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Worm Farming

There are several uses for worms, apart from providing animals with food.  They aerate the soil.  They actually help to make topsoil, plus compost and they also help to break down clay. They're great for fishing too, among other things! 

Worm castings and liquid (worm poo & wee) are priceless to the gardener.  Rich and full of nutrients.  Watch the plants go for gold when they're fed this stuff!
It's rich, so go easy on the plants.  Too much of a good thing is a waste.

The common worm found in NZ gardens is not the worm used for worm farming.  The Tiger Worm, also found in NZ, prefers a rich diet and likes to hang out around compost heaps and animal droppings.  So naturally, this is the one used, because of it's unfussy and voracious appetite.

There are plenty of methods for worm farming.   My method would have to be the most basic of them all.  Take one medium plastic garbage bin or whatever, (be sure the container hasn't contained toxic materials), pierce holes in the bottom with anything that comes to hand (this is harder than it sounds, the bottoms are almost impenetrable, so if you can, try the whatever!). This is to allow excess water etc. to drain out.  Place the bin in a shady (east is good) position, with protection from the rain.  I put the lid on in bad weather, but remember to take it off to allow air flow.

Use bricks or anything else you can find to allow drainage space below the bin.  Half fill the bin with compost or soil/compost mix which should be moist, not wet.  Add a handful of worms from the compost heap or buy some if you have to..  Cover the worms with a dampened piece of hessian, cotton or woollen material.  Whatever it is, it should allow air to penetrate.  Worms need to breathe!

When the worms have hidden themselves, it's time to feed them.  To begin with, because there is only a handful, give them just a little soft food.  Any food scraps, except citrus and meat.   Increase the amount in proportion to how quickly it disappears.  Place it under the material you used to cover the worms.  Now sprinkle a little water on the covering material.  Just enough to moisten the food underneath and the material.   Dampen more material (I scrounged old sweatshirts, woollen sweaters, anything natural) and cover the top of the bin.  This acts as shade cloth, moisture barrier and light protection.

Worms definitely do not like light.  The minute you lift the covers, they'll wiggle for cover.  It's not because they're shy!

It takes a few weeks for the wormies to reproduce so don't prod under the surface to see how they're growing.   The best view you will have is when you lift the material to add more food.   As the population grows, a mass of worms of various sizes will wiggle in discomfort when you disturb their feeding orgy. Now you can afford to get a little off-hand about what you give them.   But remember, no citrus or meat, they hate the acid and meat attracts flies.   Throw it in, peelings, whatever.  These worms have settled in and they're ravenous.  It seems to disappear within a few days now. 

Feed them about a 2 cm layer at a time and wait until it's nearly gone before giving them anymore.  Use common sense if it's bulky, like potato peelings etc., give a little softer food too along with the peelings.   Too much food will go mouldy and attract unwelcome insect visitors.

By now, you will be quite attached to your wormies and probably will be feeling a bit sorry for them.  So by all means, if you feel bad about their captivity, set them free in your garden in some nice shady moist soil.  Personally I feed mine to orphan ducklings.

Eventually you will have to divide your worm farm and give them another bin or empty it and start again.  Just remember.   Moist soil always, not too wet, not dry.

Worm bins are available for purchase from "The Warehouse' in New Zealand, the complete kit includes compost and instructions.

For those of you who need a few worms to get started, here is a list of worm suppliers.   If you are a supplier of Tiger worms and would like to be included, or would like your information updated to include email or webpage, please contact me.

Worm Farmers

The following worm farmers will supply Tiger Worms (best for compost ) to the public and are members of the New Zealand Earthworm Association (Inc).

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