This is a summary of information
presented during February’s Starting a
Worm Farm workshop at the NLFG. During
the workshop we set up a large wheelie bin worm farm, a domestic ‘Can of Worms’
farm and a budget polystyrene box farm.
Worm farms can be created in almost any container, as long as it has a
source of drainage and a lid.
Getting Started
Worms can be sourced from the
wormfarms/compost bins of friends or purchased from your local nursery or
hardware supplier, although they are quite expensive to buy. There are several species of composting worm
that live in the mulch layer of gardens, towards the surface. They differ from the earthworm, which lives
lower in the soil, and composting worms and earthworms each perform a different
function in the garden eco-system. You
need about 1000 worms to get started with your worm farm (at least 4-5 good
handfuls of worms), although smaller numbers will work (it will just take
longer for your farm to operate most efficiently).
In worm farms with holes in the
bottom (domestic commercial farms, polystyrene boxes), you will need to cover the
holes with several layers of newspaper, some hessian or piece of flyscreen. This allows moisture to run through, but
stops your worms falling through the holes.
All worm farmers need to establish a ‘bed’
for their worms. The bed can be made
from straw/mulch/hay/coir (coconut husk) or newspaper. This material should be wet, but not
dripping. We added our worms to a bed of
coir and shredded newspaper with good quality compost and worm castings in a layer that was about 4-5
centimetres thick. You can also add
manure or clean garden soil to help make your worms happy in their new
home.
Cover the worms and ‘bed’ with a ‘doona’
of thick newspaper, thick hessian layer or old carpet. This layer needs to be moist but not dripping
and should stay moist at all times.
Worms need 1-2 weeks to settle into
their new home before you begin to feed them anything else.
Feeding your worms
After 1-2 weeks start by feeding your
worms about a cup of food scraps and see how long it takes the worms to eat
these. You can gradually increase the
amount of food that you feed your worms as the population increases and your
farm begins to operate more efficiently.
Worms will eat all fruit and vegetable
scraps and peelings except for citrus peelings and onion. Things like corn cobs, avocado skin, and large
seeds or pits are also unsuitable for the worm farm. They will also eat other food scraps
including bread, but do not put dairy or meat into the worm farm as these tend
to smell and attract vermin. Worms will
also eat eggshells, however my experience is that these can often be left in
the worm farm after other scraps have disappeared.
Worms particularly love coffee grinds
and will also eat things like teabags, hair and vacuum cleaner dust. I also like to add a bit of newspaper or
straw mulch to the mix occasionally.
Worms have no teeth and find it tough
going to munch on large food pieces. Farms
work most effectively when food scraps are cut into small pieces (about half a
thumb size).
The food scraps should not rot in the
worm farm. If they are rotting, rather
than being eaten, there is too much food being added to the farm.
Keeping it cool
The worm farm ‘doona’ of newspaper,
hessian, cardboard or old carpet needs to be kept moist at all times.
Worm will die if they are too hot and
farms should be stored in the shade.
On hot days (over 30°C) pay particular attention to
keeping your farm cool. Covering the
entire worm farm with damp fabric/hessian/carpet ‘air conditions’ the farm and
stops the worms dying.
The Good Stuff – Castings and Worm Juice
Worm castings are beautiful, smooth, rich
dark brown worm ‘manure’ that are left in your worm farm as the worms munch through
your waste. They are nutrient-rich and spoonfuls
can be added to your potted plants, in potting mix as you pot up new plants or
sprinkled around the base of plants in the garden.
Worm juice will collect in the base
of your worm farm surprisingly quickly and needs to be collected regularly. Dilute worm juice at a ratio of 1:10 (the
colour of weak tea) and use as you would a liquid fertilizer. It will burn plants if not diluted.
To harvest worms in a domestic farm
(such as our Can of Worms), create a new worm bed in the spare tray and place
it on top of the layer full of castings.
The worms will migrate up to their new bed over a week or so, leaving
the bottom tray full of beautiful castings (and not many worms!).
In a box worm farm (or fridge or
bathtub farm), move the worms’ castings and bedding to one side of the farm and
add fresh bedding to the empty side.
Wait a week and most of the worms will move across to the fresh side,
leaving the castings and old bedding for you to collect.
Possible Problems
Your worm farm should not really
smell. If it smells, food is rotting in
your farm and you need to put in less food.
Small flies/insects can often infest
your farm. Sprinkling a good handful of
garden lime in your farm once every 1-2 months will make them go away. This can also be another indicator that you
are leaving too much food.
Your worms will leave if the
environment is too acidic. A handful of
garden lime will neutralise the environment.
The easiest way to kill your worms is
by letting the worm farm dry out (it needs to be moist at all times to keep
worms’ moist bodies happy) or cooking the worms in the farm on hot days.
Worms will also drown if you forget
to drain the liquid regularly, or they are exposed to the elements in a large
down pour.
Any other questions or comments? Leave your thoughts below.
Presented by Allison
