Worms Again, with Context

I’m getting back into worm composting. Not scaling up. Scaling down.

A decade ago, I was living in a rental house with no yard and too many roommates. I started worm composting out of necessity. Just a couple plastic bins with holes drilled in the sides, under the kitchen table. I didn’t have space for outdoor compost, and I didn’t want to keep throwing food scraps in the trash. So I learned the basics: red wigglers, carbon-rich bedding, bury your greens, don’t let it get too wet or too dry. It was simple, low-budget, and just functional enough.

That small practice taught me a lot.

Years later, I ended up running large-scale compost systems—multi-ton operations with temperature tracking, loader schedules, sifting screens, multi-stage curing. I learned how to read piles by steam, by smell, by density. I learned how to make compost fast, hot, and by the yard. That experience taught me systems thinking, flow management, resource coordination.

But the foundation for that scale was laid in those first bins—learning, firsthand, how decay behaves in a closed system. What bedding smells like when it’s working. What mold means. What kinds of scraps go quick, and which ones stall the process. What happens when you overfeed. How long it takes to fix a mistake.

Now I’m back in an apartment. No yard. No system. But still making food scraps. Still needing a way to deal with them that makes sense.

So I’m setting up a worm bin again. This time with the benefit of experience—and maybe a little more intention.

I’ve started poking around to see if the gear has improved since the last time I did this. Back then, most commercial worm bins were stackable plastic trays with fiddly drainage and ventilation issues. Now, there’s some slightly better designs—still plastic, mostly—but with minor improvements: better airflow paths, removable harvesting trays, finer mesh lids. I’m not sold on any of them, but it’s interesting to see what’s changed.

If I don’t find one I like, I’ll probably build something. Maybe a single wide shallow bin, wood-framed, with breathable sides and modular parts for easier cleaning. Nothing fancy. Just enough to stay functional, clean, and durable for long-term use.

This isn’t a return to hobbyism. It’s just the next step in continuity.

There’s a false binary in how people talk about scale. That big is industrial and small is personal. But small practice, done well, is informed by everything I learned at scale. I know what good airflow looks like. I know how to balance moisture using different bedding types. I know the microbial stages, and what supports or disrupts them. I know when to intervene and when to let the system self-correct.

That’s the benefit of experience: not doing the same thing again, but doing it differently, because you understand the terrain.

So—if you’re running an indoor worm system and have thoughts on materials, container design, or bedding blends that hold up over time, I’d be interested. Especially if you’re working in tight quarters or trying to avoid unnecessary plastic.

I’ll post updates once things are rolling. For now, I’m just sourcing parts, aging some bedding, and brushing up on bin architecture.

Worms soon.