Update: Worm Bins- Part 2
One of many things we want to try this coming year is a worm bin. Why? Worms can turn kitchen scraps, newspapers, and cardboard into worm castings aka fertilizer. Who wouldn’t want to turn would-be waste into a useful garden additive and save money by not buying extra fertilizer. Sounds like quite a deal to me!
According to Making It: Radical Home Ec for a Post-Consumer World worm castings are not very high in nitrogen. This means though that it won’t burn your plant roots.
So, what are the steps to building a worm bin. Well, after much reading it seems there are several different ways to get the job done. You can even buy a worm bin composter. But in this instance we’re going over steps to make your own using a plastic tote. There are several sources out there with different ideas on how to make one – again, this isn’t the only way to do it. To make this bin you will need:
- A plastic tote with a lid, not see-through, any size
- Newspaper (not the shinny stuff), cardboard (corrugated not paper coated)
- A few cups of regular soil
- Power drill or hammer and nails to make holes in tote
- Worms
- Most sources mention two types of worms you can use for your bins: Red worms (Lubricous rubellas) and Compost worms (Eisenia fetida). Both types originate from Europe but can now be found in most areas of the world where the environment is suitable for them to live. They generally live in the top 12 inches of the soil and prefer temperatures between 50 and 75 degrees, otherwise they will try to leave the area.
- Red worms or the “red earthworm” is redish-brown and lives in moist, light organic matter.
- Compost worms have many common names like red wiggler and redworm. They can be red, purple or tiger striped in color. They prefer compost and manure piles and are typically the ones sold for worm bins.
- Along the top edges of the bin, below the lid, make a row or two of holes for air. Worms need fresh air but don’t like light so don’t make them so big there is a bunch of light going in or escape holes for your worms. If you’re worried about the worms escaping you can put some screen over the holes.
- Make sure the newspaper is shredded into fine pieces or stripes. Also tear up the cardboard. Then wet the newspaper and cardboard so it’s damp, not soggy. You don’t want standing water inside the bin! You want to end up with 4-6 inches of newspaper inside the bin along with some cardboard.
- Put 2 cups of soil in the bin on the newspaper and mix together. The soil aids in worm digestion.
- Put your worms in and cover with a little bit of newspaper to get them out of the light.
- The amount of ‘food’ they need depends on many things like the amount of worms, type of worms, newness of the bin, etc. So start with a cup of food buried under the newspaper in a corner and go from there (see below for what they eat). If there is too much food it could attract unwanted flies and other bugs. The worms will eat the newspaper/cardboard if there isn’t enough other food, and eventually they will eat everything, but you don’t want them trying to leave in search of other food. In a couple days you can check what you left to see if it is being eaten, and add more from there. Place new food at a different spot in the bin so the worms will move throughout the bin and not cram to one corner for food.
- Once everything is set, cover the bin and put it in your designated area. Remember, worms like a temperature between 50 and 75 degrees and no direct light to be happy, otherwise they might want to leave.
What Worms Eat:
- Coffee grounds, tea leaves, fruit (NOT citrus), crushed eggshells, vegetables, cooked grains, oatmeal, bread and pasta
Worms DON’T Eat:
- Citrus fruit, dairy, oils, salty foods, sugar, vinegar
Maintenance
In the beginning you will need to make sure the bin environment doesn’t become too dry. If needed spray the paper with some water to maintain a damp, NOT wet, environment for your worms.
Over time as more castings are added to the bin there shouldn’t be a need for more water since castings retain their moisture. You may have a problem with too much moisture. If the worms are trying to escape or are staying at the edge of the bin, you need to dry it out. Add some fresh DRY newspaper and mix it around. Read the bottom of this page for other troubleshooting ideas.
How to harvest and start new
According to this page (from the Making It book, see above), once the bin starts looking more black than anything else, aprox 2 months after starting, you can start taking out the castings. A suggested method is to put something they really like, like squash, in a corner of the bin so the worms will migrate over to it. After a few days you can start removing the contents from the other side without losing a lot of worms.
A suggested maximum depth of material is 6-8 inches, otherwise you run the risk of having too much water accumulate, creating problems. If this looks like not enough area for all of your worms, you have a lot of worms and it is time to start another bin. If you don’t want multiple bins you can give worms to friends to start their own, go fishing, or whatever works for you. Just remember if you ordered your worms and don’t live in Europe, the worms (probably) are not native to your area, so you might not want to put them in your yard.
As I said in the beginning, this is a New Year’s goal for us, we haven’t made a bin yet. We’ve just been doing some research for now. Once we have one up and going I’ll update this with some pictures on how it is working 🙂
== UPDATE: ====
Worm Bins- Part 2
1/14 – We have our worms enjoying their new home. We received them last week on a very cold day. I have to say they didn’t look very well when I first saw them. But considering a few days trip through the mail system without food or water it was to be expected I guess. The instructions that came with them said to immediately give them some water which helped a few of them start looking more lively. They were semi-dry and needed the moisture to get going again. After making the bin we dumped them in and left them alone for the night. The next day there were worms all over the sides of the bin trying to escape! I had added too much water to the bedding, so we tore up more newspaper and set a big pile on top, dry. A few hours later they were still happy. The next day we didn’t have any trying to escape, so we’re on our way to having compost I guess. 🙂
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