Worm Farms

A worm farm is really just a self contained system that breaks down inorganic rubbish (kitchen/garden waste etc) into a very nutrient rich compost-like substance. The worms digest the food and plant materials and produce worm castings and worm tea which can both be used as fertiliser for your garden.

Worm bins can be brought at hardware stores or garden centres, or you can make your own from an existing container or from recycled materials. Commercial bins often have a tap for collecting the “Worm Tea” to use on your garden.

Making your own worm farm

What you will need:

  • Three or four old car tyres
  • Old phone books
  • About 35-40 newspapers
  • Old carpet or a sack
  • Corugated iron- approximately 60cm x 60 cm
  • Old polythene to cover the corrugated iron
  • A lid ( example: a piece of board with a brick on it)
  • A container to catch the worm tea

Instructions:

  • Soak the newspapers thoroughly in water and stuff them 1 piece at a time into the sides of the tyres.
  • Cover the corrugated iron with the polythene and raise one edge of the iron slightly using the old phone books.
  • Cut out a piece of carpet the same size as the tyre and join them together.
  • Put the bottom tyre on top of the carpet and add some bedding material (eg: soil, peat, straw or compost) and the worms. You can also add 1-2 handfuls of course sand to help the worms to grind their food.
  • Stack the other tyres on top and position the container so that it catches the worm tea as shown in the diagram. Your worm farm is now complete.
  • Make sure that you feed your worms regularly and always keep the mixture moist to touch. The worm farm should be positioned away from the afternoon sun and with some protection from heavy frosts in winter.

Species of Worms

Two species of worms are especially suited to composting; these are either tiger or red worms. The worms can be brought from worm farmers (look up worm farms in the yellow pages) or collected from compost or manure heaps, manure heaps. You will need appox 450g (1000 worms) to start your worm farm. These can process up to 225g (about a quarter of an ice cream container) of food scraps a day. The worms will also eat more if the food waste is mashed, blended or processed. In ideal conditions the worm population will increase steadily, doubling every 40 days or so. The baby worms, however, won’t eat much and will take about 3 months to mature.

Worm Feeding

Worms like:

  • Vegetable and fruit peels
  • Tissues, paper and cardboard (Soak these before adding to the bin)
  • Coffee grounds and tea bags
  • Hair
  • Egg Shells
  • Wood ash
  • Bread

Worms Don’t like:

  • Citrus or acidic fruit- lemons, oranges, kiwifruit (OK in small quantities)
  • Onion and garlic
  • Spicy foods
  • Meat and dairy products
  • Large quantities of grass clippings- can overheat your worm farm.

Worm Products

  • Worm juice (Worm tea)- This is very high in nutrients and can be used as a liquid fertiliser by diluting it with 10 parts water. This can then be used on your house plants or garden.
  • Worm Castings (Compost)- This can be mixed with soil or potting mix and used as mulch.
  • More Worms! Over time your worm population will multiply and then you can give them away to friends to start their own worm farm.
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