A quick update to the kitty litter composting experiment:
- I have continued to add newspaper and fresh kitchen scraps to ensure a healthy diet as the worms embark upon their maiden voyage.
- The small bin has been host to thermophilic bacteria, resulting in higher temperatures than the ambient air. This has also resulted in evaporation and consequently condensation on the lid (this is actually how I first realized it was creating heat).
- Needless to say, cat litter clumps, so it sorta became a brick in the bin, not being distributed well enough. I have since used a garden trowel to mix it up, at which point steam came out and it smelled of ammonia, undoubtedly due to the high nitrogen pee clumps. The clumping would not be as much of a concern in normal usage if this system of composting cat waste works out because I would be adding the waste clump by clump rather than all at once.
- The worms themselves seem to have fared okay despite the heat; I have seen quite a number of the little white babies, the first generation raised from birth in the cat poo bin.
- Smell has not been an issue except for a few minutes after I stirred it up.
- No water has come from the drain holes aside from when i set the bin up and intentionally tested the drainage.
For all the cat lovers in Pittsburgh and throughout the world.
-Troy