====== Wormery - producing Vermicompost ======

===== What is Vermicompost? =====

Vermicompost is the product of earthworms + soil/compost (worm bedding) + organic matter (kitchen scraps) + time.

Simply put the earthworms eat the food and poop out vermicompost.

==== does the vermicompost produce better quality compost than other types of compost? ====

==== vermiculture - better plant health? ====

There is a [[http://cwmi.css.cornell.edu/vermicompost.htm#suppression|study]] that found that vermicompost suppresses some plant diseases (more reading needed as to whether this is using [[animal manure]] from animals that were exposed to antibiotics.
==== is the production of vermicompost quicker than the standard compost pile? ====

After consulting an [[https://www.quora.com/profile/Frank-Shields-2|expert]] we are told //"Vermicomposting and heat composting are so different it is hard to answer the question - but about the same amount of time. Vermicompost is good for adding small amounts of feedstock over time (like kitchen waste) and when ready just stop adding and let the worms finish the job before harvesting. Heat composting is batch composting where you are cleaning up the back yard and have a lot of material all at once. Make the pile and then add no more."//

==== where should the wormery be placed? ====


==== which is the simplest and most cost effective design? ====



===== About Earthworms =====

“Without the work of this humble creature, who knows nothing of the benefits he confers upon mankind, agriculture, as we know it, would be very difficult, if not wholly impossible”
[[http://darwin-online.org.uk/converted/pdf/1881_Worms_F1357.pdf|CHARLES DARWIN ON EARTHWORMS, 1881]]