Have you wanted to start a worm farm at home, but been put off by the high cost of buying one of the best? “label designer” various levels”vermicomposting” kits, promoted by garden centers and mail order companies? Well, let’s take down the trash! – IT’S NOT REALLY A SECRET!!! -You can easily make your own DIY three-container kit for just a few dollars and your worms will be as happy as piggies in yellow stuff, with not a big bad wolf in sight. Plus, you don’t need to be an expert handyman to pull this off!
- Hardware stores, supermarkets, and camping outlets sell heavy-duty, general-purpose black (opaque) plastic storage containers at a very reasonable price. They are typically tapered so they can be nested for easy stacking on retailer shelves and come with a “press fit”this lid. For your worm farm, you’ll need three of these conical containers (but only one lid). For a simple home worm farm, I would recommend using 12 gallon containers. They will typically be about 15 inches (400mm) deep. You can go smaller, if you want.
- In the first storage bin, drill a 3/8-inch (15mm) hole, centrally located, in the side of the bin, just above the base. Insert an inexpensive ½-inch (12mm) plastic barrel or irrigation tap (with washers) into the hole and quickly tighten with lock nuts; make sure you get a good seal; try filling the container with tap water. This container will be the lowest in your pile and will retain the highly nutritious contents”worm tea“leachate, which will begin to drip from the compost bins above. Worm tea is a valuable liquid organic fertilizer, which can be diluted and used directly in your organic vegetables.
The top two containers will contain the worms. They must be identical and are prepared as follows:
- Drill a pattern of ¼ inch (6mm) holes across the bottom of each bin for drainage and to allow for drainage and upward migration of compost worms, these holes should be evenly spaced on approximately two inch centers (50mm) in any direction.
- For aeration, drill two rows of ¼-inch (6 mm) holes on two-inch (50 mm) centers, in a continuous band around each pan. This band of holes would be approximately four inches (100 mm) below the top edge of the container.
- It is not essential to drill holes in the lid, which closes tightly on the top bucket. since enough air must enter through the sides.
- First install the bottom container (sump) on bricks or blocks, leaving enough room to drain the liquid below. Choose a shady location for the worm farm (in a shed or garage, if subject to frost).
- The second and third bins are “nestled” inside each other and dropped into the sump bin. To maintain a working space for worms and compost buildup, you need some spacers or packers about six to eight inches high between the top two bins and some smaller packers about four inches in the bottom bin (sump). ). . You can use wooden blocks or sealed food jars for packers. The packers also prevent the tapered worm bins from getting stuck together.
- To prevent “nasty bugs” from getting between containers, you should close (caulk) the small space between them with strips of shade cloth or mosquito netting.
It is now ready to go into production. Space prevents us from giving fully detailed notes here on the details of the operation of the system, such as the choice and feeding of its worms, the eradication of pests and the maintenance of the worm farm, etc. You can visit our website for this information. However, just make sure you cover the following points:
- Place your worms in the top bin with a good fibrous (moist) bedding (or even shredded newspaper) and after a few days they will be ready to start feeding on your kitchen scraps. Cover the food with more bedding material to discourage pests, and keep the lid closed.
- Make sure the worm farm is never allowed to dry out by misting the bedding with water periodically, if there is still not enough moisture coming from food scraps.
- When the top bin has been fully productive for a while, the worms will multiply and compost will begin to build up from the worm castings. When the amount of compost is significant, stop putting feed into this bin and switch the top two bins by placing bin No. 2 on top of the pile, with bin No. 1 now in the middle. Set up this new top bin with clean bedding, a small amount of the old castings, and immediately start feeding it your kitchen scraps. The worms will naturally migrate to the new food source, leaving the bottom bin with just a few stragglers and ready to harvest your compost within about three weeks of swapping.
- All you need to do is keep repeating the process of alternating the top two bins regularly, scooping out the compost, whenever it accumulates, and emptying the worm tea once in a while. Use both products in your garden and grow delicious all-organic vegetables and stunning roses. Sit back and enjoy the fruit of your labor – your worms are doing most of the work anyway!
To see a detailed diagram of this simple worm farm, as described, and some illustrative photos, you can visit our website at http://www.working-worms.com/
Happy deworming!