I am all in favor of having a topper on your bin, but covering a plastic tote with a plastic bag seems wrong to me. The worms need air, the more the better.

Maybe try covering with a burlap bag or old cotton garment or towel. A piece of cardboard laid on top flat, or several inches of shredded cardboard would also help.

Good luck! Pete

For a long vacation, I would go with several inches of shredded cardboard. But when I had my worms, my bins had lids. Even with lids, I would go for several inches of shredded cardboard.

The bag is just laying on top of the bedding and not sealing the top of the bin at all. Burlap would be nice, but not available around here. There is about an inch of bedding around the edges between the bag and the wall of the bin. And, of course, there is the daily lift for peeking and feeding. They have been pretty happy for the last month, but I will let you know how it goes.

"Now, I am sure there are some that will tell me my worms are no longer organic"

A little hard to get any windage copying Chucks style when Chuck live and in person is here.

Granted half the time I hit send and then figured I would get kicked off :-)

I am of the opinion that your style kept the board hopping.

Well that and I think the worm calculator somehow attracted an assortment of people here from far and wide and although they seemed to pop up, request and disappear even that no doubt had value in strengthening the board. I must admit I capital I never suggested someone get a horse :-). Only the real chuck could do that. Some of us are lacking in some departments. :-)

Back to the topic, see quote at top, I am pretty sure there are no vermicomposting organic police. Thus you are free to do what you want. Paper, plastic or $1 reuseable shopping bag possibly contaminated with lead and e-coli. I guess our real beef with plastic is it does not allow in oxygen. I wonder if *cough* magnimoist *cough* something or other would work well as a cover. I just learned about the product from growingyourgreens . Sometimes rice comes in burlap bags. Tractor Supply also sells burlap bags. I would expect they might work as well as or better than other products.

I have to admit it was Chucks posts that made me feel welcome enough to join this forum. I will look for burlap in the discards around town. I love my worms, but not as much as I love my bank account and cheap is as cheap does .

I am a college math professor in the middle of Iowa, but deep in my heart I am a hippy child who grew up in California.

Currently I am eyeing a pair of jeans that have just lost structural control to make into a flow-through container.

I cover my outside plastic bin with screen, the kind for windows. It is held all around with clamps. I also have an umbrella standing over it and in the winter when it rains heavy i do cover with plastic and put a small lightbulb hanging to keep the worms from wanting to escape. Also use light bulbs in winter at night only, for warmth.

Coffee beans come in burlap bags. Find a cafe that roast its own beans. The bags are free.