Calculate how much to feed based on how many worms you have in the system.

Your earthworms can eat up to their own weight in soft and juicy food waste each day, particularly if it is chopped into small pieces and mixed into the newspaper strips.

Being cold blooded the earthworms are more active and will eat more when the compost temperatures are above 20 degrees C. They will be less active and eat less when it is cooler.

The Can-O-Worms should be started with a minimum of 1000 worms, which weigh about 250g. The earthworm population will double every 4 to 6 months under ideal conditions. You can increase the amount you feed accordingly.

When you set up and add food for the first time

It will take a while for the food to start breaking down and the earthworms to start processing it.
Feed small amounts every few days so that the worms can settle in - don't add more than they are able to process.

When you add food, lift a small section of the newspaper bedding to one side, put down a few strips of newspaper and cover them with the food. Use a grubber to mix the food, newspaper and vermicompost, being careful not to traumatise any worms that may be there.

Cover the food mix with the newspaper bedding. This layer should be 6-8cm deep, and since the newspaper breaks down and is eaten by the worms, you will need to replenish it from time to time.Keep the bedding moist by sprinkling water over it.

Worms like to live in 70% plus moisture, and in warm and dry conditions you will need to add water more often to compensate for evaporation.

Rotate the small areas that you add food to, so that you don't disturb the worms feeding on older food

Third tray

When the level of the vermicompost beneath the newspaper bedding layer in the second Working tray gets to above the plastic ribs running up the inside of the second Working tray it is time to add the third Working tray.

It is important to keep continuity between the surface of the vermicompost in the second Working tray and the base of the third Working tray. Leave the older bits of breaking down newspaper in the vermicompost if these are required to maintain contact.

Move the newspaper bedding layer in the second Working tray to the third working tray, ensuring that the base of the third Working tray touches the surface of the vermicompost in the second Working tray without compacting it.

When placing food into the third Working tray

Move a section of the newspaper bedding to one side and place the food there, and mix in some of the older bedding into the food with a grubber.

Make sure that the food and newspaper bedding mix have an open consistency; that there are gaps in it that allow in air and the worms to move around freely inside.

Use a grubber to loosen older material that has become compact. Push the times of the grubber into the material, lift it up and withdraw the times.

Disturb the earthworms as little as possible. Do not draw the times of the grubber through the material like a plough, or use a fork or spade to do this kind of work.

Keep a 6-8cm layer of newspaper bedding over the vermicompost

Keep mixing small amounts of older bedding and vermicompost into the food each time you feed. Sprinkle water over the surface, just enough to wet it.

Tap off the vermitea at least once a week, preferably more often. Vermitea is a rich plant tonic and can be watered down 1:10 and then applied as a foliar feed, or as a soil-drench around plants.
It is a good idea to tap the vermitea off before, and a few hours after adding water to moisten the bedding. This will give you an idea of how moist the bedding and vermicompost is.

Ideal conditions are when the system is moist to the point that vermitea just beings to drip through into the collector tank. If nothing comes through sprinkle more water, if whatever you add comes through the system is saturated.

Continue feeding in small sections, a different section each time.

A handy hint is to picture pizza slices - divide the bin into the number of times you feed each week and rotate to a new 'slice' each time you feed.

The worms will follow your feeding pattern, moving to the food as it becomes attractive to them. By the time you have completed one rotation, the area you previously fed should be reasonably well processed.

If the food starts to accumulate - i.e. it is not broken down by the time you complete one rotation - don't add more food until the worms have had a chance to catch up. Mix excess food into the bedding to break it up and aerate it

Check the moisture of the newspaper bedding each time you feed.

The newspaper bedding provides ideal habitat for the worms to process the food, and they like to mate and lay their cocoons under it too.

Some people tap off the vermitea each time they feed and pour it back over the bedding. This assists the vermicomposting process by putting nutrients and micro organisms back into the vermicompost, thereby making it stronger.

Seeing how much comes back through also helps you monitor the amount of moisture in the system. If you do this, you can use the excess vermitea as it is produced and when you need more, you can pour a litre or two of water over the bedding in the top tray, wait a while and then tap off vermitea.

Some people prefer to feed every few days for the sake of convenience.

In this case, make sure that the food is kept in a covered container. Can-O-Worms is fly proof but vinegar (fruit) flies can get into the system if they lay their eggs in the food before it is put in the bin.

You can kill the fruit fly larvae by keeping the worm food in a container in a fridge. If the worm food is kept in the fridge,let it warm to room temperature before you feed it to the worms (think ice-cream headache / brain freeze).

If you feed every 3-4 days, you can spread the food over half the surface and then cover it with the bedding, and then feed the other side the next time.