In order to raise worms for worm composting (vermicomposting) you have to have a place to put the worms and the kitchen scraps. There are all kinds of composting bins that can be effective but they all work on the same idea. A box houses the worms, kitchen scraps, and bedding. As the worms eat they make their way through the box creating castings. If the composter is a tray system (like the examples in the pictures) the worms will finish in one tray then work their way into the next tray. The finished tray can then be cleaned out and the compost used in the garden or used to make compost tea. It’s a pretty creative system. Simple and efficient!
The bins even have a valve at the bottom to let out the liquids. You can use that liquid to water plants.
So which of these choices will I pick?
The answer is none of the above! There’s a cheaper way to do it that just takes a little assembly. Take a look here at Washington State University’s Extension Service’s instructions on how to build a homemade worm bin. I have a few ideas to add to my worm bin that I’ll share as I begin the worm bin assembly process!
If you want more information about the worm compost bins above click on the pictures to see the details at Amazon.
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Hi Dave, Good luck with you worm bin. It’s nice to be friendly to Nature. Bravo!
I love my worm bin! I have one of the homemade ones (like the one you linked to) and I have one I bought, which is a single bin system. They both work really well.
Have fun!
Oh, great post. I’ve been wanting to try this as I have a lot of kitchen scraps and not enough other things to add to my regular compost bin. Thanks for the link for the homemade bin. Will be checking it out.
http:KayzKreationz.blogspot.com
Professor Dave,
I look forward to seeing your home vermicomposting creation.
Cameron
Dave,
I am so not surprised that you will build your own and it will be better then the commercially available kits!
Take care…gail
Dave, We have a planter (I have never posted about it) by the chimney of our house. Before I started the compost bin last year, I would put all kitchen scraps in this planter. The ground never freezes here so I dug in scrapes all year round. It had so many worms in it from Mother Nature herself! Now that I put the kitchen scrapes in the compost bin, I rarely see a worm in that planter when digging. I think I may go back to putting a few scraps in the planter once the Saint and I repair the planter.