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| My first worm farm |
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| Inside my worm farm |
About a year ago my friend, her husband and I went off to one of these council run free classes on composting and worm farming. I fell in love straight away. Not the composting, too much like work that one (although it has is perks). Worms were my thing. Off I went and bought myself a worm farm.
When you buy a worm farm they are all relatively the same and come with everything you need to set it up. You can choose to buy worm conditioner which is said to keep them happy and healthy, but I found crushed egg shells worked just fine.
Shop around when you buy your worms, they don't come with the worm farm pack from your hardware store, they are separate. It really doesn't matter which ones you get (there are a few species) as long as they are healthy and hungry.
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| They really are very cute |
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| healthy hungry worms |
Do’s
Do feed them
Do leave them in the dark
Do keep in the shade
Do keep them moist
Don'ts
Don’t stir or turn them
Don’t let in light
Don’t leave in the sun
Don’t flood them(they
can’t swim!)
Don’t
over feed them!
What to feed them?
Worms Love!
Most Fruit
Most Vegetable
Potato peelings (will eat a little only
maybe!!)
Coffee grounds, tea bags, leaf tea
Rice (not too much)
Egg shells (they LOVE!)& neutralizes
PH
Vacuum bag dust
Hair clippings (human and animals)
Torn up news paper (not too much)
Soaked pizza cartons (not too much)
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| My worm food container |
What not to feed them?
Worms don’t like!
Bread (will if its soaked with gooey rotting food)
Onions/chives/shallots
Garlic
Chillies
any spicy food
dairy
All Citrus
All Meat
Potato peelings (will eat a little)
All Manure
Grass clippings
Glossy paper
No Carbon Products
Now the liquid they produce is called a 'Worm Tea' and it is great for your garden, using it 1 part to 10 water you can fertilise your garden once a week. My garden loves it!
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| Worm tea - great fertiliser |
What to do when you think your worm farm is getting too small?
I recycled a bath, hubby put the tap on the bottom and I can tell you I am much happier with this set-up than I was with the bought variety.
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| Recycled bath |
Worms are great for getting rid of your scraps from the kitchen without throwing them in the rubbish. They are the best pet to have, you can forget about them and they will survive (but not forever). If your going away and you are worried about them, buy some whole vegetables and through them in, the bigger they are the longer they will last.
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| Happy worms |
PS. Happy worms multiply fast, but don't worry, if they get too many they will feast on each-other too, population control its called.
Some more tips and hints
Feed
worms 1’s a week,
Don’t
turn more than once a month and do it gently with gloves on.
Don’t
handle the worms with bare hands! They are allergic to our skin oils.
Drain
the ‘Worm Tea’ Every 1-2 weeks, put on garden as fertiliser, 1 part Tea, 10
parts water.
When
Layer 1 is full
Take
off top layer of news paper that is the roof,
Put
food in Layer 2 and put newspaper roof on top.
Worms
will slowly make there way up.
Will
take approx. 9 months to make there way to layer 2.
When
all worms in layer 2
You
can use the compost left in layer 1 on the garden.
Remove
it from the layer and use.
Put
newspaper back down on the bottom of layer 1 and tip the worms into it.
Spread
around gently and cover with news paper.
Compost
can be made into Potting mix by adding soil to it.
If
it gets smelly, they have been over fed, just stop feeding and gently with a
small stick aerate the top.
Every
1-2 months ‘water’ the worm farm, the water will drain through and keep it
moist 2-5L will do it. But only if it needs it!! Don’t flood them!!
And if in doubt....GOOGLE!!
