How To: Start A Worm Bin
Worm Castings are some of the best all-natural fertilizer in the world. And while we are more than happy to sell you ours, we always encourage anyone with an interest in worm farming to start their own bin at home! It’s easy, inexpensive and a great way to put your rotting kitchen scraps to good use. Here’s how you do it (Video at the end if you are more of a visual learner)
Step 1
Get two sturdy plastic bins, with lids. We’ve found 17-gallon bins to be a manageable size for beginners, but you can use whatever bin fits your home best as long as they have lids that snap on, and one bin can easily nestle inside the other.
Step 2
Drill drainage holes on the bottom of one of the bins. We’ve found a quarter inch bit to be the ideal size to allow excess water to drain out of the bin, while keeping worms in. We drilled 16 holes here, but the exact number of holes doesn’t matter, as long as the holes are evenly spread out across the bottom of the bin.
Step 3
Put the bin with newly drilled drainage holes inside the bin without holes. Now any excess moisture in your worm bin will drain out of the bottom of the bin and be caught in the bin below it.
Step 4
Add about three inches of shredded cardboard to the bottom of the bin. You could also use shredded paper if you prefer that to cardboard.
Step 5
Water the shredded cardboard (or paper) in the bin and mix the water through thoroughly until there are no dry pieces left. Worms don’t like dry things, so you want to get everything wet enough that when you squeeze the cardboard it feels like a wet sponge. Wet enough that when you squeeze one or two drops of water might leak out, but not so wet that multiple drops of water pour out. If that happens, add more cardboard and remix until you get the proper dampness.
Step 6
Sprinkle a tablespoon of Azomite evenly across the top of the bin. Azomite is a natural mineral powder that’s full of good nutrients for your worms. But, even more importantly, it’s a grit. Worms don’t have teeth, they have gizzards, so they need grit to help them break down food. If you don’t have azomite you can use a tablespoon of finely ground eggshells instead.
Step 7
Sprinkle about a cup of worm castings evenly across the top of the bin. Worms don’t actually eat food; they eat the bacteria that grows on food and it takes time for that bacteria to grow. Worm castings are full of good bacteria so by adding some castings now we’re essentially seeding the bin with immediate nutrients for your worms to eat while the food we’re about to add grows its own bacteria. But, if you don’t want to buy castings to use for this step, you can skip it and just wait about a week before you add worms to the bin.
Step 8
Mix it all together in the bin. Really get in there and mix it well to create a nice, inviting home for your worms.
Step 9
Add a layer of food scraps. There is no magic recipe here, but there are guidelines. Ideally you are adding scraps of fruits and vegetables that would otherwise go in the garbage. But do NOT add meat or dairy products to your bin. Meat and dairy products won’t hurt your worms, but it will take them a long time to eat, and odds are rats or maggots will get to the food in your bin before your worms do. You should also avoid adding chili peppers to your bin because the oil in peppers could actually hurt your worms when they ingest it.
Step 10
Add a layer of wet shredded cardboard or paper over the food scraps. You don’t need a thick layer, just enough to cover the food. This helps prevent fruit flies.
Step 11
Add your worms. This 17-gallon bin will hold about 2500 worms at full capacity. But for a new bin we recommend starting out with about five or six hundred worms, so they have plenty of space to spread out and grow. We use red wiggler worms in our bins because they are good decomposers, but if you prefer a different breed that’s just fine.
Step 12
Put the lid on and find a good home for your new worm farm. The lid will both help the worms stay in the bin and control the moisture inside. For storage, worms thrive best when the air temperature is between 55 and 90 degrees. Some people put the bin under the kitchen sink for easy access when adding food scraps. Other people put it in the basement or a heated garage, or even in a kid’s room as a family project.
Check the bin weekly to see if the worms have eaten the food you added and add more as needed. Don’t be alarmed if they don’t eat much the first week. That’s normal as they adjust to their new home. Once the food is gone, repeat the process of adding a layer of food, followed by a layer of wet shredded cardboard each week.
Where To Buy
Here’s where you can purchase some of the items from the video.