An interesting way to create compost both large and small is through the process known as worm farming.  The process involves using red worms to break down foodstuffs into biodegradable and useful mulch, as well as to help get rid of biodegradable waste quicker.

The process is relatively simple if one wanted to have their own worm farm, although seemingly messy.  It takes having a container, moistened newspaper, a dark room, some extra water, soil, food waste and a lot of red worms, as opposed to night crawlers or any other worms you might think about.  Yes, this means you can’t just go out in your yard and pull up any worm.  Well, you could, but the process wouldn’t work quite as well.  These are the basics.  There is a full process you’d have to go through to get it up and working, but these are the components of it all.

These days there are large worm farm businesses that contract with restaurants to help them get rid of their food wastes.  Those who consider themselves as being eco-friendly would rather set up a process like this, which separates food wastes from other wastes that they create and gives back to the environment.

You will be able to determine how many worms you’ll need for your worm farm based on the size of the containment area you have.  You’ll want to keep them contained, otherwise they’ll go elsewhere and you’ll never get them back.  You also want to plan for expanded worm growth, as worms can lay as many as 900 eggs a year.  Supposedly worms will thin themselves out of you don’t have enough room for all of them to survive, but if you’re looking to do more than just a few food scraps you might want a bigger container.  At a minimum, it’s recommended to have at least a container that’s 7 inches deep, 2′ x 2′ around, and add to that around 2 pounds of worms.

Worm farming can be done in an apartment, as long as you have an area that you can keep very dark, as worms don’t do well in the light.  You also don’t want to cover it up, to make sure there’s a constant flow of fresh air.  Preferably, you’ll want a house to do it in, probably in the garage or any other area where there’s not only fresh air, but an area that will make it easier to keep the environment damp.