When I was a kid, we always knew where we could find worms when getting prepared for a fishing trip. My childhood home, "The Ranch", had sinks that drained directly outside, and those constantly moist places were always full of worms. We'd go outside the back door off the kitchen, down the steps, and right there next to the fig tree dig a hole, load up our coffee can of worms and dirt, and off we'd go.
Lest you think this blog is about fishing, it's not. It's about worms. So if photos of those wiggly beasts give you the willies, you might want to stop reading now. Why am I interested in worms, you might ask? Because they're good for the garden! I noticed that my garden had very few worms, so I decided to create a worm farm of my own. This hobby is known as "vermiculture". There is also a term called "vermicomposting", which is the process of using red wiggler worms to turn compost into castings. What are castings, you ask? This is the soil, or "worm poop", excreted by the worms, which is much richer in nutrients than regular garden soil. For more info, check out this website.
Believe it or not, I had always lusted after the vermiculture kit sold at Harmony Farm Supply. This is my favorite farm store/nursery, which recently opened a branch in Petaluma. I was also inspired by a visit to my friend Lina, who was raising worms in her little backyard in Berkeley. This made me realize it was doable by the common man (or woman). Later that year, I added this to my birthday list. Alas, either the family thought I was kidding or they had better ideas, but I did not receive one. So I decided to build my own.
As everyone does these days when researching something, I turned to google. I watched several videos, and read up on the process. Then I went out, bought three bins with lids, combined it with the window screening, clear caulking and the use of the drill that I already had, and built my own. Inside, I layered dirt, shredded paper (wet and wrung out until it has the dampness of a wet sponge), and vegetable scraps. I went to the local bait store, bought "approximately 100 red wiggler worms" (what, they don't actually count them?), and dumped them in.
I thought of blogging about it then, but decided I better wait until I had more experience to make sure I knew what I was doing. And I also wondered "who the hecks cares about vermiculture?" but during my trip to Mary's last month I learned that SHE DOES, and when I mentioned it to my friend Fran she indicated interest too, so here we are. My original 100 worms have multiplied to well over 1000, so I think I'm onto something!
First of all, those videos.
This one tells you how to set up a 3-bin worm system. I used his guidance except I didn't bother with the cooler drain, I just unstack the bins and dump the liquid from the bottom bin into the garden occasionally. My bins were much smaller than the ones he shows, and I think they're too small. If I were to start over I'd get the bigger bins like he shows.
This one is good for knowing how to set up your worm beds, and how to feed them. Plus this guy has a delicious Australian accent.
If you're not the type to watch videos, I'll share what I learned here. First of all, the building process:
- You are supposed to use three bins, the bottom to collect the liquid, the middle where the castings are collected, and the top where you are actively feeding. Supposedly after the middle is full of castings, you stop feeding there and start feeding in the top bin and the worms "crawl up" and move in there. That didn't work so well for me (they seemed to stay in the middle bin), so I just have two bins full of actively feeding worms.
- The bottom bin has a large hole in the middle of the lid, covered in screen. This allows the liquid to drain out, but the screen keeps the worms from going through and drowning.
The middle bin has holes drilled in the bottom to let the liquid out.
If you'd like you can put the screening on the bottom of the middle bin instead of on the lid of the bottom bin, as long as there is a way to block the worms from going out the bottom of the middle bin into the lower one. In truth, my window screening isn't quite fine enough and I sometimes find small worms in the bottom bin. I haven't had a lot of drowned ones, though, so maybe they're smarter than we give them credit for! The middle bin also has a large hole in the top lid.
The top bin has holes drilled in the bottom, with no screening. This is supposed to let the worms crawl through from the middle bin to the top bin. As the "Epic Gardening" video says, if you stop feeding in the middle and start feeding them on top, they should crawl through leaving you worm-free soil full of castings to spread in your garden. In my case, they didn't seem to want to move out, but since I have so many I don't think it will be a problem to spread some worms with the castings.
- The top bin has holes drilled in the top to let air in (and moisture when it rains), and these holes are covered in screening. You do need to make sure your worms have air circulation, but ideally in such a way that other bugs can't easily get in.
You are supposed to cover the dirt with wet burlap, I think this keeps in moisture and keeps it dark. I didn't have any on hand, so initially I used wet muslin, and when that decomposed, I now use the top or bottom of egg cartons.
The initial load has garden soil layered with wet paper layered with vegetable scraps. You can either wet the whole thing (which I do if my soil is dry), or if it's already damp I just dampen the paper as I add it. Ideally, your paper is shredded and your vegetable scraps are small. As one of the videos says "worms have little mouths" so they can compost much more quickly if items are small to start with.
Store your bin in a cool, ideally dark place. I put mine between the house and the garage in the area I call the "secret garden". Since it's very dark it's difficult to get things to grow there, so I figured this is a good way to put that space to use! You'll want to avoid letting it get too hot.
Things to include in your worm bin: basically anything you would put in compost, such as vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, tea bags, fruit peels, etc. Avoid dairy, meat, or fat. This is because it stinks and might attract other pests. Also avoid large woody pieces. I have experimented a bit with what they seem to like best, they love carrot peels, apples, strawberry stems, and banana peels. I once got a large quantity of coffee grounds from Starbucks and I think I overloaded them. In one bin I only put coffee grounds on half and the next time I opened it they were all on the other side. So I'd say use coffee grounds in moderation!
One video says to avoid egg shells, but I have also read that they love egg shells because they need something to use to grind their food. I crunch mine up first. I've read you could also use sand or lime for them to use in grinding their food, but I haven't experimented with that.
Things to avoid: citrus or citrus peels, raw potatoes or potato peels, garlic or onions. I think they can probably handle these things in small amounts but I try to avoid them all together. When I visited Mary she had just made a beef stew and used the veggie peels for the worms, including potatoes and onions. Her night crawlers didn't seem too happy, so that's one of the things that made me think this blog was worth doing!
I typically feed them once a week, as that seems to be the right amount of time in between feedings. Most of the time the food is gone by the next time I feed. You could do small amounts more regularly. I typically scrape back some of the soil and bury the veggie scraps. If there isn't paper visible, I add shredded paper or newspaper. I also use egg cartons.
Here is a photo of my bins after a year plus of use. As you can see they get dirty on the outside, but they are conveniently located near the garden for me to use the contents. I think they are pretty successful, but as I mentioned I would use bigger bins next time.
I was telling Kara about my worm beds one day and she asked me if I wanted more. I said yes and she gave me a store-bought worm bin. Imagine my excitement! It was like a very belated birthday gift. It had some worms in it, so I just added dirt, wet new paper, and started feeding them.
Here are some photos of my big worm bin recently. They look pretty happy don't they!?!
My worms are starting to "escape" the bin so I think they are over-crowded. I'll be removing some soon and placing them in my compost and in my garden beds. I have read that if your worms are happy they multiply and the bins don't stink (e.g. they are not being overfed or fed the wrong things).
There are tons of resources available so if you have questions about worms, just google it. Happy vermicomposting!
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