space limitations. They will regulate their own population, so you never need to worry about overcrowding your bin.

It is very important that the Urban Worm Bag is not overfed. Worms prefer to eat their food as it begins to decompose, but not if it has become slimy and smelly. You should not add more than 1" of new scraps at once time, and uneaten food should not exceed 2" deep.

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