If you feed allot of fruit, I would suggest that you bury the food to help prevent fruit flies. I bury about everything that I add to the bin.

Hi, Rob

I also have a WF. The first tray, first month, I froze, then pureed the food before feeding. The freezing is supposed to kill fruit fly eggs and break down plant cells which makes the food more accessible to the microbes. Now I chop, freeze, defrost and feed. I pull back the top shredded paper, lay it down in a row and re-cover with the shredded paper. I have three rows that I progress through and mark with a plastic fork. I add newspaper as needed to maintain 2 inches. I'm thinking about adding more paper, since I've got lots of tiny things flying around.

The WF is so shallow, and relatively new that burying doesn't work for me.

Folly

Her's a good thread from several years ago. But Kelly S. says it best.

Here is a link that might be useful: Top vs. Pocket Feeding

Folly,

Thanks for the link. Do you keep newspaper in your WF all the time? When I add paper it gets eaten pretty quickly. I have been pulling back half of the "stuff" and putting in half of my scraps then cover it up and do the other side. Maybe this week I will just put it on top and cover with newspaper to see what happens.

Thanks,
rob

Yes, shredded newspaper (or cardboard, or other brown stuff) always on top. It's a carbon source and needed to balance the nitrogen of the food. The paper also absorbs excess moisture so that your bin doesn't get too wet -- which is the beginning of many bad things in the bin/WF.

With the pulling back of material and feeding on one and then the other side, sounds like you are making more work for yourself than you need to. Also, if something goes anaerobic, your worms have no where to run. (I know from my tofu and vodka-soaked cucumber feedings.)

Folly

I feed by adding the food and then covering up with shredded paper. I have found that the worms don't come to the top as readily without the paper...in fact I was only able to see them at the top in the evening. My bin is in the garage so it is mostly dark. I do however feed on one side then the middle and the other side. I always cover the food with shredded paper though.