Starting Out With A Worm Farm
Frequently individuals decide to raise chickens while there are others who prefer livestock but if you want to help the soil or restore its nutrients, then what you should do is build a worm farm yourself instead of buying one. The nice thing about making a worm farm is that the price isn’t that much. The only things you’ll really need are 3 or 4 stackable bins or crates made of plastic, wood or some other light and water resistant compound, some worms, and some insect screen for the bottom portion ripped up newspaper, garden soil or potting mix, water and good scraps.
When you finally have all of these it’s time to commence building the new worm farm by placing a number of holes in the lid and on the bottom. The number of holes in the lid depends largely on the size of the box but keep in mind that this should be evenly spaced to allow oxygen to enter and excess water, as well as to let any worm waste drain along with the water. The insect screen you picked up needs to be put on the bottom of the tub.
Now that you’ve finished on the exterior of the worm farm, you now prepare the interior by filling some of the container with shredded newspaper. It is best to put three quarters of it in the tube and dampen it with water before you put in the garden soil or potting mix in the grit this is done to be sure that the worms will eat the scraps you throw in. Once everything is ready, it’s time to show the worms to their new abode. Some people might put in 1000 of these little creatures and as long as they’re happy they will reproduce and you will most likely lose count of their exact number.
But what do we do the other stuff? The last thing we need to do is to place the extras containers over the first one.
If you have any idea what worms like to eat, some examples are coffee grounds or tea bags, smashed egg shells, fruit peelings, hair, stale cookies and cakes, fine wood shavings, plate scraps, moist cardboard, vacuum cleaner debris and vegetable scraps. In short, worms love to eat dirt and leftovers but don’t put too much since you might over feed them. The best way to determine what enough is would be to only give them a little bit at first and then observe how long it takes for them to finish eating that batch before you put in more food. Since the area is large it’ll also help to lay their food in different locations each time.
Watch your worms regularly so you can be sure that the newspaper does not dry out and if it needs changed make sure you replace it.
As with all things in nature, poop will appear at the bottom of the box however this particular waste product is also called vermicast and vermicast helps plants grow. The only way to get to it without having the worms get out so it is best to open the container and just set it under the sunlight for a while. Worms hate sunlight so they will naturally look for cover and you won’t have a hard time to pick up the poop and shut the lid.
The worm farm is a great tool, and to help you grow flowers, fruits or even vegetables and all that’s required is some willpower to get the support from these small creatures.
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