DIY Gardening: How to Build a Worm Compost Bin
[These little cucumber sprouts were seeds just a week ago!]
The weather is warming up, and it’s about the right time to start planting your spring garden! Whether you’re living in an apartment with just a little bit of window or patio space or a house with a yard, you can still grow some of your own food to save a little cash and reduce your food miles. Rather than spend money all season on expensive (and often petroleum-derived) fertilizer, why not get yourself a worm bin, and make your own nutrient-rich compost?
If you have a lot of yard space, you can build yourself a full-sized compost bin. Vermicomposting, compost bins where worms do the work breaking down the organic matter, are great for folks with a less space, but you homeowners can benefit from a worm bin, too! Worm castings are super-nutritious, and worm bins yeild good compost relatively quickly. The bins are easy to make yourself, and you can even divert some waste from the landfill while you’re at it! Bonus points if you rescue discarded plastic tubs, rather than buying new ones. Check out this awesome step-by-step video on getting your worm bin together:
- » See also: A Review of Handmade Home by Amanda Blake Soule
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You might check Craigslist or Freecycle for some bins that you can use.
If even the worm bins would take up too much space in your pad, you might look into a bokashi compost bin instead. Bokashi uses microorganisms to break down food waste. The mixture can be a bit pricey, but it’s another situation where you can use your DIY skills to save some cash. Check out this video on making your own bulk bokashi!
Composting is a great way to help fight global warming. When food scraps go to the landfill they break down and let off methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.
Are you planning to get your spring garden going? What sorts of things are you planting?
Can you add worms to a regular compost bin or do they need to be seperate?
It shouldn’t hurt your bin to have worms in there. That said, I know worms need certain conditions to thrive. This page has some great worm feeding tips:
http://www.vermicompost.net/worm-composting/bin-food/what-do-worms-eat.aspx
Impressed, surprized & tickled pink! This is my 1st visit & won’t be my last!
Joyous thanks to all
Yes, the bokashi is very pricey. I’ve added a liquid soil inoculant, mixing it about 80:1 with water, which makes it only pennies to use in compost piles and worm bins as well. It even speeds up the composting time of wood, and provides the microbes red worms need to digest.
The two most important factors when trying to compost with red worms is keeping the worm bin at the correct moisture and the correct ph. Your worms won’t be able to breath if the bedding becomes either too dry or too wet. The ph must remain very close to neutral to keep your worms healthy. Here is more information on these two important considerations when red worm composting.
Nice video! I just got the worms I bought online, should I add them to my bin with the “earth” they bring or should I remove them from the earth before adding them?