One of my latest projects was building a vermicompost bin. Vermicomposting is composting using the aid of worms to speed up the process. It is a great way for an apartment dweller to do some composting without the turning or the smell. If done correctly the worms turn the compost for you, and you are left with their castings which are a highly sout after fertilizer for gardens. I used the design from this great web-site. I would highly recommend visiting it and building one of these very simple bins using rubbermaid containers.
I have to admit that I tried this a little over a year ago and it was a horrible failure. I did not do nearly the research that I should have, and I was never able to harvest the castings without taking the worms along with it. I wish that I had found this website before then.
The kind of worms that you use for composting are called “red wigglers” . They live near the surface and are typically found in things like rotting manure. We found the ones that we used in an area off the horse paddock where there was lots of rotting manure. But if you don’t feel like digging through poop to get the worms you can always order them. Just search the internet. There are several suppliers that will ship you worms.
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- The worm bin is propped up to allow ventilation through the holes in the bottom and to catch the worm “juice” which can be used as a very potent fertilizing spray.
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- The worms in their new home ready to feast on our food scraps
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- Shredded newspaper makes a great bedding for the worms. They will eventually turn this and the food scraps into high quality fertilizer.
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- Worms, just dug out of some horse manure.
fourmaplesfarm 