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http://www.instructables.com/id/5-dollar-12-hour-Worm-Composting-Bins/
intro: 5 dollar, 1/2 hour Worm Composting Bin(s)
No flashing lights, bikes or iPods here. Just worms in a box. Eating.
Update: I've added this to the "repurposed" instructables because this project is made of 100% salvaged and repurposed materials. Also, the worms are busily
repurposing food scraps into fertilizer.
Years ago, when I was poor and under-employed, I craved a worm bin (aka vermicomposter), famous for the fastest compost in the West. I did research on the web, and
found that commercial bins were expensive, as much as US$200 for an Australian multi-tray "worm farm", which was way too big for my apartment-dwelling self anyway.
That winter, I visited my sister in Oregon nursery country, and she had the brilliant idea to use nursery flats as trays.
I've seen simpler versions of worm bins, a 5 gallon bucket, or a big Rubbermaid tub with a lid. They probably work as well, at least until you want to harvest your worm
castings, which you must sift out of the newer bedding and food scraps. The tray version allows you to segregate old from new, in just a few minutes.
Mine has a couple of issues I have not gotten around to solving, more on that in the last couple of steps.
Update, Sept. '07: After all these years, I finally realized how easy it would be to separate the liquid from the food and castings. The castings I had been getting were
thick mud.
Enter the filter! I lined the next to bottom tray with heavy shade cloth, usually used overhead for shading plants, etc. You'll see it in the shade plant section of the nursery
where you go to get your flats. I'll post photos later.
Update, : May 28, 2008 See step 7 for some info on how I harvest the castings.
A gruff old country nursery man sold me the flats for seventy-five cents each.
You'll need:
- a piece of heavy 3-5 mil plastic sheeting, big enough to line one tray with a couple of inches coming out over the top edge. This will be the bottom tray. Another piece to
lay over the top as a lid is optional. Better yet, a piece of screen to keep pesky flies out.
- shredded or torn paper for bedding. I first used newspaper, then got a big bag of "cross-cut" shredded office paper from the Accounting dept. It works great, and I don't
have to tear paper or put it through a home shredder any more.
- optional lid to keep varmints and light out. I used a scrap of wood.
http://www.instructables.com/id/5-dollar-12-hour-Worm-Composting-Bins/
Image Notes Image Notes
1. The nursery flat, with square holes just right for red wriggling upstairs or down 1. Here's a closer view of a nursery flat.
for a snack.
2. The indispensible stirring stick, with bedding and food.
3. This one is the "foundation" with the plastic liner. There's a small clump of
nekkid worms in the corner. See later steps for a closeup.
Add shredded paper, enough to fill it about 1/4 full. If you're ready to add worms, dampen the paper lightly. Worm literature says, "like a wrung out sponge". Not soggy
and dripping, yet damp enought that sensitive wormy skin is not instantly dessicated.
I usually don't put any food in the basement layer, as the worms seem to like this as their living room and bedroom. They tend to go up to higher layers to feed, and
congregate in the bottom, where most of the castings (aka worm poop; compost) end up.
http://www.instructables.com/id/5-dollar-12-hour-Worm-Composting-Bins/
Image Notes
1. This bedding is from the office shredder. Most of it is damp from the moisture in the food and castings underneath it. If you're starting from scratch, sprinkle some
water on it before adding your worms.
It usually works best to put one end in first, then lay down the other. Jiggle and fiddle as necessary.
This is important, as you don't want any leaks, or fugitive worms that may meet an untimely end underfoot, in a bird's beak or squashed at the next feeding time.
This image shows the almost finished product. Note the not so carefully trimmed plastic liner obscuring the foundation tray. On the ends, you can see the ribs that hold
the trays up, leaving an inch or so of space between the bottom grids. That's where the food, bedding and worms go.
Image Notes
1. It's a good idea to put a screen on the top, helps keep flies out. Just cut a piece out and lay it in the bottom of your topmost tray. I keep my bin inside a garden
shed, so don't worry about rain filling things up. This is your only vent area, so don't close it off from air completely. Even worms need a little oxygen.
http://www.instructables.com/id/5-dollar-12-hour-Worm-Composting-Bins/
step 4: Ready for worm move-in
Worms, not just any worms, red wrigglers are recommended. These are a few of mine in the bottom of my bin, just after cleaning out the castings (worm poop), that goes
for about US$10 a pound in gardening stores.
They are available to buy, for an equally costly ~$20 a pound. Given my Scottish ancestry and small bank account at the time, I decided to go foraging on my own.
There's a horse racing track nearby, and the manager gave me permission to dig around in their old manure piles. I felt a little, er, sheepish, but swallowed my pride and
commenced to digging my own pound or so of worms. That was almost ten years ago, and their descendents are happily munching away on my lettuce scraps, banana
peels, and mango seeds. Yep, the seeds, which eventually soften up and become cozy little hideaways inside.
Image Notes
1. Some will say, "Eewwwww!!!" Those in the know say that they are clean, don't
smell bad, and will never bite. When my brother the fisherman visits, I make sure
he steers clear of my trusy, high-speed composting friends.
Image Notes
1. Those are just nasturtiums in the background, not part of the project.
I confess to not having read this instructable recently, apologies for any redundancies.
The tray full of castings is usually the bottom one, where most of the worms stay. I usually rotate the trays, put that one on top, and move the entire bin outside.
The worms can't take being in the light, so they head downstairs, encouraged by my gentle stirring once or twice an hour. Eventually, they all move lower, though it's a
good idea to poke through any clumps. I suppose if you are more patient that I am, they'll all go on their own, with less work for you. I'm a little paranoid about ejecting my
trusty friends from their comfy abode, so I am pretty thorough about sifting through the muck to get all I can back into safer territory.
The harvest, and being able to keep the newer and older food separated are for me, the two main advantages to using the tray system rather than having one big tub.
http://www.instructables.com/id/5-dollar-12-hour-Worm-Composting-Bins/
step 7: Cottage Industry?
I've read about a co-op in India that collects vegetable scraps and makes compost, then sells it as a soil amendment. Given that worm composting is said to be the
fastest way to make compost, I wonder if this idea would be useful in rural areas as a "cash crop" that just about anyone can do. What do you think?
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Comments
50 comments Add Comment view all 67 comments
If you're just starting your bin, I'd but all 3 in the next to bottom tray, then, as your worm population and food volume grow, add more to the upper trays.
My worms like to stay in the lower tray, and move up to the "surface" to feed, as they do in the wild.
Also, it's handy to have a "filter" lining the 2nd tray up from the bottom. It keeps the worms and castings out of the liquid in the bottom. I used a
(scrounged, of course) scrap of shade cloth; the black, loosely woven stuff nurseries use to shelter shade-loving plants.
For the lid, don't bother with wood. I'm currently using a couple of sections of newspaper, which seems to work fine. Just make sure you get some airflow
http://www.instructables.com/id/5-dollar-12-hour-Worm-Composting-Bins/
into the bin, and between layers.
I understand worm castings are good stuff. Do you think it would be worth the extra effort to vermicompost, versus the regular composting I do already? In
both cases, the material is broken down and goes back into the ground. Wondering if the effort of having the worms do it is worth it, in your opinion.
Vermicomposting adds an added dimension once the compost goes through the guts of a worm. We used African Night Crawlers which are really
composting worms and when they feed and then cast them, it is very rich in beneficial micro-organisms.
You can add to the micro-organism by brewing the vermicast. What we do is add about a kilogram of dried vermicast in a cloth bag (synthetic one is best.
Do not use cotton for it will rot too.) in a 60 liter water container half full. Add 1/4 kg. brown sugar for food to the micros and aerate the solution with an
aquarium aerator. Use it after 24 hours for spraying as a poliar fertilizer, a fungicide and for drenching fungus infected soil around your fruit trees.
If you do not use it all up, you will have to add some more sugar so that the micro-organisms will remain active..
In your case, you may be better off to stick with a "normal" compost pile. If it's like mine, and has no bottom, the worms, beetles, pill bugs and other
decomposer helpers will find their way there.
In a normal week around here, we probably generate about a gallon of scraps, coffee grounds, etc. The high-acid stuff like big piles of orange skins (from
making juice, one of the benefits of having fruit trees in the yard), tough stuff like avocado skins and artichoke leaves, go into the regular compost. The
worms don't seem to like potato peels either.
http://www.instructables.com/id/5-dollar-12-hour-Worm-Composting-Bins/
Arrrgh says: Jul 22, 2008. 1:38 PM REPLY
Thanks for sharing! great idea + simple to make = anyone can make one of these. And it does do wonders for gardens. I live in a rural area where there is
plenty of cow/horse manure so bedding and mulching material is not a problem. And the demand is definately growing. My friend has turned her worm farm
into a successful home business and quit her regular job last year to keep up with it! I think there are 8 or 9 vermicomposters in our county and I've seen a
commercial worm bins sold here ($35 - $100) which cannot be any more effective than your design.
http://digitalseed.com/solana/storefront.mv?Screen=STR2&Store_Code=solana
You can put them in the bottom. I usually do when starting out, esp. in a brand new bin. Worms being the intuitive critters that they are, wander around
and "seek their own levels."
The are surface feeders, so tend to live in the lower levels, eat on the upper ones. I often find them halfway between, with their pointy little snouts nosing
around (snouting around?) above, while the other half of their bodies is in the tray below.
I'll add a harvesting step to this Instructable. Maybe even some photos, next time I empty a tray.
Second: I have a question about the red wrigglers: Aren't they an invasive species and you have to be careful not to let any escape and also do something to
the castings so that you don't get any of their eggs into your garden? I have read that you need to put the castings in your freezer for a month before putting
them into your garden.
Third: I live in northern climes - really cold northern climes - how and where do you winter them over?
If red wrigglers are invasive to this area (8 miles East of San Francisco), then their invasion is complete. I found mine in an aged manure pile at a stable,
and they have also turned up on their own in my compost pile.
I agree with tdbtdb, put 'em in the basement or garage, and insulate the bin, (virtually no smell at all from mine. I even had it in a small apartment for
awhile.) esp. the bottom.
My sister had a bin (just a Rubbermaid tub) in her garage in Oregon, but they were too cold, and did not do well.
I've never heard of freezing the castings, and really see no need to. It's just food (and occasional yard waste) scraps, that are broken down far faster
than the average compost pile. I put 2-4 quarts of waste per week in my bin, and most of it is gone within a week or so.
As far as I know, the red are natives to my area (8 miles E. of San Francisco, CA, USA). I found mine in a stable's manure pile, and they have also come
into my regular compost bin on their own. Or maybe they have already invaded!! ;-)
The temps around here rarely get below the high 30s F (shhhh!), so I don't worry about mine. They live in my metal garden shed. If it's a hot day, I open
the door a little.
For your area, I'd put them in the garage, and insulate heavily. Maybe figure out a way to use some waste heat to keep them warm. When I first started
my bin, I had them in the entry hall of my apartment. Luckily, I had an understanding roommate.
The nursery flats I found at my local nursery stack very compactly, no space in between for worms. Guess I need to keep looking or put some sort of spacer
in between to make some space. But then light and flies will probably be able to invade and annoy the worms. I did a very brief google search, found several
flats for sale online that have this problem, haven't found a suitable one yet.
http://www.instructables.com/id/5-dollar-12-hour-Worm-Composting-Bins/
Marcos says: May 30, 2008. 4:55 PM REPLY
People keep asking about how to use it, so I keep adding info. The making of it is pretty simple, (though getting the flats does seem to be harder in some
areas. I guess I was lucky to find the ones I did. I spent quite a bit of time on the web, and have not been able to find them again. Part of it may be
knowing what to call them, and they seem to have a couple of different names. I'll see what I can find out from the local wholesale nurseries.
The spaces between "floors" on mine are about 1 1/2'. You're probably right about the fly problem. My bins seems to have collected a small colony,
probably due to the open top. 10 years on, the worms seem to be doing well.
1 kilograms of worms can poop up to 100 kilograms of VERMICAST in just a 30 to 45 days!!! THATS A GREAT HELP TO THE ENVIRONMENT -- changing
waste materials into NUTRITIOUS SOIL!!!!
this is means changing 100Kilograms of garbage into PERFECT ORGANIC FERTILIZER. no overdoze for plants!
VERMICAST is a good business!!! it is not cheap! and I get it for free from my worms??!!! THANK GOD!!!!!
i have done this, i know this stuff! even now, i'm doing it! EASY MONEY AND ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY!!!
additional QUOTE:
IF YOU LOVE YOUR JOB, YOU DONT GET TO WORK A SINGLE DAY OF YOUR LIFE NO MORE!!!
Now, I've just got to convince my local nursery guy that he REALLY wants to sell me some of these groovy flats...
Jason
http://www.instructables.com/id/5-dollar-12-hour-Worm-Composting-Bins/
royalestel says: Mar 1, 2007. 6:25 PM REPLY
I'm extremely interested in where to find greater detail as to care and feeding of the worms... Would you recommend a link, book, etc?
I hope our nursery here will sell me some cheap flats... Thanks for the instructable. I've wanted a worm "farm" for a while, but I was just too ignorant and
hesitant until now.
I suggest you post a close up of the pic that shows all the separate layers, including the one full of "worm food". I couldn't see the pic content well at all.
Great news! Please let us know how you do, post a pic or two of your bin here. I'd love to see how others make their bins.
See the first step of this instructable for a link to care and feeding, also, a web search. They are pretty low maintenance. The basics:
- Any plant matter is ok. They don't like really tough stuff like avocado peels, artichoke leaves, and for some reason, potato peels. Maybe I have gourmet
worms, I don't know. Coffee grounds are good, a little citrus is ok, but not too much, the acid will literally dissolve them. I still bear the scars from that
trauma!
That's about it. Keep a little paper in there for bedding, add the food to one layer at a time, at least to start. Mine like to congregate in the bottom tray,
move up to feed, as in nature, I suppose.
Also i just started a gardening group . . . want to join? Add this instructable please!
http://www.instructables.com/group/reapwhatyousow/
worm care 1
worms url
My conventional compost bin has no bottom, so wee critters are able to move up into the pile. Yep, there are worms in it too, and they are Red Wrigglers
that moved in on their own. They are coexisting, presumably happily, with black beetles and sow bugs, not to mention a few billion microbes.
Good for you for considering local conditions. You might try making a covered pile on the ground and see who shows up. I got my worms from a local,
aged manure pile after getting sticker shock from worm farmers who sell their stock.
http://www.instructables.com/id/5-dollar-12-hour-Worm-Composting-Bins/
Pumpkin Pie says: Oct 16, 2006. 6:33 PM REPLY
I made one of these mommas:
http://www.klickitatcounty.org/SolidWaste/ContentROne.asp?fContentIdSelected=991251662&fCategoryIdSelected=965105457
and we have it in our kitchen. Doesn't smell and is super convenient. At $18, it costs a little more than the nursery flats (good idea, btw) but is still way
less than a garbage disposal and buying fertilizer for the plants. The whole concept makes ALOT of sense. Worms rock.
Maybe you could find a spot that's always shady for your bin?
If you're in the U.S. a call to Experion and TRW should dry up your supply of unwanted credit card offers. Worked for me. I have a big back of cross-
shredded (tiny scraps) of paper I got from the Accounting dept. at work. It works great, and I don't have to shred newspaper any more.
Does anyone know if a "Third World" tech group has been started. It might be useful to sort this stuff, worm bins, peanut hullers, etc.
Are they using small ones for worms? How do they get the worms and castings out?
Oil drum, sure, as long as it's previous contents are not toxic to worms or humans. Worms don't like fats at all, and only limited amounts of acid. I put too
much orange peel and pulp in my bin in the early days, and there was enough carnage to make me feel guilty for weeks!
Covers are good, you also need some ventilation. A few small holes evenly spaced around in the side of a bucket, above worm level should do the trick.
Farmers: As I mentioned above, big piles on the ground might do the trick,especially if they were "seeded" with worms to get things started.
They might be better off using "hot" compost if they can get a good carbon/nitrogen mix. The advantage to using worms is speed, as Odziz said, "they
are voracious little buggers".
I'm not an expert on this by any means, just a guy who wanted to try worm composting and did not have the cash or the desire to spend a lot on
commercial solutions. I'd love to hear about larger scale ventures, and how they've worked out.
http://www.instructables.com/id/5-dollar-12-hour-Worm-Composting-Bins/