Hello good people! I have finally gotten the video on worm farms done. How long ago did I promise that? Sheesh!
Anyway,
Here are is the how to of worm farming.
First, you will need several materials:
1. a dark rubbermaid type bin – the reason it should be dark is to keep excess light out. If you can’t find a dark bin, make sure you put lots of newspaper around the sides to keep it nice and dark inside. You may want to buy 2 bins (just one lid though) for reasons you will see in a minute. I have a 10 gallon bin. Much smaller than that, there may not be enough room but you shouldn’t really need to go bigger either.
2. WORMS!!! Don’t go out to your yard and dig up worms. You have to order them online or if you live near a farm that sells worms, you can go there and buy them. See step 4 for the name of the farm where I got my worms. The worms should be red worms, or red wigglers. They are the best kind because of their large appetites, ability to reproduce and control their own population and they thrive in small spaces. You can order right online and most breeders take paypal too and will answer any questions you may have.
3. Dirt – Not any old dirt will do. You should really use a dirt that is free from a lot of added chemicals so steer clear of shoveling dirt from your yard. However, the dirt sold at pet stores or hardware stores or from the farms that your worms are coming from is totally fine. ABout 2 lbs will do. This also depends on the size of your bin.
4. Newspaper – black and white newspaper is the best. If there is a little color, ok, but avoid the glossy ads and comics!
5. food – this can be anything from your kitchen that is starting to go bad or the rinds, pits and cut off bits that you don’t use
SETTING UP YOUR BIN
1. On the lid of your bin take a screwdriver or pen, whatever you have and punch holes in the top. You need enough to let in a tiny bit of light as well as air. Now, here is the reason to get 2 bins. On the bottom of one bin, punch small holes in it. These holes will allow excess liquid to run through and collect in the 2nd bin. **Now, you don’t have to buy 2 bins (they fit right into each other though, so don’t worry about space) but if you are only buying one bin, you will have to drain out excess liquids about once a week.**
2. Take 2 sheets of newspaper and soak them with water. They should not be dripping but moist enough to keep the worms hydrated. Lay these sheets right on the bottom of the bin. Next, take several sheets of newspaper and tear them into strips about 1/2 thick and about 6-9 inches long. Soak them in water and shake off excess. Put them aside.
3. Take the dirt you bought and put it into the bin. Next take those newspaper strips and mix them in with the dirt. Spread the dirt and newspaper mix along the bottom of the bin, over the sheets of newpaper.
4. Add your worms. I bought my worms through Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm in PA. They were very helpful in answering all the questions I had. I ordered the smallest amount I could – 500 worms. They are not very big worms so don’t worry about the number because they don’t take up that much space. Give them about half a glass of water to stay hydrated. Don’t pour it right over them, but sprinkle it over the whole bin.
5. Add your food. Worms can eat about half their body weight, so don’t worry about overfeeding them. However, do keep an eye on what they are eating. It’s an experiment at first. You will find that they may not like one thing or another, so play around with it a bit. Also, if you are adding foods such as eggshells, bread or meats, you will need to also give them water everyday – about half a glass sprinkled over the bin. This will keep them hydrated and the dirt moist, providing a cool place to live. If you add lots of produce don’t worry about water because there is so much water in the veggies and fruit already.
6. THIS IS SUPER IMPORTANT!! Don’t leave your worm bin just anywhere. Worms like cool, dark places. A basement, under a sink, in the back of a closet, these are just a few examples of good places to store your bins.If you put the bin outside, it needs to be in a place that is not always exposed to the elements – under a porch or patio for example.
Ok, that is it. Please email me with any questions you may have – emeline@thehpalliance.org and check out the video on youtube to see how I set my bin up!
Happy farming!!!
