Perdeberg Winery’snew viticulturist, Heinie Nel, has initiated an earthworm project – The Perdeberg Earthworx Project (also known as vericompost). The winery is incredibly excited about the initiative because it will use the generated compost for its gardens/ As the project grows, they will sell the compost and donate the money raised to a local charity.
Why compost with worms?
Worm composting is a method for recycling food waste into a rich, dark, earth-smelling soil conditioner. The great advantage of worm composting is that this can be done indoors and outdoors, thus allowing year round composting. It also provides apartment dwellers with a means of composting.
In a nutshell, worm compost is made in a container filled with moistened bedding and worms. Add your food waste for a period of time, and the worms and micro-organisms will eventually convert the entire contents into rich compost.
Below is a list of what we can and can’t feed the worms:
Fruit: apples, pears, banana peels, strawberries, peaches and all melons
Vegetables: beans, cabbage, celery, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, all greens, corn, corncobs and squash Cereals and grains: oatmeal, pasta, rice, non-sugared breakfast cereals, corn meal, pancakes
Miscellaneous: coffee filter paper, tea bags, eggshells, dead flowers
Other food/bedding: newspaper (no shiny or coated paper), cardboard, paperboard, paper egg cartons, brown leaves
Use Caution When Adding These:
Breads – can attract red mites
Potato skins, onions, garlic, ginger – get consumed slowly and can cause odors Coffee grounds – too many will make the bin acidic
Do Not Feed:
Meat, poultry, fish, dairy – protein attracts rodents Potato chips, candy, oils – worms do not like junk food and these attract ants Oranges, lemons, limes – citrus has a chemical substance (limonene) that is toxic to worms
Perdeberg is looking forward to its first ‘harvest’ of earthworm compost.