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
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!”
It was another hot-n-dry week here in Central Missouri. We got 3/10” overnight - not even enough to knock the dust down.
Slept late this morning, going to the racetrack tonight.
Gardening tomorrow.
We were gifted with 4 flats of flowers. Don’t know what the white ones are. Sun or shade, perennial or annual. Help would be appreciated.
Another week in the garden, another week added to your life! (Pretty sure thats how it works! :)
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The farm store has those 15 gallon tank sprayers on sale again and I’m thinking I should get another because as the seasons change, so does store stock and pricing. They have a bunch now but towards winter will probably only keep a couple in stock but never go on sale, until next Spring. By then, the base price will probably be higher.
Reg price now is $80 and sale price $60. Next year? Reg $95 and sale $75 ??
Oh how I wish I had room for a compost bin. The landlord said no and I have to go by their rules. Happy Fourth of July!
Our little two day trip late last week had two bad consequences:
Our last layer of really jumbo eggs, an ISA Brown, got bound up & couldn't pass an egg and is now dead. I've harvested her & she'll be supper tomorrow. ISA Browns are the only breed that's given us this trouble - 3 of them so far... I guess there's a price for the birds themselves for those big brown eggs in quantity.
And... the half dozen butterfly weeds I had FINALLY got going in good shape got attacked by some sort of little tent caterpillars that are about 1/2" long. Maybe the caterpillars get bigger - don't know - but they did a number on the butterfly weeds. I expect half to not survive, but, we'll see. I didn't mess around with the caterpillars: They got a heavy dose of Sevin spray about 7 minutes after I noticed them, and another a couple hours later. (I usually only use Sevin spray in dire circumstances, and this was one!)
I've set up some leaf lettuce in a little used back basement room, under a grow light and we'll see how those plants do. Temps down there average 68-70 deg. F -- I guess we'll see if that's cool enough...
That Burpee seed starter soil I've been using -- unsuccessfully in a few cases -- talk about retaining moisture! In the case of the Bok Choy I was trying to start it's been 2 weeks since I watered it - I thought - moderately. This was for seeds I was starting in re-used 6-packs (the 6-packs originally had small tomato plants in them, long since transferred with all their original soil to the garden.) Anyway, one tiny Bok Choy is trying to grimly hang on in the 6-pack I was starting them in from seed almost 2 months ago. I thought "surely this needs watering by now." Nope - not only did the soil feel damp, I could squeeze out a little water between my thumb and forefinger, squeezing firmly. Amazing...
The (Wisconsin) Canary Bird zinnias are blooming - definitely a bright spot in the garden!
So “steamy” with heat/humidity - miserable to do much of anything outside. Grass needs mowing, but I will tackle that this weekend. At 7:30 this morning, I watered the garden well - still need to do the boxwoods probably, but they catch water off the roof where they are planted and I need to get under the pine mulch & see just how much moisture is in the dirt. The hydrangeas wilt every morning in the sun & as soon as the shade gets to them around 2 pm or earlier, they perk right up. My SIL’s hydrangea did this the first year after it was transplanted so I am not too worried about them.
Not ready for fall, but some lower humidity ‘fallish’ weather would be mighty nice - current trend of hot & humid is forecast to continue for a good while, so I’m just dreaming about friendlier temps.
We just had a T-storm dump about 3/8th inch of rain. Still raining lightly, so it may end up closer to half an inch. Of course, I did a major watering yesterday....
What I love about this time of year is having enough of something coming in from the garden to make a meal. I am overflowing with Giant Marconi peppers, so tonight is “Unstuffed Pepper Casserole” to use them up. The recipe calls for a pound each of ground pork & ground beef .... pork is from a relative’s regenerative farm & the beef is (grassfed) Butcher Box. I upped the spices a bit - pretty tasty & once cheese is melted on top .... yum! :-)