Vermicomposting – Bin V009

How Quickly do the Bacteria Make Fruit and Meat Products Available?

This experiment will answer two questions. The first is whether or not bacteria break down fruit matter and meat matter. We believe that they do, for otherwise how could the worms eat the meat and fruit fibers?

The second question, more important, is how quickly can this happen, and when is completion reached.

Above you see a soup container made from polystyrene foam, brought home from The Montreal Deli , rinsed out and in it are a small collection of bones from two chicken breasts I rendered down on the weekend, plus a thumb-sized chunk of chicken breast I placed in the cat bowl, but was ignored by the cat, plus a thumb-sized core of fresh pear.

The day after this was taken I added a second core; a pair of pear cores!

I covered the raw material with castings from my castings tub. The contents of this tub are fairly dry, and no worm eggs are evident. Worms could not survive in this tub.

So I feel I have some raw material, some bacteria (ever-present in the castings).

I added a ½ cup of water to boost the moisture content slightly.

The tub is labeled and placed in a shady nook of the book case.

The tub was lidded, and the contents were runny, sloppy, perhaps indicating that anaerobic had started.

I mistook this for a worm bin, and noting that no worms were present, added 20 worms.

No matter; I can still measure the rate of decomposition.

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