Vermicomposting Cardboard

I am in the process of emptying the large (four square feet) balcony vermicomposter into the small (one square foot) vermicomposter to free up space on the balcony.

I have withdrawn many sheets of cardboard with which I had lined the large vermicomposter. I want to make a meal for the worms. The sheets are too dry and stiff, I'll have difficulty fitting them into the one-foot square vermicomposter.

Luckily ( Second use For Everything !) I have a crisper drawer from a cast-out refrigerator.

I place the sheets, roughly folded, into the drawer, weight them down with house bricks (did I mention Second Use For Everything ?) and pour in a lovely bacteria-laden pail of water – vegetable water, slurry from my water butt, all sorts of stuff.

Three hours later all the cardboard is well soaked and (rubber gloves!) into the small vermicomposter it goes.

Worms seem to love cardboard. I've heard theories that they go for the glue. I suspect that worms just carry on eating bacteria, but that the bacteria love the glue.

By soaking the cardboard in bacteria-laden water, I've given the bacteria a head-start on populating themselves, which will encourage the worm population to grow.

View this post with images at http://www.chrisgreaves.com/blogkitchen/blogkitchen.html