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Making Dirt – Part 2
This is part two of a two part post on compost.
Read part one – DIY kitchen compost bucket – here
That’s what we’re gonna call it. “I Got Worms!” We’re gonna specialize in selling worm farms. You know, like ant farms. ~ Lloyd Christmas
This quote from Dumb and Dumber was basically the same direct and hilarious approach I used when proposing our soon to be “Worm Farm” to my wife. As you can imagine, she reacted with a sobering degree of skepticism – as any other sane woman may do when presented with the notion of her husband running a “Worm Farm” out of their garage.
To bring her along, like with many of my ideas, I simply had to explain the plan in detail, assure her that I was not going to quit my job to run the worm farm, let it marinate for awhile… then begin construction.
A Vermicomposting Worm Farm
Why in the heck would anybody want to make their own vermicomposting worm farm? Well, I’m glad you asked…
Wikipedia defines “verimicomposting” as follows:
Vermicompost, is composting utilizing various species of worms, specifically red wigglers, white worms, and earthworms creating the heterogeneous mixture of decomposing vegetable or food waste, bedding materials, and pure vermicast produced during the course of normal vermiculture operations. Vermicast, similarly known as worm castings, worm humus or worm manure, is the end-product of the breakdown of organic matter by the species of earthworm.
Containing water-soluble nutrients and bacteria, vermicompost is an excellent, nutrient-rich organic fertilizer and soil conditioner. The process of producing vermicompost is called vermicomposting.
This article is also a follow up on a promise I gave to several FiveCentNickel readers in my “Breaking Free From a Culture of Temptation” article a few months back. I promised I would write a post detailing how I constructed my very own vermicomposting worm farm for very little money. In the original article I mentioned how I was tempted to purchase a vermicomposting bin rather than make my own. Here is the snippet from the original article:
A store-bought vermicomposting bin ($130)Instead of buying one, I decided to make my own. I spent just a fraction of what I would’ve paid in the store ($22), and it works great. I hope to put together an article about this soon.
Making my own vermicomposting worm farm — in order to enjoy the benefits of the nutrient rich soil — was very easy, inexpensive, and fun. In my opinion, it is always an awesome thing to save a boat-load of money AND enjoy the feeling of building something yourself. As I mentioned in my DIY kitchen compost bucket article, not everyone is into building things themselves. If that sounds like you then I recommend purchasing one of these two prefabricated vermicompost systems:
Prefabricated vermicompost bins
- The $130 option – The famous “Can-O-Worms” has a multi-level design that’s easy to assemble, easy to use, and can be kept both indoors or outdoors.
- The $100 option – The Worm Factory employs a tray system that automatically separates food scraps from finished compost. This system can also be used indoors or outdoors.
If I were not on a staunch mission to destroy my debt as soon as possible I would have probably went with one of the above systems, but instead I opted once again for the DIY route! Prices posted were taken at the time of writing.
My Frugal DIY Vermicompost Bin
The $21 option – Here are the actual costs and necessary parts for making a vermicomposting worm farm for just $21:
- 2 dark, plastic, non-transparent 10 gallon storage bins – cost = $7
- A drill with 1/4″ and 1/16″ bits
- Shredded paper – I use a mix of paper from my shredder and newspaper
- Red wriggler worms – I bought a pound from a local source I found on craigslist.org – cost = $15
- 4 equally sized blocks
1. Start with your parts and tools (my worms are in the coffee can)
2. Drill 20+ 1/4″ holes on the bottom of both bins – for drainage and worm travel
3. Drill 1/16″ holes along the side of both bins, near the top. Then drill 30+ 1/16″ holes in the top lid of ONE of the bins (not both)
4. Place bedding in ONE bin only (leave other bin empty) – mix shredded paper with a shovel full of black dirt and spray with enough water to lightly dampen
5. Add your pound of worms and stir it all up. Cover mixture with damp piece of cardboard then place the empty bin on top of the cardboard and cover with the ventilated lid. Place the non-ventilated lid upside-down, position your 4 blocks on top of it, then place the bins atop the blocks like so
Some Detailed Info on our Worm Farm
The Jabs Worm Farm Inn has been successfully operating in our garage for over two full months now!
We keep our DIY kitchen compost bucket under our kitchen sink until it is full, at which time we feed the worms by emptying the contents into the worm farm. Be sure to bury your food scraps so you do not attract gnats and other flies.
We only put organic food scraps in so that our soil can remain free of chemical pesticide residue. We are also careful in maintaining the balance of proper moisture in the bins. You do this by adding more shredded paper when the mixture gets too wet. You will know things are too moist if you start to notice odor or gnats.
Once the bottom bin is full you can simply start a new mixture in the top bin. Don’t worry about adding more worms, once they have exhausted their food supply in the bottom bin, they will naturally migrate up into the top bin through the 1/4″ holes you provided them.
Any excess “worm tea” will drain through the 1/4″ holes in the bottom bin and will collect on the upside-down lid. Once a good amount of liquid accumulates on the lid I simply dump this tea into a container and dilute with water and use to water the plants in my garden. It is a very powerful natural fertilizer.
For more detailed information about red wriggler worms and vermicomposting systems in general visit this informative article on Composting with Redworms.
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I built one about 2 years ago and those red wigglers can do work! Mine’s a huge plywood box that we keep outside. One of these days I’ll actually remove some of the dirt. One thing I don’t like is that the Potato bugs moved in a while back so it’s kind of gross to open the lid. One of the disadvantages of having it outside. I have been able to combat that when I’m doing some woodworking I throw some Cedar Sawdust on top of my pile and it drives out the bugs they hate it, Worms don’t seem to mind. Also don’t throw onions in there the worms hate them, and if you put pumpkins in there they won’t eat the seeds.
BTW if anyone is looking to buy some red wigglers I have 9 million.
.-= Paul @ FiscalGeek´s last blog ..How to Run Your Personal Finances Like a Fortune 500 Company =-.
I’m glad you mentioned the onions; we had been putting them in but will leave them out from here forward. I wonder if we used them to cook vegetable stock, then added them to the vermicompost?
Hi Paul,
I live in Houston, Texas and I’m ready to start composting with the ‘worms’. I would love some of your worms and would certainly be glad to send you shipping cost to get them here. I probably don’t need many to get started right? How fast to they multiply?
Thanks
Kelly (Houston, TX)
I can tell you one thing – I would have never thought of doing this if you didn’t write this post. I still am not sure how much I want a “worm farm” in my house, but I suppose it’s always good to be exposed to new ideas.
.-= David@DINKS Finance´s last blog ..Credit Card "Convenience" Checks =-.
Hee hee! It is an excellent way to speed up the natural “composting” process and is also a great way to “be green” by recycling so much more of your waste. We don’t keep ours in the house (it’s in the garage), but a lot of people do. If they are maintained properly there is little to no smell.
OK ~ this may be a dumb question… but does the actual compost filter down to the lower bin? Or? I’ve never seen a worm farm, so I’m unfamiliar with the process (though I am definitely aware that worms can increase the decomposition of food into soil, and help aerate soil, etc.). Also, do you chop up your food scraps pretty fine, or leave them chunky, or?? Like do you throw whole banana peels in there, or what?
This really has me thinking, because I live in the Phoenix area, and it is literally TOO HOT for outdoors compost bins, which makes me sad… Even my 12yo recently commented, as he was helping me prepare veggies for dinner, that it’s a bummer that we can’t compost! But, I think we have room in the corner of our laundry room for a reasonably sized worm farm, like you’ve illustrated.
.-= Karen Joy´s last blog ..Our weekend (or, The Pack Rat Adventure) =-.
Great questions as usual Karen (no questions are dumb)!
Let me see…
No, the compost does not filter down – you actually use both bins for compost collection. You simply fill up the bottom bin first and cover it with an empty top bin (to cover the compost – worms like dark.) When the bottom bin is full you simply start filling the top bin w/new rubbish. When worms are done feeding on and breaking down the food in the bottom bin, they will naturally crawl up through the holes we drilled in the base of the top bin. Eventually they will all make their way up to where the food is. Once they all migrate to the top bin, the bottom bin is ready to go in your garden soil.
Per the food scraps, I leave them whole BUT some people chop and even blend them up for FASTER breakdown. I will probably start doing this in the future, but wanted to see how long it would take the worms to breakdown the whole pieces.
Hope this helps… cheers!
I actually DO think there are dumb questions! I mean, questions that show no thought… Or, maybe those are lazy questions more than “dumb.” But, that’s another story altogether.
Just to clarify (again), do the worms eat through the damp cardboard before they crawl up? Or, do you have to regularly replace the damp cardboard? And if so, how do they crawl from the covered area into the top bin?
And, you empty your compost container into the bottom bin? Like, remove the top bin, remove the cardboard, dump the material to be composted, then put it all back together?
Now I’m feeling badly, because maybe I should just Google or check Wikipedia, rather than taking up your time!!
.-= Karen Joy´s last blog ..Our weekend (or, The Pack Rat Adventure) =-.
No, worms eat right through the cardboard – and I actually stopped using that and now just put extra shredded paper on top (either works, just some top paper layer to keep flies out).
Both bins have holes drilled into the bottoms, so the worms can always crawl up.
You start out filling the bottom bin, and just placing the empty bin directly on top of the bottom bin (like in the last pic). Then, once your bottom bin is full of rubbish… you just leave it in there and start filling the top bin. The worms will automatically crawl up through the holes when they’re done w/the food in the bottom bin (at which time you can just remove the bottom bin, empty it in the garden, then place it – now empty – on top of the other bin).
Does that explain it?
Awesome post Matt, I’m working on an old dead upright freezer for a bin, its going to be laid down like a chest freezer. Its coming prolly later in the fall, when im done i’ll post some pixs at my site. Again thanks for the great info, I poked around your site for quite a while, it looks good!
Jon
.-= JonH´s last blog ..Whats Up With Worms? =-.
Here’s another question that might fall into the “dumb” category, but here goes… If you drill 1/4″ holes in the bottom of both bins for worm travel, won’t the worms just as easily crawl out through the bottom bin onto the drainage lid? Wouldn’t it be wiser to make the holes in the bottom bin the 1/16″ size?
Of course a “smart” worm would stay where it’s food is, but I don’t think all worms are that smart. Or there might be the more adventurous ones that suffer from “greener-pastures” syndrome….
Just wondering.
Ha ha, that’s not a dumb question Michelle… in fact I had the same question when I started. As you suspected, the worms could crawl out if they wanted to, but they stay inside because that is where the food is!
Karen Joy,
Composting in the Phoenix area is possible if you have the room. Skip the bins and just dig a pit or trench 3 foot wide by one foot deep using the dirt from the hole to make a berm another foot high. Load your pile up another foot above the rim before letting it cook. Keep it moist but not soggy wet and turn it once a week for aeration.
this is really cool!
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