Mid- to Large-Scale Vermicomposting

Summary

The video script discusses the global impact of a farmer's handbook on vermiculture, emphasizing its versatility for various scales, from small-scale home composting to large commercial operations. It highlights the book's practical approach, showcasing diverse vermicomposting techniques worldwide. The speaker, an expert in the field, details the process, benefits, and economic potential of vermicomposting, including its value in enhancing plant growth and disease suppression. The script also touches on the importance of starting small, managing moisture, and the potential for women's financial empowerment through vermicomposting.

Takeaways

• 📚 The script discusses a well-received book on vermiculture, which helps individuals and businesses scale up composting operations.
• 🌍 The book has been adopted worldwide, illustrating various approaches to vermiculture in different countries and contexts.
• 💡 It emphasizes the importance of learning from global practices rather than providing a one-size-fits-all method for vermicomposting.
• 🏭 The speaker mentions large-scale vermiculture operations in countries like Belgium, Turkey, and Mexico, using advanced technologies like continuous flow reactors.
• 🔍 The annual vermiculture conference attracts a diverse audience, from small-scale home composters to large commercial operations.
• 🐛 Earthworms are highlighted as beneficial decomposers that can process a wide range of organic waste, excluding chicken manure due to its high ammonia content.
• 🚫 The script warns against starting large-scale vermiculture without first gaining experience through smaller-scale operations to avoid mismanagement and loss.
• 📈 The speaker recommends using finished compost as bedding in larger systems and cautions against overloading the system to prevent overheating.
• 💰 Vermicompost is described as a valuable product, with prices significantly higher than regular compost, making vermiculture potentially lucrative.
• 🌱 Research studies are cited that show vermicompost's superior performance in enhancing plant growth, suppressing diseases, and repelling insects compared to regular compost.
• 🌾 The script concludes by highlighting the global impact of vermiculture, including its role in resource management and financial empowerment, especially for marginalized groups like women in various countries.

Q & A

What is the primary purpose of the 'Farmer's Handbook' mentioned in the transcript?

The 'Farmer's Handbook' is a resource that helps people to engage in vermiculture composting on various scales, from small personal projects to large commercial operations, and even as a source of income.

Why is it recommended to start with a small worm bin when beginning with vermicomposting?

Starting with a small worm bin allows individuals to learn the basics of vermicomposting, including proper feeding and management techniques, before scaling up to larger operations and avoiding potential mismanagement that could lead to the death of worms.

What are some examples of organic waste that can be used for vermicomposting mentioned in the transcript?

Examples of organic waste suitable for vermicomposting include livestock manure (excluding chicken manure due to high ammonia content), food waste, humanure, brewery waste, and paper mill sludge.

What is the 'pool table effect' in the context of vermicomposting?

The 'pool table effect' refers to the process where the surface of the vermicompost becomes smooth and even like a pool table after the worms have finished consuming the feedstock, which was initially added in a lumpy form.

How does the speaker describe the process of harvesting vermicompost in a large system?

In a large system, the speaker recommends using a pitchfork to remove the top layer where the worms are active and have consumed the feedstock. The worms are then transferred to fresh bedding, and the castings are harvested from the bottom of the bin.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Introduction to Verma Composting Education

This paragraph introduces a book on Verma composting that has been well-received globally. It discusses the book's utility for different scales of composting operations, from school cafeterias to commercial enterprises. The speaker emphasizes the book's approach to teaching by showcasing various global methods rather than providing a one-size-fits-all recipe. The paragraph also mentions the annual Vermiculture conference, highlighting its importance for commercial operations and the diverse backgrounds of attendees, including those from paper mills and breweries who are interested in managing organic waste through Verma composting.

05:02

🐛 Starting Small in Verma Composting

The speaker advises starting with a small worm bin to learn the basics of Verma composting before scaling up. They compare this approach to learning animal husbandry and warn against the pitfalls of mismanagement, which can lead to the death of worms. The paragraph also covers the importance of using finished compost as bedding in larger systems and maintaining a shallow layer to prevent overheating. The recommended feeding practices, including the amount of food waste to be added and the frequency of feeding, are explained to ensure the health of the worm population.

10:03

💧 Moisture Management in Verma Composting

This paragraph focuses on the importance of moisture management in Verma composting systems. It explains that moisture should be primarily on the top layers of the bin to encourage worms to stay there and feed. The speaker describes the process of harvesting worm castings, which involves removing the top layer of the bin and shoveling out the castings below. The paragraph also introduces continuous flow-through reactors as an efficient method for managing large-scale Verma composting operations, highlighting their design and the process of harvesting Verma compost using a breaker bar.

15:06

💰 Economic Potential of Vermicomposting

The economic benefits of Verma composting are discussed in this paragraph, with the speaker noting the high market value of Verma compost compared to traditional compost. They provide an example of a successful Verma composting operation in California and emphasize the importance of research studies that show the superior effects of Verma compost on plant growth, disease suppression, and insect repelling. The paragraph also touches on the varying responses of different plants to different types of Verma compost, underlining the importance of selecting the right feedstock for the worms.

20:10

🌱 The Impact of Vermicompost on Plant Growth

This paragraph delves into a specific study on the effects of Verma compost on turnip growth, demonstrating the significant increase in size and root development when Verma compost is added to the soil. The speaker discusses the optimal ratios of Verma compost to use and explains that the benefits of Verma compost extend beyond the traditional NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) measurements, highlighting the role of microorganisms, fulvic and humic acids, and plant growth hormones in the compost's effectiveness.

25:13

🔬 The Science Behind Vermicompost Quality

The speaker discusses the importance of understanding the differences in Verma compost quality based on the feedstock used by the worms. They explain that pre-composting the feedstock is crucial for killing pathogens and seeds, reducing volume, and creating a homogeneous product that is easily consumed by the worms. The paragraph also touches on the importance of not overfeeding and the benefits of using different types of feedstock for creating Verma compost that caters to the needs of various plants.

30:14

🌐 Global Reach of Vermicomposting Education

In this final paragraph, the speaker reflects on their career in promoting Verma composting, starting with their work at North Carolina State University and extending to their influence on a global scale. They highlight the growth of Verma composting worldwide, its role in resource-limited countries like Cuba, and its potential for empowering marginalized groups, particularly women, to achieve financial stability through Verma composting. The speaker emphasizes the importance of proper education and understanding in the practice of Verma composting to ensure its success and sustainability.

Keywords

💡Vermicomposting

Vermicomposting is the process of using worms to decompose organic waste into nutrient-rich compost. It is central to the video's theme as it discusses the practice on various scales, from home to commercial operations. The script mentions different methods of vermicomposting, such as using concrete boxes in developing countries to high-tech continuous flow reactors in Belgium, Turkey, and Mexico.

💡Earthworms

Earthworms play a vital role in the vermicomposting process as they consume organic material and excrete worm castings, which are a valuable amendment to soil. The script emphasizes the importance of starting with a small worm bin to understand the husbandry of raising worms and ensuring their health before scaling up operations.

💡Composting

Composting is the decomposition of organic materials into a humus-like substance, which can be used for soil amendment. The video contrasts thermophilic composting with vermicomposting, highlighting the higher value and benefits of the latter. The script also mentions the importance of pre-composting feedstock to kill pathogens and seeds before feeding it to worms.

💡Organic Material

Organic material, such as food waste, manure, and paper mill sludge, is the primary input for vermicomposting. The script discusses the types of organic materials that can be used, including those from farm animals, restaurants, and breweries, and how worms can process these materials into compost.

💡Worm Castings

Worm castings are the end product of vermicomposting, rich in nutrients and beneficial microorganisms. The script describes worm castings as a valuable soil amendment that can significantly improve plant growth and suppress diseases. It also explains the process of harvesting worm castings from the bottom of the composting bin.

💡Feedstock

Feedstock in the context of vermicomposting refers to the organic materials fed to the worms. The script emphasizes the importance of pre-composting feedstock to ensure it is pathogen-free and seed-free before it is introduced to the worm bin. It also discusses how different types of feedstock can affect the quality of the vermicompost produced.

💡Manure

Manure from various farm animals is mentioned in the script as a common feedstock for vermicomposting. It is highlighted that not all manure is suitable, such as chicken manure, which is too high in ammonia. However, manure from dairy cows, sheep, goats, horses, and pigs is favored by worms.

💡Microorganisms

Microorganisms are essential in the composting process, as they break down organic material and contribute to the formation of compost. The script discusses the importance of microorganisms in the vermicompost, which is believed to be responsible for its superior plant growth effects compared to regular compost.

💡Harvesting

Harvesting in vermicomposting involves the collection of worm castings. The script describes various methods of harvesting, such as using a pitchfork to remove the top layer of the bin or using a breaker bar in continuous flow reactors to skim off the accumulated castings.

💡Financial Stability

The script touches on how vermicomposting can provide financial stability, particularly for marginalized groups such as women in certain countries. Vermicomposting is presented as a means to create a valuable product that can be sold, contributing to economic empowerment.

💡Education and Regulation

The speaker's background in education and regulation is mentioned, highlighting the importance of understanding the proper methods and legal aspects of vermicomposting. The script discusses the speaker's role in educating people about recycling and vermicomposting, as well as the need to adhere to regulations when scaling up operations.

Highlights

The Farmer's handbook has been well received worldwide for its guidance on large-scale vermicomposting.

The book offers adaptable approaches to vermicomposting, accommodating different needs and resources.

Examples of vermicomposting from developing countries to advanced technology in Belgium, Turkey, and Mexico are provided.

The annual vermiculture conference attracts a diverse range of scales, from home-based to large commercial operations.

Worms can process a wide variety of organic materials, including paper mill sludge and brewery waste.

Chicken manure is unsuitable for vermicomposting due to its high ammonia content.

Starting with a small worm bin is recommended for beginners to learn the basics of vermicomposting.

Finished compost is the preferred bedding for larger vermicomposting systems.

A depth of six inches is recommended for bedding in larger systems to prevent overheating.

Adding only an inch of food waste at a time prevents the system from heating up and allows for proper consumption by worms.

The 'pool table effect' describes the even surface created after worms have consumed the food waste.

Maintaining moisture primarily in the top layers of the bin is crucial for worm health and activity.

Continuous flow-through reactors are an efficient method for large-scale vermicomposting, reducing labor intensity.

Vermicompost can sell for significantly higher prices than regular compost, making it a profitable venture.

Vermicompost has been shown to outperform regular compost in plant growth, disease suppression, and insect repelling.

Pre-composting feedstock is essential to kill pathogens and seeds, ensuring a safe and effective vermicomposting process.

Vermicomposting has played a significant role in countries like Cuba, improving soil quality and food production.

Women in marginalized communities are finding financial stability through vermicomposting.

The book provides comprehensive guidance on choosing the right system, setup, feeding, and regulations for vermicomposting.

Miranda Sherman's work has impacted vermicomposting practices in 121 countries, promoting large-scale operations for financial independence.

Transcripts

foreign

[Music]

Farmer's handbook

and it has been very well received

worldwide

um

it's you know it helps and so I it helps

people to get into it on a larger scale

you know whether whether you want your

whole school to Verma compost the

cafeteria waste or you're in a business

or a restaurant or institution and you

want to firm a compost on a larger scale

or if you want that to be your income

you know if you want to do commercial

Verma composting you can learn all of

those things from this book and the book

is not a recipe where do this do this do

this you know because everybody has

different approaches different needs

differing amounts of money and resources

and so

um instead I show how people around the

world are doing Verma composting and you

know it's like okay this is in a

developing country and they're using

concrete box and it's working really

well for them

and then you get into other countries

that are using these continuous flow

through

reactors that they're the most advanced

technology so you have that in Belgium

in Turkey

Mexico on a really large scale

in other parts of the world so so I've

heard from people from every continent

except for Antarctica

the annual vermiculture conference is

mid to large scale so you know

especially for commercial operations

people who want to make money from

vermicomposting but there are all kinds

of scales you know some are

in somebody's basement or their garage

you know and and they're making some

income from selling the Verma compost

and or the worms and then you have

really huge operations too in in farm

scale you know so you have somebody who

might have some farm animals and so they

have manure and so they feed it to worms

and then um and then you have businesses

um I've had people from paper mills come

to learn about Verma composting because

when they process the paper they recycle

it they end up with sludge and you know

and it can't be the fibers of the paper

are so short they can't be recycled

again they can't be made into something

again so

you can feed it to worms and the worms

love it

so people with Brewery waste

um

you know people from restaurants

um anybody who generates some type of

organic material

comes to the worm conference to learn

more about it

so the worms will eat

they'll eat pretty most things that are

organic of origin okay that we're once

living or came from a living being

they love livestock manure

but not chicken manure

chicken manure is too high in ammonia it

will kill the worms so but Dairy manure

you know dairy cows

sheep goats

um

horses pigs all sorts of farm animals

the worms just love their manure

but you can also feed them food waste

in different parts of the world

they're eating humanure

you know so from humans

um and then uh food processing waste and

like I said Brewery waste and

all sorts of things

but whether you want to do

um you know if if you think you might

want to do commercial Verma composting

or you have a farm and you have a lot of

organic material to manage

you I recommend that you always start

with a small worm bin a home kitchen

type warm bin it doesn't have to be in

your kitchen I've kept it in my bathroom

I've

uh

closet people have made lovely furniture

out of warm bins coffee tables other

types of things so you know worm bin can

be anywhere but

it you really need to start small you

can't just you know read my book and say

oh I'm gonna you know I'm gonna buy a

hundred pounds of of um earthworms

because that would be a hundred thousand

of them you know and I'm gonna do this

large scale well would you just

without knowing anything would you just

pick up a herd of cattle and decide that

you're going to be a cattle farmer no

you have to really study it and you know

if I if that was my goal to have a herd

of cattle I would probably start with

one cow just to learn the husbandry

animal husbandry of raising that cow and

helping it to be healthy and it's the

same with worms because I'm shocked

people are like ah they're just worms

whatever and it's like they're they're

actually pretty expensive to buy and so

you don't want them to you know there's

many ways they could die from

mismanagement and so it's really

important to just start with one pound

and master Verma composting before you

decide to expand to a larger level

when you decide to expand to a larger

bin don't use paper because then it's

it's just it's mushy you know and it

just won't serve you well on a larger

scale

so my favorite kind of

bedding in a larger system is finished

compost meaning that it has gone through

that thermophilic heat stage the heat

has come down and it's cured for several

months so that it the likelihood of it

heating up again is very unlikely and

also in a larger system using that

compost you would only put six inches

deep that's it don't go more than that

because

whenever you have a lot of organic

material you're going to have just

gazillions of microorganisms and the

microorganisms will feed on that organic

material and their activity creates Heat

and so again you don't want your

vermicomposting system to heat up and so

that's why I recommend starting with six

inches of bedding you know in a larger

system and then only adding about an

inch of food so food it's more active it

hasn't gone through a heating and

cooling and curing stage it has the

ability to heat up whether it be

livestock manure or food waste or

Brewery waste or whatever

it could heat up so you only want to

apply about an inch deep and then

um wait until the food is consumed

before you add more

um so it's not a daily thing and you may

even see references to you know you may

see a warm Farmer Say Yeah I feed x

amount of food waste or feedstock per

day they don't they are not feeding

daily they're feeding every two or three

days when the food is gone and so if

they give you a daily rate they take a

weekly rate and divide it by seven okay

so

um very important because if you lay

down that food waste and then you say on

Monday and then Tuesday you say okay

time to feed again

this is not all consumed you know

depending on your operation the number

of warmths you have and so you put new

Fresh Feed stock on top and then this

just you know the lower stuff doesn't

get eaten and it can just you know cause

problems in the warm bin you want your

worms to go up to eat okay and so that's

why you put the feedstock on the top so

they'll come up for it and when they're

finished eating it it will be smooth so

we call it the pool table effect

you know shooting pool

because when you first add that

feedstock it'll be kind of lumpy but

then once the worms have finished eating

it it'll be flat like a pool table

so and another way that you manage your

worm bin

is to keep

you know obviously the worms need

moisture to live right and so you you

use your bin in a way that most of the

moisture is on top

the top you know four to six inches if

it's a larger system okay

um in a smaller worm bin it's going to

be you know the top couple of inches but

you want to make so so you're not

saturating the whole bin the worms will

seek out moisture and so

if you add too much moisture to the bin

it'll collect on the bottom the worms

will go down there and you want them up

here to eat the food so very important

to do that no matter what size system

you have

because the earthworm castings always

end up on the bottom of a system and so

to get to the castings you you would

have to dig you know so it can be labor

intensive you know if you're talking

about a large system when you've got you

know a large horizontal bin or you have

um the concrete blocks you're going to

be

we're managing the bin so that the

earthworms stay in the top four to six

inches where it's moist and where the

food is

and so when it comes time to harvest

you're going to use a pitchfork to

remove that top four to six inches and

put the worms into a you know fresh

bedding situation

and then you you're gonna have to shovel

the the castings out and so again labor

intensive you know if you have a 200

foot long bin then that's a lot of Labor

and that's why these continuous flow

through reactors have been created and

so they're made out of metal they're

raised off the floor on legs

and and they're raised you know at least

a couple of feet high you know maybe 30

inches or so and then

um the bottom surprisingly the bottom of

that bin that's raised off the floor is

a grate that's two inches by four inches

each hole

so really big holes you know and you

look at it and you go uh it looks like

the material would just fall through you

know but what you do is you take like

postal paper you know that brown paper

you put that on the bottom to cover

those holes and then you put your six

inches of moist bedding that the worms

are going to feel comfortable in right

and then you only feed an inch or you

know less than two inches at a time

and the castings will go to the bottom

on top of that paper

and

the bin is a couple of feet deep and it

takes a while for it to fill up because

you know you're only feeding an inch at

a time but in the meantime the castings

accumulate on the bottom and they knit

together

and so they just kind of you know form

together and in the meantime that paper

is disintegrating

and so then what you do is you use we

call it a breaker bar that skims over

those that great with those holes

and it gets pulled in One Direction and

then another to just skim about an inch

off the bottom and because there's so

much weight in the bin and those

castings are kind of knitted together

then it'll hold instead of the whole

thing falling through and so that's why

it's really important to wait until the

bin is full and stable before you start

harvesting but then you can start

harvesting once a week and depending on

the size of the bin you can get quite a

bit of Verma compost

um there are other options such as

trommels you know so these are long

tubes that move in a circle and they

have screens that will screen the

smaller material will come through and

the worms will come out the other end so

many ways to harvest

[Music]

in the United States

vermicompost sells for a huge amount of

money they can be very profitable for

the vermicomposter and so um let's take

the example of thermophilic compost so

again totally different that's the

compost bin that you have in your

backyard or that you do on a really

large scale say your city picks up all

your green waste and takes it to a

composting facility you know where it

goes through that heat cycle well in the

United States if you try to sell a cubic

yard of compost finished compost you'll

get about up to thirty dollars for a

cubic yard

but if you sell a cubic yard of

vermicompost from the worm bin then it

sells for 200 to 1200 dollars per cubic

yard

so

um quite a bit of difference and so it's

very valuable

and that's why some people get into

commercial vermicomposting

um I I give examples in my book in the

last chapter I hide I I go into detail

about different Verma composting

operations so people can just you know

read through it and say wow I think I'd

like to try this and maybe something

from over here and you know combine it

into something that works for them but

there's a I end the book with um there's

a worm farm in California in the United

States where there's a very mild climate

so you can just do Verma composting on

the ground there and this man became a

millionaire he makes over 4 million a

year from selling Verma compost and

compost

and so

um you know so it can be a very

lucrative situation but lots you know

lots of research studies have taken

place

to look at the effects of Verma compost

on plant growth

and also suppressing plant diseases

and repelling insects

and so

um

so vermicompost always outperforms

compost regular compost

and that's a reason why it's so valuable

and you need very little you need less

vermicompost

to add you know to add to soil to have

to get these just amazing results

so I have a picture in my book of a

turnip study we did and it was three

differences

Seasons Outdoors so spring fall spring

and we made sure that all of the plots

had equal amounts of nitrogen

and you look at the picture of the

turnips and you're like there is no way

that all of these turnips have have

equal amounts of nitrogen but they do so

um so some turnouts had no vermicompost

added to the plots and you can see it's

just a regular size turnip okay so you

know it's not very big and it's just got

one spindly root coming out of it and

then just by mixing in 10 by volume

Verma compost

the next picture you go oh my gosh you

know I mean it's huge it's so much

bigger than the one with no vermicompost

and the root system is just super well

developed and the turnip greens which

you know Farmers sell turnip greens

people love to buy them and eat them and

they're just so extensive it's amazing

and then you look at 20 by volume and

you know it's a even bigger

and we stopped there because according

to literature if we had done 40 by

volume it wouldn't be that much bigger

than the 30 percent you know and 50

percent it becomes too much for the

plant and so it starts looking more like

you know it had zero Verma compost so

that's the beauty of it especially since

it's so expensive it's wonderful that

such a little bit goes such a long way

so what's really wonderful about that

experiment

again we rely so much on NPK you know

it's we consider that's the most

important thing and nitrogen is

particularly important for plant growth

and so what's interesting about the um

by seeing that all three plots had equal

amounts of nitrogen it's like it's not

the nitrogen in the you know NPK is not

that big of a deal in Verma compost you

will not see NPK readings in Verma

compost and go wow that's amazing

because it's not you know so it is the

microorganisms

um and scientists are still trying to

unlock you know everything that's going

on with Verma composting but between the

plethora of

microbe species and numbers and there

are full of fulvic acid acids and humic

acids and plant growth hormones there's

just all kinds of things that happen

inside the worm and come out the other

end and you'll see that that not all

Verma compost is alike and it's really

important to understand this because if

your um growing if you're feeding the

worms Dairy manure

um then what they

excrete their poop

will have different qualities than if

you feed the worms food waste

or goat manure or sheep manure or

whatever so it really depends on the

feedstock the way in which the

vermicompost is created you know the

different methods and so and then it

affects plants differently too so it's

very interesting that plants will have

more favorable responses

two different types of Verma compost

so in other words if you have like a

dairy manure Verma compost

and you do experiments with tomatoes

peppers

petunias

you know a variety of plants you'll see

that some have a greater response to

that Dairy manure than others and then

if you use like maybe you've taken that

paper sludge and fed it to the worms and

so again it's going to be a different

type of Verma compost and you might find

that certain plants prefer that

so so it's not like synthetic fertilizer

where you know okay here we go folks

it's it really varies on the

effectiveness and the plant response and

the different feedstocks so

now really the best thing you can do is

to

pre-compost the feedstock that you're

going to feed the worms all right

pre-composting that means that you will

thermophilically compost whatever that

feedstock is whether it's Dairy manure

or food waste or whatever

you'll get it to the high temperatures

that will kill pathogens such as E coli

and salmonella

and also kill seeds Okay if there could

be seeds in the manure there's

definitely seeds in food waste and so

um those will not be killed in the worm

bed and so you you destroy them through

the pre-composting process what makes it

pre-composting instead of composting

is that it goes through that heat cycle

for about a month four to six weeks and

then the temperatures start to drop down

and with regular thermophilic composting

like I mentioned earlier you let those

temperatures go down but then it has to

cure for several months so you don't get

these temperature spikes and people

complain you know oh I bought compost

and it burned my plants you know and

it's because they didn't go through that

curing process

so here like I said cured mature compost

is great as a bedding for the worms only

six inches deep because again you don't

want it to heat up and that's why we're

using it as bedding but not feedstock we

want feedstock that just has more oomph

to it you know and so in that

pre-composting we've gone through the

heating we've killed the pathogens and

the seeds it started to drop in

temperature that's when we remove it and

let it cool off and we feed only an inch

to the earthworms and so not only have

you killed those undesirable things but

you've reduced the volume which is

really important because again

firmacomposting is a horizontal process

and you know so you leave you need a lot

of you know space

but also it has turned whatever the

feedstock is into a homogeneous product

because we know what compost looks like

compost looks like soil you know and and

the particles look the same

and so you won't get this picky eater

thing the worms can just very easily

take in those tiny particles and they

won't show a preference whereas if you

had fed them like raw food waste you'll

find that some types of food waste

disappears more quickly than other types

of food waste so through the pre-compost

you don't have to deal with that it all

looks like to the worms

but um in the 30 years that I've been

teaching Verma compost I have seen an

increase

and so

um you know more people are doing it and

you know uh well over a thousand people

have come to my warm farming conferences

you know so again these people are

mostly in it to produce commercial Verma

compost and make a living from it so and

then

um you know just the number of countries

that I've heard from

um I I see it taking place all over the

world uh I mentioned in my book I have a

picture of

one worm farm in Cuba but there were 174

worm farms on that island and it's

because you know we we the United States

and Cuba had a problem with Communism

and so there was an embargo and all of a

sudden the food and other resources that

usually came into the island were no

longer able to come and so people got

very creative and so they were really

able to raise

to farm and raise food but Verma

composting played a really big part in

improving the soils and increasing

production and decreasing the plant

diseases and pest attacks so people are

finding that worldwide and another

really great develop man I found is um

you know a lot of women are marginalized

in many countries and they don't have

access to

financial stability

and so there's a growing trend of women

reaching Financial stability through

Verma composting so it's really

wonderful to see a lot of it is taking

place in in India in Guatemala in many

other countries like that where you know

warm women are given some worms and in

India there's you know sacred cows and

their dung is everywhere and so you know

they're able to use the cow dung and

some food waste and you know and the

worms create this wonderful valuable

product

and so

and then the women are able to be

financially secure so

um so it's really being handled all over

the place

but it's just important to do it

correctly you know there are many

so just having a basic understanding of

earthworms and the type of earthworm

that you use the species not mixing a

bunch of species

and then

doing it in a way where you're not gonna

overheat

and so just basic things to understand

and so that's what I covered in my book

you know I really got into all aspects

of

um you know how to choose the right

system and how to uh use how to set up

the system how to feed effectively

safely

and I talk about regulations I talk

about you know the different harvesting

methods and then testing the Verma

compost for

um to make sure that that it's good

quality you know and I give parameters

for different things that are tested you

know like NPK and other macro and

micronutrients but also salts you know

um like regular thermophilic compost

depending on the feedstock you can have

a lot of salt in your compost and then

certain

uh plant species are very sensitive to

it and so you know so that's something

you want to check for in your

vermicompost as well

some

I have I'm Miranda Sherman and I've been

at North Carolina State University for

just short of 30 years and I was hired

because recycling had just been mandated

in the state and everyone was saying

what do we do you know how do we recycle

and so I was hired to

educate people and answer questions and

so I'm not only talking households but

businesses and

um and then the trash managers so

landfill managers government officials

everybody was wondering what's happening

with Recycling and so I um

so I was hired for that and you know of

course it's expected to publish and

um and so I right away wrote several

Publications about recycling

but I also

um decided to write something about

Verma composting so I titled it worms

can recycle your garbage and it flew off

the shelves it had to keep being

reprinted because there was just such a

clamor to learn more about Verma

composting and it just spread Beyond you

know I served the people of North

Carolina but I started hearing from

people in other states and then other

countries and now I've heard from people

in 121 countries they have contacted me

specifically about vermicomposting to

learn more and so it changed the course

of my career and because I spent most of

my time answering questions about Verma

composting and there was already

books and information about small-scale

Verma composting but not that mid to

large scale Verma composting so I really

focused on that and that's where you

know the people in 121 countries they're

not saying oh what do I do with my

little kitchen warmth and they're saying

I want to get into it you know as uh to

become financially independent through

Verma composting