Leachate forms when the decomposing food gives off moisture faster than the bedding can absorb it.

When, how often and how much to feed is as much an art as a science. You will develop a feel for it over time. New bins take a while to get established, so feeding will not be at the same pace as an established bin. It all depends on decomposition, which is still fairly slow in a new bin.

The rule of thumb is that when the worms are eating away at what they have, you can give them more. That really depends on how much you feed them all at once. Since decomposition is happening slowly, you need to feed them more slowly. When most of the food is well broken down, you can add more. You should top off the bedding at the same time.

It sounds like you are doing fine. Over time you will be able to feed the worms more. By then you will have a good feel for how fast and how much the worms eat.

Sbryce - thank you, that is reassuring. Is it true that worms eat twice their weight per week, or is that just advertising?

Under ideal conditions worms are capable of eating their own weight every day. Conditions are seldom ideal, and what the worms eat includes bedding, so the rule of thumb we go by is 1/2 of their weight in food every day. It takes a while before a new bin can process food that fast.

Feed them at the same rate that they consume it. If the food is not completely consumed (unrecognizable), don't add more.

There's a lot of foodstuff in there that you'll not be able to see.

Moderation in all things worm.

Leachate? Too much moisture. If liquid is draining out of the bin, it's too wet. Leachate is also just about useless as a nutrient, but pour it on a plant anyway.

Thanks for the responses. Today I took a fork and cautiously poked down into the food area. As Chuckiebtoo says, the food was unrecognizable. Everything is a dark earthy mass, loaded with wiggling worms. The bedding which was at the bottom of the bin is the same, there's no recognizable cardboard. I guess they are hard at work!

The bedding at the top is still there, damp cardboard and paper. There's nothing leaching out of the bottom. I feel absurdly relieved.

We have a bucket of compostable food ready to go - we've been keeping it in a container to give it a head start before adding it to the bin. I think we are hooked on worms.

You may or may not want to freeze and or blend/process that for the worms to get them started with a lot of surface area for tasty microbes to colonize. Also be sure to add bedding frequently. Bad things happen when food is continually added and bedding is not. Three pounds is a lot of worms to start with. Many vermicomposters have started with a pound or what was sold as a pound. Three pounds of worms would soon be able to process the kitchen waste of maybe four vegetarians. You are well on your way to making lots of vermicompost and many more worms quickly.

Yes we started with a lot of worms. We generate about 6lbs of kitchen waste a week according to my husband. In the past 6 months (we just moved to N. Mexico last fall), we've been putting this, together with a lot of animal poop plus garden greens and browns, into the big compost bin.

So far we have about a volume of 4' x 4' x 3' of compostable stuff which is decaying very slowly. Our hope is to add worms to the big bin some time when it's cooler. Then we'll keep a smaller population in the rubbermaid bins, feeding it on the kitchen waste.

I don't know how the worms will do in the big compost pile. This is all an experiment to try to speed up the rate of composting. At the rate we generate compostables, the big bin would overflow in a few months. My concern isn't too many worms, not for a while. I assume that if the population in the big bin is too large, the worms will escape and be eaten by the birds.

We are adding bedding, mostly damp cardboard and some paper, regularly and keeping everything covered with bedding. I assume the lack of any leachate means I'm not overdoing the food. I don't have room to freeze or blend the kitchen waste, it's too much volume and mess. I hope the week or so in the outside bucket starts the decomposition process.

The next hurdle is harvesting. I need to think on this - I'm still too squeamish to handle the worms with my hands. But the garden desperately needs organic matter and nutrients, so I'm looking forward to the proceeds of my worm colony.

Just curious. What kind of animal poop? Some kinds aren't good or safe to use. I know it seems counter-intuitive. Let us know, and somebody can explain it for you if need be. Could be that your poop is awesome!

Good luck with your colony. I'm rooting for you. I got hooked years ago, and it doesn't really ever go away for some of us. I had to take a hiatus, and now am back, as hooked as ever.

I am using a Worm Factory this time around, which has a bin beneath it that worms sometimes drop (or ?escape?, though they seem very content) into, and they have to be scooped out. It's a pain in the a**! But just lately, I've been able to pick them up with my fingers instead of a spoon.

I don't know if we just grow fond of them and want them safe, or if we get used to the idea. When I wormed 6 years ago, I actually harvested entire bins by hand, picking up bunches of worms, and saving the eggs. I can't imagine it right now, but I suspect I"ll get there again. They're such helpful and useful and beneficial creatures. They can't help it that they're slimy and disgusting in looks and feel to some of us. And make my stomach ache when I think of them in my house ;) (BUT THEY ARE that to some of us. It's a gut reaction, so it's not bad.

Keep us posted on how it's going. I'm very interested!

Dowbright - the animals are our two cats. I know there are many warnings about using cat poop, but there are some accounts that say it can work. Our cats are strictly indoor, eat a homemade diet and have been tested for parasites. All stool samples are negative and always have been. So I'm giving it a shot. The compost from the big bin will be used ONLY on ornamentals, not on anything edible.

In my area there are also many people who offer horse manure, pretty much for free. So if my cat poop experiment fails, the horse poop is an option.

My hope is to keep the rubbermaid bins going and use the VC from these to use on the herbs. We grow very few vegetables, just a couple of tomato plants at most. We have a small herb garden. The rest is ornamental.

I'm hoping to try using a third RM bin on top of the one the worms are in now. Supposedly the worms will migrate to the top bin for new food and bedding. I guess I will find out if this works! If not, I may have to get up close and personal with the worms. That should end my ick response for good.

Good luck with the cat poop. I'm glad you know of the risks. I just didn't want a newbie assuming it was completely fine and being unaware. Especially if she were pregnant, since that's one of the complications with the stuff.

Oooh, horse manure. My best garden ever was the year I had access to that. Wow, what a year! USE it!

Did worms migrate up from Bin 1 to Bin 2? Lastly, good luck with the Ick Factor!