Kitty Litter

Please see Faeces .

Introduction

Many home and apartment dwellers face the same problem when they start vermicomposting.

• Can I add scooped-out kitty litter to my vermicomposter?

The answer is a resounding “YES”, as long as you do it well, despite the admonitions of the local council.

Now of course we must define “well”, and I try to remember that in the natural pre-human world, undomesticated cats and dogs did their business then either buried it or scattered it to be consumed by bacteria.

And the worms eat the bacteria, as you know.

The cold-climate apartment dweller does not have an option of burying (nor scattering!) pet droppings, so an all-weather solution must be found.

Above you see a 30-inch tall carton lined with a 67-liter plastic garbage bag. I have been shredding confidential documents, and the bag is full.

I will take it outside and add water until the paper becomes soggy, then up-end the bag into a pail to drain out excess water.

Above you can see me collecting clumps of kitty-litter from Jupiter and Bumpous’s tray on a daily basis. The clumps are stored in a lidded container (used to hold kitty litter).

Each morning a strong smell of ammonia greets me as I lift the lid. I believe that is the nitrogen in the litter breaking down , and I don’t want to lose too much nitrogen.

Why?

Because the essence of good chemistry in composting is a nice balance of Carbon and Nitrogen (“C/N”) and I have more shredded paper on a monthly basis than you could shake a stick at, if we hadn’t cut down the trees.

The Plan

To have a strong carton holding the bag of damp shredded paper. To this bag I will add buckets of kitty-litter on a frequency that seems to be about fortnightly.

I will have to prime the first bag of paper with bacteria and litter and let the whole thing settle down before adding a half-pound or so of worms.

Once the first bag is running, I can use a gallon from it to prime the next bag with bacteria and worms combined.

This web page will chronicle the progress, and we will quantify as much as possible.

How much is in a bag of shredded paper (dry)

About six pounds. I checked the difference on my bathroom scales by stepping on WITH the bag in hand, then placing the bag on the floor.

How much is in a bin of litter clumps?

About thirteen pounds. I checked the difference on my bathroom scales by stepping on WITH the bin in hand, then placing the bin on the floor.

I will be adding several bins of litter to each garbage bag, but while the weather is warm (that is, outside the freezing period) I will be covering each bin-load with another layer of shredded paper.

Here is the six-pound bag of shredded paper. I have added about 2 litres of water and am now letting the water seep through the paper.

Some will drain to the bottom, but as the afternoon sun hits the bag, the water will evaporate and re-condense throughout the bag, helping to soften the fibers.

In a day or two I’ll leave the bag open and use it as a place to drain potted plants. That will add water at a manageable rate until the shredded paper is completely saturated.

Once the bedding is ready, I’ll toss the coarse material from this ten-gallon (?) tub onto the shredded paper. The tub doubtless contains a small colony of small worms, as well as eggs.

It will establish a colony prior to the first tub of kitty-litter.

Thursday, September 09, 2010

The bag of shredded paper has soaked for four days. The upper layer is beautifully damp, the lower layer dry, but it will become damp, as we shall see.

I have added one lidded container of litter – 11 pounds – and one pail of coarse material – 8 pounds – to act as a starter agent with bacteria that we know the worms enjoy.

My idea is that before the really cold weather creeps in, I’ll have raised a colony of bacteria in the bag which will proliferate, and I will add kitty litter to the bag throughout the winter, and introduce worms the next spring.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Here is the bag. The bottom layer is damp paper. The middle layer is kitty litter clumps. The top layer is coarse material from my sieving efforts.

Small worms are evident on the top when I peel back the plastic. I am not sure why they have congregated. I don’t think the contents can be too hot (we’ve had cool days for a while – 13c or so.). I don’t think the contents can be too dry (the shredded paper is well-charged with water).

I added 8 lbs of litter, and on top of that a shredding-bin bin of shredded paper.

Friday, September 24, 2010

I added 12 lbs of litter.

Monday, October 04, 2010

I started a second bag with a base of dry shredded paper and 12 lbs of litter.

From now on I will enter in this small table my deposits(!) of kitty litter.

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