Making the Worm Bin Part 1

Part of my worm bin composter is finished.  This really is a very simple project that anyone can do at home.  To complete this part of the composter it only took about 30 minutes which also included the time to gather the materials and to put them away.  Since the weather outside this week is terribly cold this makes a good indoor project to help ease that gardening itch.


I found the basic idea at the Washington State University Extension service.  Their site demonstrates a two tray compost bin but if you look the commercially available worm compostering systems have 3-5 expandable sections.  I decided to start small and I prepared three plastic containers. The total cost of these was around $15-$18.  Your cost may vary due to your local taxes, our sales tax in TN is higher than most.

I followed the instructions and used a 1/4 inch bit to drill about 20 holes in the bottom of the three containers.  This was easy work but tedious when you consider that I drilled somewhere around 60 holes between the three boxes.

The next step was to take a 1/16 inch bit and drill in air holes around the tops of the containers.  Just like us the worms have to breathe!  I drilled two rows of air holes along the top.  I wasn't sure how many to holes to make.  In the end I probably drilled 30 or more air holes on each side of the containers.

The last step in this part of the process was ventilating the top lid.  I used the 1/16 inch size bit and drill a bunch of holes.  Bunch is a technical term that really means "I have no clue since I didn't count but it seemed like a lot."

Here's how they will fit together.  One bin on top of the other.  These particular containers will hold up to 10 gallons of compost and worms.  Once the worms finish with the yummy compost in the bottom bin they will work their way up to the next bin by traveling through the 1/4 inch holes.  Then I can remove the bottom container and allow the second bin to take its place.  Each week to week and a half our family produces enough green compostable kitchen scraps to fill a 3 gallon nursery pot.  I'll give the worms what we can then put the rest in our backyard compost bin. 

I need to rig up a way to catch the liquid runoff from the worm bin.  That will be my next project with the worm bin but it will have to wait until warmer weather.  The garage is just too cold to work in right now!

Of course you could always try the store bought worm bins but the homemade kind will definitely save you money and should be just as effective!

Worm Bins for Vermicomposting

In order to raise worms for worm composting (vermicomposting) you have to have a place to put the worms and the kitchen scraps. There are all kinds of composting bins that can be effective but they all work on the same idea. A box houses the worms, kitchen scraps, and bedding. As the worms eat they make their way through the box creating castings. If the composter is a tray system (like the examples in the pictures) the worms will finish in one tray then work their way into the next tray. The finished tray can then be cleaned out and the compost used in the garden or used to make compost tea. It's a pretty creative system. Simple and efficient!



The bins even have a valve at the bottom to let out the liquids. You can use that liquid to water plants.



So which of these choices will I pick?


The answer is none of the above! There's a cheaper way to do it that just takes a little assembly. Take a look here at Washington State University's Extension Service's instructions on how to build a homemade worm bin. I have a few ideas to add to my worm bin that I'll share as I begin the worm bin assembly process!

If you want more information about the worm compost bins above click on the pictures to see the details at Amazon.

Earthworm Superheroes

Several years ago I used to watch a cartoon called Earthworm Jim. (Yes I'll admit I watched cartoons in college!) It was based on a video game that I never played but I guess was somewhat popular at the time.  In the cartoon Earthworm Jim was a space traveling superhero worm valiantly ridding the universe of bad guys like Professor Monkey-For-A-Head and Evil the Cat.  Great names for super villains don't you think?  While inside his suit he could accomplish everything a normal person could.  He had arms and legs and carried a laser gun.  OK maybe normal people don't carry laser guns but I think you get the point.  Earthworm Jim, along with the Tick (another super-silly superhero cartoon about a super strong yet dimwitted superhero dressed in blue) was just a humorous work of fiction, after all earthworms aren't superheroes right?  Of course they are!

Earthworms are the superheroes of the garden. They are planet Earth's composters taking organic materials and turning them into something even better than gardener's gold, worm poop!  Worm poop, also known as worm castings and vermicompost, has so many beneficial microbes inside that it is like compost on steroids.  The bacteria in the castings coming out is in a much greater quantity than the material that went in and that is great news any plant lucky enough to have the castings spread near them.  The castings also act as a great soil conditioner improving the moisture holding capacity of the soil. By using worm castings you are feeding the soil not the plant which is exactly what you are supposed to do.  The plants take the nutrients from the soil whereas the synthetic water soluble magic blue colored water will get your plants drunk on artificial nutrients and deposit salts into the soil.  Salt isn't good for plants! 

I've decided to give worm composting a try.  There are fancy worm composters you can purchase online through various retailers at a range of prices but there are also some inexpensive options out there.  I hope you'll follow along on yet another of my gardening projects over the next couple of weeks: Vermicomposting!