Night Crawlers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnYbCjvh4NM

Night Crawlers seem like a much better fit for our situation. They can't process the same amount of food scraps as Red wigglers, but they have a couple benefits. They are native to Canada, which means I don't need to separate them from their castings before adding to the garden (just don't add to a hot compost pile).

They are also good for the garden. Night crawlers are anecic, which means they burrow into the soil (as opposed to Red Wigglers, that live just below the surface). This means Night crawlers are constantly moving up and down through your soil, pulling nutrients and organic matter down with them.

The fact that the can't process the same amount of food is easily compensated for. First, we can increase the number of worm bins used over winter. While two red wiggler bins might be sufficient, you can try 4 or 5 night crawler bins. We can release as many as we want in the spring, even getting rid of them entirely until next fall.

Any food scraps the Nightcrawlers can't handle can go into the Bokashi bucket. It will still feed the worms, just in a indirect route.

Finally, once spring comes closer, you can channel Ruth Stout and put your kitchen scraps directly into the garden. (you did remember to collect all the carbon you could during fall right?). Just hide them under a layer of leaves you composted over winter. Anything that might attract pests should still be run through the bokashi bins first.