Warning readers: if you don’t like pics of worms don’t scroll down.
The other day a lovely lady gave me her former worm compost bin complete with worms!! I have to say I was so touched by this gesture. We met for coffee one day and I asked her six million questions about worm composting. I took oodles of notes. I guess she sensed my insane curiosity.
I first learned about worming from former neighbors who in retirement bought a farmette and started worm farming. I had never heard of such a thing!
Worms eat your kitchen scraps, digest it, break it down and that becomes worm castings. This worm waste is a profound rich natural fertilizer. COOL.
Later, I read about worming at No Impact Man’s Blog. Once I saw his documentary and actually saw his apartment worm bin I added the idea to my own green list of things to do.
As luck would have it I met Eco- Consultant Rebecca Rossi and here I am now sharing my own very worm bin reality!
I must admit to worm composting ignorance right now
I now have this bin, gifted so generously and I have followed all her directions but past that I have no idea what’s next. I mean the worms will eat and digest my scraps, make worm castings and there will be some “tea” in the bottom of the second bin. Both will be useful in my garden here!
Sounds good to me!!
Below are the details of the gift she brought me:
Here is the set up:
One bin with a lid, set inside another bin.
Top bin is for the worms, bottom bin is to catch the tea.
The holes drilled in on the sides are for aeration. You aerate the top bin. The one with all the worms and veggie scraps in it. More on that below
These are inserted into the holes of my top bin for aeration ( what these actually are…I have no idea – i have to ask becca again)
cans filled with rocks are placed in all four corners of the bottom bin
this lifts the top bin from the bottom bin
a spigot was added to the bottom bin for easy tea dispensing. tea is the moisture created from the entire process
holes are drilled in the bottom of the top bin, this is so the tea can drip to the bottom bin
landscaping fabric covers these holes so the worm can’t get through.
Rebecca had me shredd an entire newspaper
wet it and and place it on top of the landscape fabric
she harvested worms from her own successful home made worm bin and brought them in this container – i love the holes in the lid so the worms can breathe
add the worms to the top of the wet shredded newspaper — oh my gosh look at how many worms!!! aren’t they great?
I added my veggie scraps from the soup I made.
Voila! I am worm composting!!
Rebecca got her worms from Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm
I have had a worm house for 2 or 3 years now. One year all my friends died due to extreme weather but this past winter we invested in a very small heater to help that situation. This spring I checked out how they were doing and over winter my population went from a few hundred to what I am guessing is millions and now the casting production is so fast! I have a 25′ x 55′ garden that is being fertilized this year by them. Love the worms they are great!
brandy – i am so glad you shared this positive story. rebecca shared that she also used a heater. right now i have my bin in a three season porch so i can observe it a bit, for the summer i am thinking that I’d like the bin outside and then i’d bring it into the basement for the winter. my garden here won’t be nearly as big as yours but i am excited to see how it all goes – thanks for the comments.
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wanted to know sources of raising fund.
not sure what you are asking?
You should mix that leachate with a little of the castings to make worm “tea”. As the leachate could be anaerobic (no oxygen) it’s best to bring oxygen into it for 24 hours and then use on your plants. This explodes the micro-organism populations and can be used as a foliar spray on leaves or as a soil drench. Anyway, I would not use the leachate plain.