Almost One Year In - Are They Okay?

[Islandideals]

An American expat in the UK here...I am coming up on one year (this summer) with my wormies and I worry that I am not caring for them properly. I've read George Pilkington's Composting with Worms, but it is hard to know what a healthy workers should look like without pictures.

They still not have filled up the first tray. When I open the lid, there are a lot of worms on the top (through the shredded paper) and also little tiny jumping bugs. I don't put more food in that often because there still seems to be a lot of old food in there (the avocado skins seem to last forever). The compost seems quite moist, but not dripping. When I dig through the compost there seems to be a ton of worms and they seem healthy enough. There are a few (maybe 6 or 7) worms clinging to the lid and sides. Do you think it is too wet or too dry, or is it alright? I'm worried that it's too wet and dig around and try to put more shredded paper in, but then I hope it's not traumatising the worms too much. Any advice?

Any pictures for what a healthy bin should look like?

[WillyWorm]

Hi it all sounds good ? add another tray and relax your doing a good job. ?

[wurmweiler]

although new to wormeries, i break up all the kitchen waste by either cutting and dicing or using a blender to virtually liquidise the waste before adding it to the wormery. this helps the process of decomposition and the smaller bits enable the worms to digest the material sooner.

avocado skins are hard cellulosic material that will take ages to decompose. they may disappear sooner if they were first broken up and shredded.