They like both in moderation. Not enough to heat up the bed any though. They seem to love to explore clumps of hay and weeds. Gives them lots of airpockets to crawl in.

Hi Rebecca,

I'm still new to this so others might correct me but since you've started the bin, you've put down your bedding so now you should just be able to throw the weeds in as food, along with kitchen waste, etc. I add all the deadheaded petunias, old cut flowers, and other balcony garden waste into my bin, and haven't had any problem.

I've now harvested from my bin a few times and I just throw back in what hasn't finished decomposing, along with fresh food which I cover with some of the harvested castings or old potting soil. I don't start all over again with newspaper bedding and the like, and so far so good.

Chris

half finished compost is pretty ideal for a worm bin, keep'em in food for ages, just make sure it's past the heating stage, or is higher in carbon materials, which will insure it doesn't heat

Bill

We have actually had some heating in our bin it seems but the worms seem to have survived just fine. Apparently the trick is to make sure there is always going to be a sizable cool section of the bin so if the new food added heats up, it doesn't take the whole bin with it. I've been feeding a trough method. Dig a trench in one end of the bin, add food there and cover over with the bedding. Next feeding do the same at the other end. Leave the center alone so there is no danger of it heating up, that way your worms have a safe haven if the food sections heat up too much from composting action.

thanks for the advice everyone! i have taken out compost from my tumbler and let it cool and only add about a cup or two along with my food scraps per feeding for a total of about 1 lb per food/compost. i found the lumpy leafy compost of my tumbler very unsatisfying until now. it has a higher purpose! hooray! as far as i can tell the wormies are happy.

thanks again!