Mary Appelhof (1936–2005)

This little book is the definitive manual about keeping worms for vermicomposting. All of the gardening books I've read that mention worm farming point to this book, so I finally waited my turn to borrow it from the library. It's got all the basic information you need to set up a worm-composting system, and more than that, too. What kind of container to make or buy, what kind of bedding to use, how to set it up, where to keep it, how to maintain temperature and moisture, what kind of show more environment the worms need, how to manage the system depending on if you want worms for fishing bait or good black compost or both (or even if you want to raise worms for sale) and so on. What you can put in your vermiculture box, and what you can expect to get out of it. Charts and weights and volumes of input and output. Even some details on the biology of worms and different species. Lots of reference material in the back for further reading in whatever direction you want to take this interest. This is one of those books I found so useful on the first reading I immediately looked for a copy to add to my personal library (now found). Got my own worm bin started and it's been doing well for years now. Thanks in part to this book which made me realize it's not that hard, just get started.

from the Dogear Diary show less

For anyone interested in urban homesteading, gardening, recycling, composting, or just making your garbage smell less, this is the perfect book for you. Appelhof introduces vermicomposting (worm composting) in a clear, easy-to-understand manner, without over simplifiying. There are many options and techniques for this wonderful process, and she gives you all the options. The writing is well-organizes, entertaining, and spare. I used the book to refine my own worm composter and have seen show more improvments in my bin. Highly recommended! show less

I liked this book it was a simple guide to keeping worms that gave very easy to follow practical guides. I really liked that the author knew people would have different goals for their worm bins and created several different plans that accommodated those different goals

Great explanation of how to vermicompost! I use a ready-made worm bin kit, which makes things somewhat easier than building one from scratch. It's very cool!