We use the compost in everything we plant. We use it to amend new beds and old beds and we always have worms on hand to put in our container gardens and raised beds to help keep the soil alive and healthy.
First off and probably the number one plant loving worm factor is MORE NITROGEN! YAY!
Worms feed on plant debris (dead roots, leaves, grasses, manure) and soil. Their digestive system concentrates the organic and mineral compounds in the food they eat, so their castings are richer in available nutrients than the soil around them. Nitrogen in the castings is readily available to plants. Plus, worm bodies decompose rapidly, further contributing to the nitrogen content of soil.
Worms also help soil drain AND retain water more efficiently. They tunnel constantly acting like tiny little garden plows always turning and moving the soil around them while replenishing the nutrients with their castings as they go. Worm casting also retain moisture better than the soil around them.
Adding worms to an already established compost pile will speed the composting time tremendously!
Or you can create your own little worm haven and set up a worm bin for your little friends to call their own.
Worms love to eat all sorts of things Coffee grounds, veggie scraps and rabbit poop (big favorite!) are the primary foods we offer our worms. We keep a bucket in the kitchen to collect these things (ok , not the poop... that stays outside) and every other day or so we split the goods between the worms and the compost pile.
There are things you'll want to avoid feeding your worms because they can be too acidic or they can cause stink and invasions from other pests. Oils, dairy, meats and citrus are good examples of what to avoid.
The set up I'm going to share with you here is made entirely out of supplies I already had laying around the house and yard.Why buy new when you can reuse, right?
It was my first set up so it was a learning experience and I want to share the good and the bad about my impromptu design so you can learn from my mistakes as well as my sucesses!
This isn't a detailed set up that you need to be strict with. It's a guideline showing the basic components that help make worm composting easy!
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| I started with a large, old tote bin. The bin will need drainage so you'll have to drill a couple of holes in the bottom. In my case with this bin there were already cracks in the bottom. I made the cracks a little bigger and placed two upturned pots over them. Ideally, some screen or mesh would work better here, but I didn't have any at the time. The idea is to have proper drainage without the organic material and worms falling out. The pots worked OK, but I did have to check my catch bin underneath periodically for escaped worms. |
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| Here you can see how I took a smaller bin to use as a catch bin underneath to catch the nutrient rich drippings from above. I just used two boards to hold the larger bin. The downsides here were all made possible by the weight of the main bin itself. Over time the lower bin gave out and got crushed and lifting the heavy bin to retrieve the drippings got old, fast. But it worked in achieving the desired, basic set up! |
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| I put a nice, thick layer of leaves in the bottom that covered the pots then I cut some half rotted oak logs and lined the bin over top of the leaves. The idea here is to create a natural environment for the worms. They love all things rotten and decomposing, plus the logs provide air spaces and places for the worms to dig in and hide. On my second bin set up I used shredded junk mail within these layers. Great way to keep some garbage out of the landfills and the worms make surprisingly short work of paper products! |
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| you'll need to wet each layer a bit as you go. Worms need moisture, but flooding them out all at once can drown them, so it's better to maintain an overall moisture than to drench it at the end. |
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| This also provides an opportunity to check your drainage! |
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| The next layer should be a very thick layer of compost. If you don't have compost of your own, a store bought bag will do. Here I repeated the first two layers also, which was a bit of overkill with the second layer of logs but the worms really loved the extra logs so it wasn't a failure. The logs just made it difficult to dig out the compost/castings later on. But the worms were happy so no problem! Remember to water the layers as you go! |
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| And time for the WORMS! YAY!! I purchased these guys from a bait shop in town. It's very important to get worms that have been locally raised! For example, if you live in Florida like we do... don't purchase the worms that come out of a fridge! Those worms are most likely from Canada and will die in our hot climate. These worms are red wigglers and were raised in Arcadia, Fl so they're perfect! I started with about 40 worms. |
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| At the end, you'll want to add some food. Squishy things are good to start with like banana peels and rotten or baked sweet potatoes. Cover them slightly with a layer of the compost to avoid too many flies. Don't add a ton of food, just a few things to get them started. The worms will be able to feed on the compost as well so until they've had a chance to reproduce and get their business going just start them slow. |
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| Ad a layer of paper to help retain moisture and keep the flies out. This paper will decompose pretty quick so you'll need to replace it periodically. The a lid that allows ventilation... like this broken one. They don't need a ton of ventilation but don't use an airtight container unless you can open it up several times a day EVERY day to let fresh air in. |
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| Put your bin in a shady area to keep it from getting too hot. Also, if you live in a freeze prone area you'll need to be able to move your bin inside during the winter months. |
This set up lasted a solid year for me before it broke down beyond repair. What I learned from it was that I needed screen in the bottom to keep the worms in and the drainage flowing. Most importantly I learned that I needed a solid base for the main bin with an easily removable try to catch the drippings underneath...
So here's Cheri's worm bin 2.0:
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| My good man build me a simple stand for the heavy bin out of wood we found along side the road so now instead of lifting the bin to retrieve the drippings, I just pull the drawer out... and it really is a drawer! Another trash picked / repurposed item. The whole thing stands less than 4 feet high and our worms are thriving in their new home! |
How we harvest our castings is easy... we'll go a week or so without feeding the worms and scoop out the compost (making sure it's free of food scraps), often times worms and all, and add them to the garden, to potted plants and to the compost bin. As for the drippings ... we collect those after "weatering" our worms. We water them gently once in a while to keep them moist. Only about a half gallon gently sprinkled over top. We use about a cup or so per gallon of fresh water to water on and around plants. This actually helps keep pests and diseases at bay too! I don't recommend using the full strength drippings as they can potentially be too strong for tender plants.
As with so many things, sometimes it's best to just dive in and work out the details as you go along. Worm composting is a fantastic addition to any organic garden! The benefits are almost endless and it's a really great project to do with kids!
So gather your supplies and have a go! let me know what your worm bin looks like and the materials you used!
I spent about 4 dollars on the worms themselves and that was it. Everything else was 100% repurposed! with a little time and some thinking outside the box you can pull off a lot of garden projects with nothing out of pocket!
If you're a local to Sarasota county and you need worms, I can totally hook you up!
Good luck!
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