Building Your Own Worm Farm
Here is a way of building your own worm farm out of reused and recycled materials.
You will require:
Old carpet or sack if available (optional)
Three phone books or some bricks
1 piece of corrugated iron 600 x 600mm
3 or 4 car tyres of a similar size
35 Saturday newspapers (approx)
1 small container ( to collect liquid)
Old onion sacks or shade cloth
Lots of tiger worms
1 close fitting lid (a piece of wood with a rock will do)
Operating instructions for your tyre worm farm
Place the corrugated iron on top of the telephone books - two books on one side and one on the other to make a slope.
Stack the tyres on top of the corrugated iron. Dig out a hollow for the container to collect the worm tea which runs off the iron.
Fill the bottom tyre with bedding material (shredded paper and some soil) and add the worms (250gms)
Feed regularly with kitchen scraps and keep the mixture moist to touch.
Keep the worms covered with newspaper, cardboard or carpet, then place the lid on top to prevent flies getting in.
Make sure the bedding for your worms is always moist - you may need to add extra water every two or three weeks in the summer, depending on how moist the scraps are that you feed them.
As the tyre stack fills up, this normally takes several months, you slide out the bottom tyre and empty it of worm castings/vermicast. The paper in the tyre will probably be full of worms and can be replaced as is, used in your garden or compost heap, or given to friends to start new worm farms.
The empty tyre is now ready to be re-used. Stuff it with fresh, moist newspaper and place on top of the tyre stack. The nutrients from your kitchen scraps are now available for you to use in your garden and the number of your worms will have increased.
July 19th, 2007 at 1:58 am
what is the purpose of this worm farm thingy ar?
July 19th, 2007 at 9:55 am
ipohchai | ernie@ipohchai.com |
“what is the purpose of this worm farm thingy ar?”
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Worm composting is using worms to recycle food scraps and other organic material into a valuable soil amendment called vermicompost, or worm compost. Worms eat food scraps, which become compost as they pass through the worm’s body. Compost exits the worm through its’ tail end. This compost can then be used to grow plants. To understand why vermicompost is good for plants, remember that the worms are eating nutrient-rich fruit and vegetable scraps, and turning them into nutrient-rich compost. In other words, it’s a natural, rich organic fertilizer.
August 24th, 2007 at 1:02 am
Worms are also one of the few organisms that can break down the ecoli bacteria. They worms have thee ability to do this in their gut. They also produce good bacteria there that come out with their castings (worm poop) It makes great fertilizer for your plants and its all natural and cant burn your plants like store bought chemical and salt fertilizers will.
I do question the use of tires (a petroleum product) For this though. After many years of sitting on the ground and in the sun they do break down leaching toxic chemicals like the petroleum into the ground. This would not be good. Same thing with pressure treated woods and some metal fencing as well.
August 24th, 2007 at 10:25 am
Thanks Pixelphoto for you input and opinion. I think you are right there about the use of tires. Your opinion noted. Actually, I thought it will only be good for just a one time harvest and not to leave there for years. Anyway, I would personally recommend to use old bathtubs as what we are doing. What would do you think? Your feedback and ideas would be appreciated.
September 10th, 2007 at 8:14 am
hi, my name is alan and i have been looking for ways to start a work farming business. i like your idea with the tires but would this be suteible for doing a larger volume? i also would like to no the best way of harvesting the castings using the tires. do you have any other sugestions for building a system. last but not least, what about the cold weather??? where i live the winters get very cold and for about 4-5 months and average temp is about 20f +- 10f. i look foward with any help you can give me. thanks again alan
October 25th, 2007 at 8:47 pm
how can i get the worm?