I’ve explained my composting process previously, but I wanted to show a picture of an army of red worms working the sludge mass in a 55 gallon drum that we use to collect kitchen scraps.
Boss Cat supervised as I tipped over and emptied the drum. The worms were thick throughout the mostly digested material.
I’m building a new compost pile. I do this once a year, as I clean out the garden and get the beds ready for winter. I’ll alternate layers of cornstalks and other harder materials, earth, compost from the barrel, and the softer weeds, grasses, and plants that I’ve been piling up here and there for the past season.
The stuff in the barrel was so well worked up by the worms that it had almost none of the normal compost barrel stink. I’ve got another full barrel that is not old as this one. It will have a lot less worms, and when I tip it over, raunchy, unpleasant orders will escape, but I’ll work that stuff into the pile and the stench will quickly dissipate.
Most of the worms won’t survive after having their world turned upside down and then being spread out over the new pile. Some will escape, but many will become part of the excellent compost that helps us grow our own food.