We want to share a few thought about the importance of worm farming on your homestead, and how you can start with a very easy worm compost bin. If you working a homestead (or just have a garden), you will want to consider having a worm farm to assist with your composting. We believe it really is a necessity when you look at the amazing benefits – and the ease of care.
Get a Free Monthly Digital Subscription to PREPARE Magazine
One of the best means to enhance your garden is to stop tossing out your trash. That’s right, your used coffee grinds and banana peels can assist your tomato and cucumber plants grow larger and more powerful. It can also help increase your crop yields.
So, when the garbage (that you were likely just going to discard) is consumed and digested by a worm it ends up being a powerful plant supplement referred to as worm castings. Starting a worm garden compost bin is a wonderful way to develop a stable supply of worm castings for your flower and vegetable yards. It’s a simple process, and can have amazing results on your homestead.
Get More Homesteading and Self-Reliance Tips. Subscribe!
If you are able to see the value and importance of a worm garden, let’s discuss how to start with a simple worm compost bin. It’s a lot easier than you might think. For starters, those plastic or rubber storage bins that you likely have laying around in your shed or barn make excellent worm bins. Drill a few holes in the bin so your worms get plenty of air. And if you have any plumbing experience, you can easily add a hose faucet near the bottom of the bin to take benefit of worm tea.
Next you’ll need some worm bedding. Most commonly used worm bedding for simple home bins is shredded newspapers. The bedding should remain wet but not water-logged. You can use a spray bottle to keep the bed linen perfect for your worms.
When you order worms in the mail they will typically ship in a container filled with peat moss. Now, let me state here that some people have stopped using peat moss completely due to their concern for the environment. The reason they say is that peat is not a renewable resource. Peat takes centuries to establish in boggy areas and it’s simply being consumed too quickly. On the other side, people say that Peat is now produced in a safe fast method and what’s all the hassle about anyway. The two sides contradict each other so it’s up to you to choose if you wish to utilize it. Newspapers are easily offered and you probably have a stack of them in your house already. Rather than get distracted by the whole debate, it’s pretty easy to go with what you have on hand anyway.
Now that you have your liner, remember to put some dirt in the bin too. Worms don’t have teeth, so they require some grit to help grind up their food. You can likewise use rock dust or powdered limestone instead of dirt if you like, however routine dirt from your backyard should work just fine.
Now it’s time for adding the most important part of the project… the worms. Digging up some worms from your yard will not work in a worm bin. Worms that come from the soil, like to live in the soil. For worm bins, you’ll need red wigglers. They’ll love the environment that you’ve created in your worm bin. How many should you buy, that depends on the size of your bin and how much compost you are wanting to create. Let’s assume that you’ve created your worm bin for the worm castings and not to have tons of worms for your weekends fishing. That means that you’re going to leave the worms in the bin until they’ve turned most of the bedding and food waste into vermicompost. The worm to garbage ratio is usually 2:1. That means that if you’re going to put a half pound of garbage into the bin on a daily basis, then you should start with a pound of worms.
Check your bin daily to ensure that you leave to a good start. Keep the bed linen moist and the bin need to stay in an area that’s about 60 to 70 degrees. Leaving the bin outside in the summer sun is going to destroy your work and cook your worms. Also, keep in mind if the worm bin begins to smell then you probably need more bed linen.
Beginning a worm bin is an enjoyable project for everybody on the homestead. Get your kids included, they’ll love enjoying those little worms wiggle around your bin. And if you’re lucky, you may see one of the children chase your mother in law around your home with a handful of worms. Like I stated, worm bins are great times for the entire household and excellent for your garden too.
