We reported in February on an upcoming vermicompost project to be undertaken by Matt Smith at Better Farm this year.

The scope of that undertaking is to develop a low-cost vermicomposting system that is scalable for municipal and commercial use. By collaborating with local supermarkets and convenience stores to pick up their food waste on a weekly basis, Matt's goal is to utilize earthworms to break food wastes down into dirt fit for potting soil that can then be sold and distributed to the public for low-cost.

Matt got started last week with his research, and began building the compost bins. Here are photos of him and volunteer Nick Bellman putting the project together:

The boxes Nick and Matt built last week will function as the bottom shelf of a multi-tiered system. The finished product will look something like this:

The next step was securing businesses to donate their food waste to Better Farm. Matt made some calls and visits to places in Alexandria Bay and Watertown, N.Y. Here's our list of confirmed businesses so far: