You can put the worms back in the bin, but keep in mind that escapees will dry out and die rather quickly. If they are just crawling up the sides of the bin, they are probably OK.

When to feed again depends a lot on how much you are feeding them. I generally feed when the last food I gave them is pretty much unidentifiable. If you are feeding small amounts, or you are feeding foods that decompose slowly, you can feed more often. Timing your feedings really is as much an art as it is a science. You will get a good feel for it soon enough.

I feed large amounts of mostly ground up kitchen scraps about once a week. When they are mostly black, and the bedding they are in is decomposing, I feed again.

I was gonna use my food processor to finely chop the food for them, is this overkill? I know the chunkier the food the longer it takes for them to process it.

Some people will say it is overkill. It isn't necessary. I have an old hand-cranked meat grinder that I use. Once a neighbor gave me a few rotten potatoes. I didn't want to deal with the smell of grinding them up, so I put them in the bin whole. The worms loved them, and they broke down fast enough.

It is really a matter of personal reference. Some people prefer not to spend the time grinding up food that will beak down in the bin anyway. I don't mind sending the time, and it gives me more consistent results in the bin.

Personally, I don't think overfeeding is a problem. The worms will only eat what they need and the rest will just decompose and become very good bedding. If it starts to smell a thin layer of shredded cardboard or newsprint will suppress the odor. Again, just my personal opinion.

Dave Nelson

Overfeeding is the absolute number one problem for "new" vermicomposters. The expectations which are placed on such a small number of worms are incredible. One such "newbie" was referring to the consumption of his "one hundred worms", give me a break!
IMHO the best worm diet is shredded cardboard to food (table scraps) in a 3/1 or 4/1 ratio. Avoid protein poisoning /sour crop and eliminate smelly totes by not using your worm bins as garbage dumps. This is real simple, kids, worms have been here a long time without our help. Why do we think worms can save a world that we trashed? And then we turn their habitat into a garbage can!

"the best worm diet is shredded cardboard to food (table scraps) in a 3/1 or 4/1 ratio." I agree.

The literature seems to suggest bedding is only needed at the start and then only food needs to be added from then on.

I have never seen it stated you way. The correct way.