Posted on 07/01/2023 5:40:09 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
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Worm Composting 101: How to Make a Simple Worm Bin
Wonderful wiggling worms are the starting point for healthy soil and can create truly awesome compost. Put worms to work in your garden by making your own wormery. It’s easy and will yield nutritious worm compost to enrich your soil. In this short video, we’ll show you how to make a wormery.
A wormery (or worm composter) is an inexpensive project that will produce nutrient-rich compost and liquid fertilizer. Wormeries don’t smell, are great for small gardens, and are a fun way for kids to learn about composting.
Make a Simple Wormery
A wormery is made up of at least two compartments. The bottom compartment collects any liquid that is produced. The top compartment is where the worms live and eat, and is also where your compost will be made. Using three trays instead of two makes it easier to collect the worm compost. Your wormery will also need a lid to prevent it from drying out, or flooding during rain.
The trays we’re using are 16x20in and 8in deep. You’ll also need a plastic faucet , a drill and drill bits.
Carefully cut or drill a hole in the bottom tray to fit the faucet snugly. Make the hole as low as possible in the tray so that liquid doesn’t pool in the bottom. Raise the wormery up on bricks to make it easier to drain the liquid if necessary.
In the top two trays, drill quarter inch holes about every two inches all over the base of both trays. The holes will allow the liquid produced by the worms to drip down into the collection tray at the bottom. Once a tray is full of worm compost, worms will migrate up through the holes into a new tray.
Drill a single row of holes near the top of both trays at the same size and spacing as above to improve ventilation.
Adding the Worms
Only use specific composting worms in your wormery. Most garden earthworms are slow at composting. You can order composting worms online.
Line the tray with a three-inch thick layer of bedding material such as dampened coir (coconut) fiber or good quality compost. Add your worms and they will soon bury themselves into their bedding. They spread a layer of kitchen waste on top—no more than a couple of inches thick to start with. You can also place a layer of burlap on top to keep your worms extra cozy. Leave the wormery for a week before adding any more food to allow the worms to settle into their new home.
Continues at:
https://www.almanac.com/video/worm-composting-101-how-make-simple-worm-bin
Happy gardening to all.
I am picking squash, tomatoes and peppers. My first year of picking tomatoes before the 4th of July (raised from seed). Buying tomatoes from the store with tomatoes on them already is cheating in my book. YMMV. My raised beds are enclosed with plastic fencing and yesterday I found a 4 foot water snake ensnared in it (dead). yucko. I have about 50 tomato plants and they are coming on meaning their will be some canning in my immediate future. They are mostly yellow and orange for low acid. We generally make salsa with it.
I'll start applying the deer repellent substances on the lawn
around the garden - and see how it goes this year.
Wish me luck!
.
Good job!
Decades ago my grandfather and great uncle would compete each
year at exactly that - who could harvest the biggest & ripest tomatoes
before the 4th.
Grandad usually won.
Me, this year - I got a late start - I'm still just looking at large acorn sized...
You’re lucky. We have deer that live in town all year, and they are a menace to life, limb, and property, including gardens.
There are a few tomato and potato plants (supposedly deer don’t like nightshades-HAH!) that have been trimmed by these long legged rats in my yard.
The worst part is that the deer got my 17” tall sunflowers, before they could even form a head. Of the 30 or so I have about 4-5 undamaged.
Managed to catch them before they damaged the peas. I’ll be planting a bunch more fennel and various mint family members next year fur certain!
One question: Why did my pennyroyal not show up at all? I planted a brand new, full package, and not one single seedling sprouted. I scattered the seed on the surface of a prepared bed, then lightly raked and watered. Everything else in that bed is doing well.
I started inside in March. As they got bigger I would doodle them outside (when it was warm and sunny) and back inside when it got dark (and cold). I planted May 6 this year as the nighttime temps were above 50* for the foreseeable future. You don’t want to shock them as it really slows them down. I fertilized every 2 weeks. Mine are the size of a doubled up fist. Hopefully some will get bigger.
Good Morning!
:-)
Deer don’t like strong scents.
I’ve read that planting fragrant plants like herbs and lavender, will help deter them.
Also, having a male member of the household provide urine for around the garden will work.
I put tomato cages around my peas and then wrap them in chicken wire.
It protects them some, but they will eat to the top of the chicken wire so you need to use fairly decent sized cages and enough height in the chicken wire to keep them from snacking on the tops of the plants where all the peas are being produced.
Deer also don’t like strong scented plants. I am mixing herbs like dill, oregano, thyme, and rosemary in with my plants.
We could be two or three States North of your location. So cheating is fairly common here. Not to mention that we have gone through two of the largest hail storms we have ever experienced in over forty years in South Dakota. Fortunately our two grape plants and one tomato were under the eve of the house and protected. The trees weren’t stripped but enough to fill the gutters with leaf and shingle gravel.
I would be interested to know if your raised beds are built by you and the composition and depth of them.
Lastly your home page is an indicator of just how active and fertile your mind is. Reality left behind. I couldn’t begin to compete, buy I can appreciate the effort. Certainly no relationship to your screen name.
First tomato was June 16. Giant Marconi peppers are coming in big time & I have bell and jalapeños as well. Loads of Dragon Egg cukes - disappointed at how ‘seedy’ they are, regardless of size. Diva cukes are producing - I found a recipe for a cucumber salad I really like (one for coleslaw, too). Purple dahlias have been blooming for a while - now pink & white have blooms, yellow buds are getting ready to go in the next day or so. Japanese beetles have arrived - eating dahlias & zinnias.
I had to get a new phone earlier this year after dropping mine & cracking the screen. I have accumulated tons of pics on the new phone & finally got them off yesterday. I will post links to the postimage albums for a couple of big projects this year; however, company will be here at 1:00 & I need to get going on straightening up the house etc. so as the saying goes “later ‘gator!”
Lots of foliage, but few flowers, but finally saw a couple bees! Thanks be to God for all.
Most water barrels are full, praise God. 
I bought several composite bed kits but it is time to replace them. They aren't built for the long term. My long bed is built from painted pressure treated 2 x 4s.
I will be replacing them with 10' x 3' corrugated panels and reinforced at corners and in the middle with all thread to prevent bowing (a problem with the composite kits).
I just love love love your pictures.
Man, you guys are harvesting already? Must be sweet living in God's country.
We did pull our garlic last week, sub-par harvest, but hey - garlic!
Strawberries are done, too - only got a couple of gallons this year - but a bumper crop of raspberries is still coming off of the bushes, so that's pretty sweet.
Also, I didn't get seed potatoes in time, (bummed) - but as I walked past the upper garden - tons of potato plants - I must have done a lousy job of harvesting last year. So it's just a matter of tossing soil on them every week or so.
It's just starting. 2 peppers, 4 tomatoes and 2 squash. Much more on the way. I had 50 tomato plants (from seed) and that's a lot of tomatoes. Tip of the iceberg so to speak.
We got an unexpected 1/2” of rain today! It. Was. Glorious! Just a staight-down soaker! You could literally hear the vegetation SIGHING with relief!
Then, of course, my internet went out, so I’ve been doing other stuff this morning like helping Beau pack up and load up for Bear Training Camp. He took all of our 9 bear dogs and is transporting two more for others, so a total of 11! The only dog left behind for me to tend was Emma Jolene who is a ‘coon dog - and she was not too happy to be left behind. He left about 11am and it’s nearly 2pm now and Emma is still on top of her doghouse howling, LOL!
So, I did NOT have to water my Kitchen Garden today - did the fruit trees and other yard trees that were stressed, yesterday. Not sure what to do with myself if I don’t have to drag around miles of garden hose! ;)
We put ‘Chuck’ in the pasture with 8 other Heifers - and even though he’s a monster with a 72” chest already, he’s smaller than ‘The Girls!’ The mule got moved to the shadiest, greenest part of the smaller pasture, so other than water, those two can pretty much fend for themselves, grazing. I do have the two Beagles and two cats and the puppy (another one to raise is coming my way, too!) and the two raccoon to care for so basically, I’m on VACATION with this reduced workload! Yippee! :)
Been harvesting zukes and the lettuce has come to an end. There are wild Black Cap Raspberries all OVER the place this season, so I’ve been picking and freezing. Elderberries are in bloom, so I’m picking some flower heads to dry for tea. Zinnia and Sunflowers are blooming for cutting and the roses are getting their second wind. I have more grapes on the vine than ever before, so it will be a good juicing season. Raspberries aren’t looking that great for some reason. The strawberry season was a total bust for me and local growers.
Working on my ‘Projects List’ to see what I can get done these next few weeks. Freezers need cleaning out, as does my pantry under the stairs (canning jars and prepping supplies) and I want to paint the laundry room/pantry and get that cleaned out to make room for my new stacking washer/dryer.
I watched a documentary called ‘The Minimalists’ the other day and I am REALLY in the mood now to clear the decks. My goal is One Cup, One Bowl, One Spoon - though I know I’ll never ever reach that, LOL!
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