DIY Recycled Worm Farm
Make Your Own Worm Farm
Vermicomposting is a great and easy hobby for anyone to start! With just a bit of space and a few tools, you could begin worm farming and harvesting your very own worm castings. If you already have a compost bin for your kitchen, the food scraps you put in there will be able to go right into your worm farm!
What You’ll Need:
- 5-gallon bucket- 2 to 3 of them
- You could also use two old tote bins for a larger farm
- A drill with a 3/32 bit and a 3/16 bit for drilling holes
- A lid
- Water
- Coconut core/ soil/compost for grit
- Can also add in used coffee grounds for a grit mixture
- Paper/cardboard shreds for bedding
- Can also use horse or rabbit manure or leaves, but this can potentially introduce unwanted bugs
- Safety goggles and ear protection
- Optional: Circular saw or something you can cut plastic with
Instructions:
Step 1: With your 3/16th bit, drill some holes in the bottom and along the sides on top of one of your 5-gallon buckets/tote bins. The bottom holes are for drainage and the holes around the side are for air flow.
Step 2: Switch to your 3/32 drill bit and drill 4 to 6 small holes in a line on your lid.
Step 3: OPTIONAL: If you have three 5-gallon buckets, you can use one of those to make a spacer. This step is not required, but it really helps for checking on the worms, and it keeps your bottom bucket from being completely submerged in any potential future runoff. To make the spacer, cut the bucket about a quarter of the way down from the top using your circular saw. Don't forget your PPE! You should end up with the ring from the top of the bucket as one piece and the bottom part of the bucket as the other.
NOTE: If using tote bins instead of 5-gallon buckets, skip this step.
Step 4: Place the bucket/tote bin without holes on the bottom, followed by the top spacer piece (if made), then the bucket/bin with the holes. This is now your assembled worm farm!
Step 5: Now it's time to get the inside ready! Start by soaking about a third of your bedding in water, completely submerging it. This step is important because the worms require moisture. It's better to add moisture in through bedding or food instead of dumping into your farm directly.
Step 6: Get your grit ready. This is the coconut core, old coffee grounds, soil, or compost. You can even combine some/all of these to create a git mixture! You want to include this because it really helps the worms with their digestion.
Step 7: Start by layering some of your dry bedding on the bottom. Next, add in a layer of wet bedding. After that, sprinkle in some of your grit. Continue that layering method until you use up all your wet bedding. This should get you close to the top of your farm.
Step 8: Add in the rest of the dry bedding to the top. This creates a protective barrier against potential pests and fruit flies.
Step 9: Add your worms! For a 5-gallon worm farm, we recommend starting with around 200 worms. For a tote bin farm, start with 500 worms. You want to make sure you're starting your farms with less than the maximum capacity, so the worms have room to grow. Maximum capacity for a 5-gallon farm is about 500 worms, and about 2,500 for a tote bin farm.
Step 10: Add in some food. When first starting your farm, start with a very small amount of food. It will take the worms a few weeks to acclimate to their new home, so food consumption will be down until they're happy and comfortable. If you have a kitchen compost bin, that is the kind of food they like. Old fruits and vegetables, rotten produce, even veggie peels will work. They like it when it’s chopped up nice and small since it will break down faster and be easier for them to eat.
