June was very hot and pretty dry. The first week of July has already topped out over 90F and likely will do so again (and one of our fans in the house just died!).
You know what composting worms don't like - hot, dry conditions.
So how do you keep your compost bin at a cool enough temperature, if it's not in an air-conditioned room? There's actually a fairly simple way to help provide air-conditioning of sorts in the bin itself.
Any plastic bottle will with a cap will work - old soda or seltzer bottles are great. Simply fill it about 2/3 full with water, then place it in your freezer overnight. The water expands as it freezes, so be sure your bottle isn't close to full, or you may end up with a frozen mess.
Take the frozen bottle, and simply lay in on top of your worm bin, preferably along close to a side of the bin, The sides are going to be the hottest, and if by chance it gets too cold for the worms near the frozen block/bottle, they'll have plenty of room to move away.
The worms will come over and pile up under the bottle if it's really hot, or simply hang out in the vicinity for the slightly cooler bedding in that area.
So why use a capped bottle of frozen water, rather than simply throw in ice cubes? Because you don't want to make your bin too wet as the ice melts. However, if your bin is too dry, placing a cluster of ice cubers or even a small block of ice in one area will help rehydrate the bin, as well as cool it down.
Stay cool this summer!
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