The Bin

Hello Again!

Today I thought I would describe my worm bin set up and walk you through with some pictures.

So like I have said in my previous post I feed my worms house hold scraps (left over fruits & veggies, paper scraps, tea bags & coffee filters, yard scraps, etc). I found that the most convenient way for me to feed the worms was to store up my scraps and give them all to the worms all at one or two days a week.

I store my fruit and veggie scraps in a plastic container that I keep in my kitchen. I keep it by the sink so when I am cutting up fruit or veggies I just pop the scraps in the top.

 

The picture below shows the slits I cut in the lid to make it easier to insert the scraps. The lid isn't necessary,  unless you are like me and have a curious cat that likes to knock things over.

  

So once my scrap bin is full I but it in the food processor. I have noticed that the worms eat up the smaller scraps that are well blended, as opposed to them trying to eat an apple whole. Also, I add a bit of water to the food when it is in the processor to help it blend easier, but also for added moisture. I hardly add any water to my bin, the moisture in the food seems to keep the contents moist. I keep my worm bin next to my kitchen counter, it is in a cool place out of the sun, and it is easy to get to.

 

To keep an airflow going I drilled a bunch of holes in the lid and it seems to keep the bin aired out, without letting out too much moisture.

  

I keep a few layers of cardboard on top of the bins contents to keep the moisture inside, it works pretty well. These sheets of cardboard have been in the bin for just over a month and they are just barely starting to get eaten. 

 

I keep some skewers inside the bin to help me move the castings around, dig holes for new food, check on the worms, etc.

 

This is the inside of the bin. Like I mentioned in my previous post I filled the bin with yard scraps (raked leaves and dead grass) and some dirt/clay/mud from my garden.

 

Just some of the dirt and yard clippings up close.

And here are some of the little workers that I pulled out of the pile. They are pretty small so it is possible that they are either pretty young, or they are malnourished (lack of water or food, more likely water since there is plenty of food in the bin for them).

 

Well thanks for reading!  I will be coming back in a day or two to talk about some other basics of the worm bin.

If you have any questions or comments please leave a comment below!!