Setting Up and Equipment
You will need:
- Something to keep your worms in (a polystyrene box with a lid, an old
fridge, a plastic bin with lid, or a ready-made worm farm).
- At least one newspaper (or less if it's a polystyrene box).
- Some moist soil.
- A few crushed eggshells.
- Some green waste: vegetable or fruit scraps and peels, old moistened
bread, left-over rice and pasta.
- A little manure if available.
- Worms. (You can buy them from a commercial worm farm or some
nurseries.)
I keep my worm farm in an old fridge, something you can
often pick up for free. The climate where I live is very hot in summer and I find the
fridge protects the worms from the heat. I lay the fridge on its back with a small piece
of wood to keep the door open (about 1 inch or 2-3 cms). This allows air in. In the
Winter, although it's not very cold here, it also helps the worms keep warm. Excess fluid
drains from the back and you can drill an extra hole if it becomes clogged up.
Black or dark green plastic worm farms are wonderful in terms of ease of use and design,
but make sure you keep them well away from direct sun for most of the
day, particularly in summer. White poly boxes with lids, which are fine for smaller worm
farms also have heat reflective and insulative qualities. Don't forget to put a couple of
small holes (about half an inch or 1 cm) in the bottom to allow excess fluid to drain
away.
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Preparing the Bed
First of all tear up your newspaper into small pieces, leaving a couple of sheets for
later, soak it in water until it's a bit mushy and then mix well with the soil and crushed
eggshells. Put a sheet of wet newspaper on the bottom of the container and put the soil
mixture on top. It should be at least 3-4 inches (7-9 cm) deep. Your mix should be about
one third newspaper/eggshell mix and the rest soil.
Put your worms on top. Leave them with the lid open in the light for about 2 hours so they
burrow under the surface. Then put the green waste on top. Add the manure if it's
available, making sure (before you get the manure) that there are no antibiotics or
worming drugs in it. Some animals are wormed, such as horses or cows. Chicken poo is
usually pretty reliable unless there are hormones in the feed. Aim for manure from free
range chickens or organically farmed animals. Avoid cat and dog poo.
Put about the same weight of food as worms. They will eat around half their weight each
day, so half a kilo (about a pound) of worms will eat a kilo (around 2 pounds) of food
every four days.
Worms like oxygen, so make sure you fluff up the soil and waste every couple of days, and
keep it moist (but not wet). They also dislike vibrations so keep the worm farm away from
water heaters with engines, pumps, fridges and other vibrating appliances. The worms will
leave home and find somewhere nicer. :-)
Keep the worm farm basically covered but with a crack of light to keep the worms in the
worm farm. Cover the bed with a sheet or two of moist newspaper and keep renewing it as
the worms will eat it, especially when you forget to feed them!
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Feeding
Worms are not fussy eaters. Here is a list of foods they will enjoy. Worm feed by sucking
on moist and rotting waste. Don't put things like whole potatoes or carrots in the worm
farm, or, if you do, expect it to sit there for a long time before it gets eaten.
- Apples
- Artichokes
- Bananas
- Beans
- Beets
- Biscuits
- Bran
- Bread
- Broccoli
- Brussel Sprouts
- Cabbage
- Cantaloupe
- Cake
- Carrots
- Celery
- Cereal
- Citrus Fruits
- Coffee Grounds
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- Coffee Filters
- Comfrey
- Corn Meal
- Cucumber
- Eggplant
- Eggs
- Grapes
- Herbal Tea leaves & bags
- Honeydew
- Kiwi Fruit
- Kohl Rabbi
- Lettuce
- Molasses
- Oatmeal
- Onions
- Pancakes
- Papaya
- Pasta
- Pears
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- Peas
- Peaches
- Pizza
- Potatoes
- Pumpkin
- Raisins
- Rice
- Silver Beet
- Spinach
- Squash
- Tea Bags
- Tea Leaves
- Tomatoes
- Turnips
- Waffles
- Watermelon
- Zucchini
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Avoid meat, poultry and dairy products as they might
attract insects. Try not to give the worms too much citrus fruit, onions, coffee grounds
or tea as they are acidic and the worms don't like them much. A friend once said to me
that the worms get tummy aches if they eat too much acidic food. Avoid animal feeds that
may contain hormones or antibiotics, and manure from animals that have been wormed or fed
antibiotics (check when you get the manure). Avoid lawn clippings as they create too much
heat. If you stick to the list above, you should do very well.
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