piracy

what i wrote for the newsletter, for your edification:


worms are easy:
a design for a free, infinite capacity worm bin made from common reusable materials


i know you may have seen all the fancy and expensive worm bins in catalogs lately, with fifty-page instruction manuals full of do's and dont's, and the appropriate conditions for worm life, but let me give you the real truth about those wonderfull crawly, slimy, living soil - worms are easy. they're like the weeds of the animal world, they'll live almost anywhere and anyhow.

in my own experimentation with abusing and neglecting worms, i've left them for months in closed containers, neglected to feed them for weeks, occasionally forgotten about them entirely, and they simply don't care.

with this in mind, i decided there needed to be an easier (read as - cheaper!) way to "ranch" worms. and my experiments led me to the most obvious and simplest solution, a resource many people have either thrown away or let stack up in the garage: black planter pots.



they're cheap as free, durable, reusable, and perfectly designed. they are, in fact, functionally identical to the worm-bins you see advertised, though with fewer bells and whistles.

all, and i mean ALL, worms need is food and cover (they won't go to the surface). and what do you get out of the relationship?
you get:
- a clean and efficient receptacle for kitchen wastes (save our land from landfills!)
- the most amazing garden additive ever made, better than compost!
- a low maintenance, reliable pet! increase the biodiversity of your home!

but really, step by step, how does it work?

ingredients:

worms (red wrigglers are best, but any will do for a start)
food waste (no meat!)
used black plastic planting buckets (any size, any number, as long as they can nest together and have drainage holes)


directions:

take 1 bucket, insert worms, and food waste (about a half-gallon or so). place 2nd bucket inside 1st bucket. the 2nd bucket provides cover and shade to your worms. when you get more food waste, put it in the second bucket and put a third on top. et cetera.

the buckets can stack about five high before they become unstable, and start squishing the bottom buckets. at this point you can take the a middle bucket (or an bucket you know worms have already traveled into) and make a new bucket stack. you can also put them in milk crates to add stability, or arrange several small stacks of buckets that brace each other, or both.

after a month or so, take the buckets from the bottom, and spread the newly created soil on your garden or lawn. if there are worms still in it, don't worry, they'll take care of themselves, and if they don't, they turn into great dirt.

repeat.

cautions:

the buckets will, obviously, leak some brown crud downwards when it rains. this is valuable, nutrient-rich fertilizer if you wish to save it and spread it. other wise, just put the buckets on any out-of-the-way patch of lawn or dirt, and let the nutrients return to the earth.

worms will eat most things, eventually. it is not recommended, however, to use any meat products in your worm bins, as it may attract flies or pests which could spread pathogens (a little oil or grease is usually okay).

if you see mealy bugs or rolly-pollies or other decomposers - it's okay! they're just expanding your micro-fauna decomposer ecosystem!

if you get flies - make sure your food waste is covered better. add some torn up news paper or leaves if you need to, or use an old pot lid to cover the top.

i've used this system many times, and i love it. it's super low-maintenance, easy, and, most importantly, free. if you have any questions, email me!