Vermicomposting
Vermicomposting is a process that relies on earthworms and microorganisms to help stabilize active organic materials and convert them to a valuable soil amendment and source of plant nutrients. Earthworms will consume most organic materials, including food preparation residuals and leftovers, scrap paper, animal manure, agricultural crop residues, organic byproducts from industries, and yard trimmings. This website provides cooperative extension agents, interested stakeholders and the general public with information and resources to vermicompost organic materials generated by farms, institutions, businesses and households.
- Earthworm Facts
- Worms & Worm Bins
- For Households
- For Schools
- For Businesses, Farms, Institutions, Municipalities
- Composting Website
- Video: How to Set Up a Worm Bin for Home or Classroom
- Podcast: The No-Till Market Garden, Rhonda Sherman, and The Worm Farmer’s Handbook
- Podcast: The Urban Farm – Rhonda Sherman on Organically Recycling Through Vermicomposting
- Podcast: Food Chain Radio Show #1168: Employing Worms to Turn Garbage Into Gold
The Importance of Vermicomposting Today
Up to 75 percent of what is discarded by North Carolina’s communities and businesses are organic materials. Instead of disposing of food scraps, yard wastes, and other organics, the materials can be vermicomposted. This method of recycling converts organic materials that have traditionally been viewed as waste into a valuable soil amendment for plants and crops. When vermicompost is added to soil, it boosts the nutrients available to plants and enhances soil structure and drainage. Vermicompost has also been shown to increase plant growth and suppress plant disease and insect pest attacks.
“Vermicompost products have many applications, including home gardening, landscaping, turfgrass, golf courses, viticulture, DOT projects, use in potting soil for the horticultural industry, and in agriculture. Vermicomposting may also be used to help solve North Carolina’s hog waste problems.”
Vermicomposting Stories and Interviews
- NC State University Compost Learning Lab: Photos and information
- Television Interview at Compost Learning Lab: Go Green With Worms
- Vermicomposting Gains Momentum – BioCycle: The Organics Recycling Authority
- Vermiculture Technology: Earthworms, Organic Wastes, and Environmental Management book published by CRC Press in 2011. This 35-chapter book is edited by Dr. Clive Edwards (Ohio State University), Dr. Norman Arancon (University of Hawaii-Hilo), and Rhonda Sherman (NC State University). Contributing authors are from Australia, Belarus, Brazil, Canada, China, Cuba, Hong Kong, India, Mexico, Philippines, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and United States. Click on the book title for detailed information.
- Rhonda Sherman Teaching Vermicomposting in Guyana, South America
- At This Campus Lab, Worms Eat Your Leftovers
- Commercial Vermicomposting Workshop Presented by Rhonda Sherman
- A Beginner’s Guide to Worm Composting – The News&Observer
- Vermicompost for Healthier Plants – YouTube
- Digging in the Dirt #29 Rhonda Sherman of NC State on Vermicomposting with Worms – WPKN Community Radio
- Dream Jobs: Becoming a World-Renowned Worm Expert – WUNC 91.5
- The Power of Worm Poop – NPR
- Unintentionally Leading the Way in Vermicomposting – Technician
- Lessons From the 2016 NCSU Vermiculture Conference – Institute for Local Self-Reliance
- North Carolina’s Compost Learning Lab – BioCycle: The Organics Recycling Authority
- 2015 NCSU Vermiculture Conference Recap – Urban Worm Company
- Got Worms? Vermicompost Provides Plant Nutrients, Improves Soil – The University of Arizona