This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语农业报道。
What can you do with earthworms? Some people use the creepy crawlers to catch fish. But others put worms to work making compost. Compost looks and feels like good soil. Gardeners and farmers add it to soil to make plants grow better.
蚯蚓可以用来做什么？有人用这种爬虫做鱼饵钓鱼。但也有人使用这种蚯蚓来制作堆肥。这种堆肥看上去和摸起来都像一种很好的肥料。园丁和农民将其加入土壤中，使植物生长得更好。
You can make compost from food waste at home with or without the help of worms. How the worms help is by first eating and processing the food. It comes out the other end of the worm as rich compost.
你可以在家使用食物垃圾来制作堆肥，蚯蚓有无皆可。蚯蚓的作用是，首先将食物吃掉并消化，排泄出来就是肥沃的堆肥。
Kim Gabel from the University of Florida Extension service in Key West suggests using red worms known as red wigglers.
来自基韦斯特市佛罗里达推广大学的金姆·盖贝尔（Kim Gabel）建议使用被称为红虫的红蚯蚓。
KIM GABEL: "The red wigglers are the best varieties for doing it because they are more of a surface feeder. Because different worms live in different strata, or portions of the earth."
盖贝尔：“红虫是做堆肥的最佳品种。因为它们更大程度上是一种土壤表层进食者。不同的蚯蚓生活在不同的土壤层。”
You need a container to hold the waste and the worms. The size of the composting bin depends on how much compost you want to make. You need about a kilogram of worms for each half a kilogram of daily food waste that you add.
你需要一个存放食物垃圾和蚯蚓的容器来作为堆肥箱。这个堆肥箱的大小取决于你想要制作多少堆肥。每天处理半公斤食物垃圾大约需要一公斤蚯蚓。
Kim Gabel says the bin needs holes so the worms can get air.
盖贝尔表示，堆肥箱上要钻一些洞，这样蚯蚓才能获得空气。
KIM GABEL: "The worms do breathe. So that is a very important factor, along with they also like to be in the dark."
盖贝尔：“蚯蚓需要呼吸。所以钻洞是非常重要的一点。其次它们还喜欢生活在黑暗的环境中。”
So cover the bin to keep out the light.
所以要盖好堆肥箱以遮蔽光线。
One thing worms do not like is very high temperatures. Kim Gabel lives in the warm climate of southern Florida. She keeps her worm bin indoors. Unpleasant smells can be prevented by controlling the amount of food waste added to the bin and avoiding meat or bones.
蚯蚓不喜欢高温。盖贝尔住在佛罗里达南部这种温暖气候地区。她把堆肥箱放在室内。控制加入的食物垃圾数量，同时不要加入肉和骨头，这样就能避免产生难闻的气味。
For composting with worms, you need bedding that is moist but not too wet. The amount of water you add will depend on the bedding material you use. Kim Gabel uses newspaper cut into strips about two and a half centimeters wide. Add two handfuls of soil for every half square meter of bedding material and mix well.
蚯蚓堆肥的垫料要保持湿润，但不能太湿。加水量将取决于你所使用的垫料。盖贝尔使用撕成2.5厘米宽小条的报纸作为垫料。每半平方米垫料添加2把土并将其拌匀。
Spread the worms over the bedding. The worms will start to wiggle their way down. Remove any worms that remain on top of the bedding after two hours.
把蚯蚓散布到垫料上。蚯蚓便开始扭动着钻下去。两小时后，将仍然停留在垫料表面的蚯蚓拿走。
When you feed the worms, place the food about two and a half centimeters below the surface of the bedding and cover it.
喂食蚯蚓时，将食物放置到垫料下方2.5厘米处，然后盖好。
The worm's waste, or castings, should be ready to use as compost within two to six months.
两到六个月内，蚯蚓的排泄物就能够作为堆肥使用了。
To remove the compost, you can push it all to one side of the bin. Place new bedding and food on the other side. Within a few weeks the worms will move to the new bedding. Now you can remove the compost and fill the empty space with new bedding.
要移走堆肥，你可以把垫料都推到堆肥箱的一侧，把新的垫料和食物放到另一侧。几周之内，蚯蚓就会移动到新垫料中。这时你就可以把堆肥取走，再用新的垫料补充空位。