Come and show off those worm bins!

[Chronic Don]

I've heard of this thing called a wormtopia which is used to collect excess moisture in a undrained bin. I have my binjust sitting outside where it will eventually shaded by leaves on the tree. I have it covered by a piece of plywood and I dont have this one drilled and was hoping to not need to. I will look over a few plans and build one in the next month. which will have a drainage/airation system.
Bait store was 4.99 for 10 big fat worms, not earthworms but not a red wiggler but brown/grey so didnt buy any. we dug up some of a flower garden and picked at least 120 more earthworms varying in size from an inch to 4-5 inches with a few over 8 inches. a grand total of 180+ worms added, should that be enough or will I still need to remove some food as there must be 8+ inches of veg matter over a 2" packed layer of dead leaves?

 

[johnnybsmokin]

Hey all, was "surfing" the net and came across this site

http://www.wormsdownunder.com.au/index.html

Thought it night be of interest to some. It has some quite unique designs using "wheelie bins" etc. Some of the ideas could probably be used/incorporated into your own designs.

Would also be a good source of worms for those that are looking to purchase some (Australia only)

cheers Johnny

 

[supermanlives]

i just got the same one you got . it replaced my sunleaves unit

Hello, I'm a big fan of vermicomposting and I noticed theres no thread where every one can put up pictures of their home made and store bought bins. I know theres some amazing and creative bins out there and if you want to show off your green powers drop your pics off here

Heres my worm bin, it's small but its an upward migration bin so when I have a good juicy layer of castings I'll stop putting food in the bin, and put bedding and food in another crate that has a open grid on the bottom, then i'll stack it on my crate with the worms and castings. After a little while the worms will migrate into the crate with food and I can pop the bottom crate out and harvest my worm castings with out losing any worms.

My bin with worms in it making them castings!

This is the crate I will use to fill with bedding and food for upward migration.

Look forward to seeing every one else's bin

 

[supermanlives]

i am thinking of adding some bird shit to my worm bin. anyone forsee a problem???

 

[Stankie]

I bought 4 bags of lump charcoal today. Busted one up to start to put in my bin.

 

[organicterra]

Just put together my worm trays this morning. I think I'll use my finished compost as a bedding.
Now I just need some worms...

 

[s13sr20det]

 

[supermanlives]

i have been chopping up than freezing my scraps before adding to bin. the freeze than thaw cycle seems to break down the scraps faster

 

[greenmatter]

i have been chopping up than freezing my scraps before adding to bin. the freeze than thaw cycle seems to break down the scraps faster

or a couple minutes in the microwave help too. worms like there food "softened". it sure speeds them up.

 

[supermanlives]

never thought of the microwave. damn now i am cooking for worms LOL thanks. atleast they cant complain

 

[Mizzafishkilla]

That looks like a happy worm bin! Is that hair on the lower left? If so, soes it break down well for you? I have garbage bags of alpaca hair that I'd love to get rid of!!

 

[s13sr20det]

i dont think they'd eat that much

i never have alot to throw in there, just when i comb the cat or cut my hair.

 

[Stankie]

Hair takes a while to break down, but it does. Some of mine ended up in the harvest.

Oh well.

 

[Mizzafishkilla]

I used alpaca hair last year, and after a few months it showed no evidence of breaking down. I gave up on that experiment...Hoped someone else had a better outcome.

Hair takes a while to break down, but it does. Some of mine ended up in the harvest.

Oh well.

 

[jaykush]

dont people buy alpaca hair to make stuff with? or is there something wrong with it.

 

[Stankie]

Here is probably my best looking harvest to date. About 4 gallons. I have switched to using unfinished compost/aged manure as bedding. I think the worms like it more. Castings are starting to look more finished. I did wait a while since last harvest though.

Here is my bin. I added some FPE leftover material, along with some rock dust, biochar, and a spaghetti squash today. I need to get some more bedding material.

 

[h.h.]

Just getting started on my bin. Finding another use for yucca. It really absorbs the moisture while allowing cooling air movement. The worms like to hang under it as well as in it.

[/IMG]
Is it worth feeding them gourmet diets of kelp or a little seabird quano along with kitchen scrapes? I picked up a load of partially composted horse shit, giving them a couple of shovelfuls last week.
Horse guano is questionable when it comes to organics. The horses are commonly fed dewormers and antibiotics. For the sake of using local materials and for the sake that it's free, I use a lot of it. For the above reasons, I compost it. I see others use it fresh with little else in their worm beds with no setbacks.
I've started collecting grass cuttings as well. So far they are being used only around my ornamental. In their case the concern is herbicides and pesticides. Grass contains a lot of nitrogen because it's feed a lot of chemicals to keep it green. After being partially composted is this safe to add to the bin? Will the salts carry through to my EWC?

 

[SunshineJoy]

I have a Can-o-worms, and have used it for about 3 years now. It's great, though some of you are showing off some really nice home-made systems.

Worms need calcium to reproduce, so you can grind up some egg shells and throw them in (I used a tsp or so). The baby worm egg sacks (really don't know the right terminology) look like yellowy-orangey egg-shaped things, reminded me a little of a big lemon seed.

I like taking my male plants, trimmed fan leaves, and even smaller cut up stems, and running them through my blender with water to make a smoothie which I then pour over my top tray in the worm farm. As was mentioned above, the worms can process smaller bits faster and also it makes my "food" indistinguishable from anything else the worms like and helps me avoid placing anything like trim in the trash.

I think of it as my own little "circle of life".

 

[canniption]

well heres mine,a worm factory 360.had it over a year now.must have 10,000 worms by now.heres the bin,6 bins going strong.

 

[canniption]

heres the worms.