The Bin

You need a home for the worms. They need a dark environment with ventilation and drainage.

Generally any non-transparent plastic box with a lid will work. The depth isn’t too important but I prefer this deeper one to a bin I used to have that was half as deep. (However my bin is always only about half full). Apparently the surface area is a bigger factor in the number of “supportable” worms (and hence amount of compost they will eat).

Some worm bins, especially outdoor ones, are made of wood.

Example Bin #1

Andrew’s bin is a typical storage tupperware (a 60L/16Gal Rubbermaid RoughTote). Its dimensions are 22”Lx14”Wx14”H (55cm long x 15cm wide x 15cm high). I got it from Canadian Tire for less than $10.

(The numbers help me put the food in a different corner each week.)

There is a rubber foot mat underneath the bin to collect the run-off.

Example Bin #2

These are photos of a bin constructed by Joseph Hogan:

Check out more of this bin being created below….

Ventilation

Drilled holes for ventilation and drainage.

This is a photo from the inside of Andrew’s box, with many small ventilation holes covered by a bit of screen to avoid flies. This screening doesn’t, unfortunately, prevent fruit flies because they are so tiny, but I think it deters house flies and worm escapes.

Simon recommends cutting up some nylons for use as a screen because it will block even little creatures like fruit-flies.

The bin needs to be worm proof too. The holes should be as small as possible. Notice the worm castings in the photo above – this is because the worms crawl all over the inside of the bin, including the lid.

As you notice in the photos from Joseph’s bin, larger holes take a lot less work to make and based on his experience with many bins, are fine also.

Bedding

The worms like to live in something that isn’t pure compost. You start them off by filling the bin with bedding. These are suggestions, you don’t have to use all three:

· Shred newspaper. A paper shredder is convenient for this

· Dried leaves are good too

· Joseph has also used sawdust

· (There are some other alternatives, including manure)

Soil/Compost

The worms also need some soil. For example you could take the soil from another worm bin (in which case it is mostly worm castings). Or get some compost-rich soil from a garden. They don’t need a lot.

Egg shells

Ground up egg shells are useful for reducing acidity in the soil. Joseph recommends that you save them up and then use a blender to make a powder. You can break them into pieces by hand but these would still be visible in the soil you harvet.

Adding worms

Of course you need some worms… Often when you get them they will be in some soil:

Photos of Building a Bin:

Joseph carefully documented the creation of a new bin. Notice how water was added to moisten the bedding. You don’t drench everything but the material should be damp. He uses three different beddings plus egg shells, to create a deluxe, well balanced environment. (But if you don’t have them all, you could also get by with just newpaper, soil and worms.)