My Worm Bin Step-By-Step

     Hey there! PJ's shadow here! I had an exallent day Monday! No blog due to loads of fun out door work. I did ALOT of planting. Traditionally we still get frost this time of year in Ohio (all the way to the end of May). I am hoping I can keep all the little ones safe with tarps and such as it has been on MILD winter in Ohio. As a matter of fact I think it missed us all together. Ill detail more later on the planting project.
     For now I wanted to show you my other project that took quite some time and energy. Well spent of course! My worm box is up and fully operational! I took quite a few pics so I could share with all of you what I did!

     Here is the worm bin I built. It consists of a simple plastic storage bin with lid that I had around from storing cloths. An old cleaning bucket you can barley see. Its under the contraption and meant to collect worm juice and compost tea. I bought a handful of something smaller than a 2"x4". But bigger than a 1"x2". Ahh the mystery wood! I then cut it down into this simple rack that allows for an incline when the box is placed in the rack and also allows for room to collect juice below.

     This is the next step: Drill holes in bottom of container. I used a 1/2 inch bit for this. I wanted plenty of room for worm juice and compost tea to flow. However, not enough room for worms or droppings to leak out.

     Now I moved this near it final resting place. Once you add all the ingredients this thing is HEAVY! Be advised, build your rack well or you will end up with quite the mess.
     I now add the first layer which is shredded news paper to act as a "worm bed" and also keep contents in the bin and out of drain holes.

      Pictured above is two shots in my bin showing the paper first shredded paper layer but a nifty idea I came up with I have not seen out on the net in the instructions Ive reviewed. Ive taken some simple stones I found while tilling my garden and placed them over the drain. This will keep the soil and worms in and provide a nice flow area hopefully to maximize my worm juice and compost tea harvest.

      Next I added some good soil from my well established compost pile I have been keeping now for four years. All sorts of good things for worms to thrive on there!

     I then gathered some hay  which was used last Halloween/Harvest season to sit on at the fire and now lays next to the fence unused and breaking down a bit. This will provide a good layer to retain moisture and break down as well. Ive seen many use leaves and twigs on this layer as well. I just wanted to get rid of this Hay!

     Next I added some undesirables. I've got a combination of weeds, old rotten mushrooms, dog waste, vegetable trimmings and other rotatable organic goodies.The worms do not like citrus or acidic waste so a small amount of attention is required.

    On top of the waste I shredded some more news paper. This time I wet it down with two full watering jars (the one you see pictured, which is about 2 cups).

   Next comes another layer of my composted dirt and spent hay. This should provide for an overall good environment to establish a worm box.

     Now its time to play with some WORMS! Red Wigglers I have been prepping for about two weeks now to be exact. I put the basic mixture into this 5 gallon bucket that I did in the big bin we built above. I filled it too the top. I put my finger in here to show that it is now down to a little over half I started with.
     This tells me they like my strategy as to what I'm putting in their environment. They are also a very active colony and survived shipping! This is a pouch of 2000 worms I ordered online for 20$ through Amazon.com. Check em out they have quite a few options.

     What you see above is the ball that rolled out of my bucket when dumped into my worm bin to introduce the worms. Nice and solid and the worms have eaten most everything!

     Oh yes there is a video! Way to be creative, eh? These are my worms and the Bin. I wanted to show the drip drain and how the rocks I added in the bin at the beginning are working as expected! Success!
     I did not break up the worms much. Just enough to show the camera. I read not to break them up but rather to just place a piece of wet news paper on top of them and allow them to disperse naturally over a period of two days. Better for the colony? They have the experience. So for now Ill listen to them!

     For the final step to finish off my bin I added a simple layer of news paper and it took about one of my containers or two cups of water to wet the surface and I closed it up with the lid. Boy was this heavy! Moving it back under the roof was a challenge but my stand held up! I am officially worm farming folks!

   

     Thanks for reading! I hope you have enjoyed. I will be updating every Friday on what the current status with my worm box is. I will include good pictures, possibly a video, and we will dig and get dirty together while finding out what is going on with these worms!

     If you have any suggestions, ideas, or questions please submit them below as comments. Id be happy to respond and can use all the help I can get. 

     Thank you again! Happy Trails!