Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Addendum Dec 2017: The vendor replied to my review in a very courteous and professional manner, the vendor also graciously offered to ship (at no cost) the M Board if I was missing one. I did have the M board and did not needed it. Nevertheless, I find his gesture extremely gracious and for that reason, I added an extra star. Based on his comment, I added a note about the window screen as seen in a picture below. Addendum May 2018: If you wonder "how your worm works", there is a *fantastic* 5 min video from PBS Digital Studio. I strongly encourage you to watch it, Just Google "how-worms-turn-trash-into-nutrient-rich-compost" and you'll end up on Youtube or on the Washington Post. Same video. (watch it twice ; -) * * * Original Review * * * I had the Vermihut for about a month and I am slowly transferring the worms to the Vermihut from a 27 gallons bin. I am OK with it and I will update the review once I have run the Vermihut for an extended period of time. What I am NOT so much OK with it are the instructions, especially the "Worm Food" section page 5 and 6. 1) Feeding animal waste: I *strongly* caution you against that, unless your pet is a cow or a horse; and even so, that should be reserved for outdoors worm bins. Please do not attempt to feed your worms with dog or cat waste. 1a) Cats and dogs have sometime de-worming medication, AKA "poison for worms". Your worms might not like it. 1b) Having pet waste inside a bin, will most likely generate a maggot farm too, Good luck with that! 2) Grass clippings: In (very) small quantity i.e. a hand full, it's OK. more than that and you risk composting "hot" as well as generating methane, and you'll simply create a mess or you can kill your worm colony, Trust me here, this is experience speaking... 3) Do not feed your worms garlic. No garlic! Onions, if any, should be in very small quantity. As a rule of thumb, avoid the whole Allium family: Garlic, Onion, Chive, Shallot, Leek. 4) Starches: Pasta, rice, bread, potatoes, etc: cooked pasta and rice can clump together and develop an anaerobic smelly mess, it also take much longer for the worms to digest starches, use small quantities first and check for issues. Mix starches with other stuff to limit possible problems. 5) CHOP-FREEZE-THAW-SERVE! Worms have small mouths! chopping your food allows for a faster processing (increased surface area). Freezing your (chopped) food allows to kill fruit flies and during the freezing process, ice crystals will break the cells wall, allowing the food to be even faster processed by your worms. Thaw: unless it's summer and your worm bin is too hot, don't serve them ice. Wait for the food to be at room temp to serve. 6) NO CITRUS or citrus peel: besides being waxed, treated with pesticide and extremely acidic, citrus peel naturally contain Limonene, a known toxic agent for worms. ( d-limonene C10H16 ) 7) Seeds: Vermicomposting is a cold process: it does not kill possible pathogens or seeds, hence if you put too many seeds, you'll end up with a secondary garden. the solution is to chop and microwave things that have a large amount of seeds (Butternut squash, etc ) After looking at the bottom tray, I took on to make a de facto modification: adding a window screen to the bottom, secured with silicone caulk. I was not in the mood to deal with the bottom cloth each time I had to refill the bottom tray. See picture attached. Please note that if you do so, your bottom tray will remain your bottom tray *for ever*. If you have a doubt, do not use silicone and test if you like that solution. An online PDF, with larger illustration and a bit more detailed instruction would have been appreciated instead of the small book. (circa 1980?) If you have any tips and tricks that you would like to share, please feel free and leave a comment. Thanks