How to Make a Functional Worm Bin
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- Опубликовано: 1 июн 2021
- One of the reasons Joe Lamp'l's soil is so healthy and productive is due to worm castings that he harvests right on his GardenFarm™ from a homemade worm bin. Joe and Todd show you the steps to take to make a functional worm bin for your own garden.
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Хобби
We use a side by side worm bin separated by wire, where the worms travel horizontally to a new compartment once the other one is full. Start with one side where you have worms and you add scraps. When full or after 6 months you start filling the other side. We transfer some of the worms to that side to start things off and you stop filling up the first side. After a while the worms migrate to the fresh scraps side. This way you get compost without the worms. I time it so one side is ready to collect from before my spring and fall plantings. I live in San Diego zone 10 so I can pretty much garden year round and the worm compost adds so much to my garden.
What a great idea!!! Do you have plans for your side by side worm composter?
I prefer to use leaf mulch over the use of paper and cardboard. I find it gives me a much darker and richer finished product. I make a bedding of manure compost and leaf mulch.
this is a great video, good to see you back in action,
Hi joe ! Good to see you welcome back !😄
This looks perfect for me! And the worms! Thanx!
Great box.
One way to keep lumber cost down is to see if the local lumber yard will sell you their culls....usually at half price. The big box stores tend to not want to sell their culls.....must be a money thing??? Or any house construction site might be a place to pick up some scrap lumber good enough for a worm bed. Most places will allow you to collect scrap (anything in the dumpster is fair game, but might need permission to go on property if dumpster is not publicly accessible) if one ask nicely. Never hurts to maybe bribe them with food/beverages.....most construction workers will never turn down free food/beverages and you get some wood at well below normal cost...a win-win.
back in the day it was showing up with a six-pack of beer.....today it's Corona's
Hey Joe,
Would you ever consider doing a course on composting- how to’s & why For’s? Really going deep. Maybe going into other types of composting. Incorporating no till gardening for in ground as well as of course raised bed maintenance. Maybe even how to straighten out different soil types to make them awesome garden growing soil. You know I’m one of the millions of gardeners who have gone to and learned from every one of your courses. In fact I’ve almost completed the Master Seed Starting Course.
Hi, Brady! I am in fact considering creating that very course. Thanks for the feedback and the kind words!
I thought there were three sections to this, and you rototate the top bin and harvest the dirt and worm compose on the section then down a new top with food. That's not what I saw in the end.
What's the best way to harvest the castings
with wood prices now, that bin cost a small fortune!
Whats your plan for winter?
Do the castings fall through screen to collect at the bottom DIY Worm Compost?
😂awesome video, thanks for sharing
Thanks, Roberta! You're very welcome!
With just wire mesh over the bottom bin, how do you keep worms from falling into it & drowning in the trays?
Assuming you soil is dense enough that it's not falling right through the wire mesh, that should not happen. Worms navigate the soil and typically stay closer to the top where the food is. If the soil is not falling through, the worms won't either.
I really like the design of the box. I think it’s great. How do you stop ants from moving into your bin?
Usually we put the legs in plastic buckets and filled with water.
Nice video. I put egg shells in mine and theyre still there after a few years. The big challenge is harvesting the castings without taking the worms.
Put a blanket above half the surface under the sun, they'll hide on the shadow side ;)
There are videos describing how to grind egg shells into a powder that worms can ingest. Otherwise, egg shells last forever.
I saw a nifty worm bin that had multiple trays which are rotated as the leavings compost. When one tray gets full of castings and composted material, another tray of leavings for compost is placed on top. The worms eventually migrate to the upper tray with the food they seek, leaving the lower tray of digested material worm-free and ready for use. Empty that tray and it's ready to be placed on top to continue the rotation.
I just converted my Earth Machine compost bin to a wormery to convert kitchen waste and nearly finished compost into vermicompost.
Sounds great! Nice adaptation! 👍
How do the worms climb out?
what about during the winter season/ will they survive?
Do not allow them to freeze, fry or drown.
Hello Joe,
I don’t understand how the bottom level works to remove the worm liquid at the bottom. Is there a video or images of you accessing it?
They pee, gravity moves it to the bottom. I would use much larger pans, though, to help minize excess dripping onto the bottom boards vs the collection pans.
@@edcollier2526 Worms do not pee, the liquid comes from overwatering the worms, and also the moisture from the food scraps,
@@sharmclean1145 my worm pees. 😂😂😂
What do you do with the worms in the bins in the winter? Bring them inside? Or are they still OK outside?
You could bring them inside because the worms won't survive freezing temps. But their eggs/cocoons do. And that's what becomes your new worm population next spring.
I cedar bush
This is great, but how does this work in much colder climates such as zone 4, with long harsh winters? Do the worms hibernate or do we have to let them go into the garden each winter to do that? I can’t see them surviving in deep freezes when the temps go below 20*f for months.
If the bin will be outside it will have to be insulated and some type of heat source to keep it above freezing. I know someone that uses an old freezer shell to keep his bin in if too cold, but not everyone has that kinda space nor want a freezer as a yard ornament. Some of the larger coolers can be used though may have to divide the worms into smaller lots to fit them in. I suppose wrapping an old electric blanket around the bin, but would have to waterproof it if outside. Can use the ceramic heat bulb to keep soil warm instead of a glass one. All depends if you want to keep them outside or not? Good Luck!
In cold climates, the bin and contents will freeze. I have stopped using it through the winter and in spring, restart. The worms produce cocoons (eggs) that will start reproducing in spring. I have also put the whole bin inside my garden shed in winter and bring it out again in spring.
I use the Izzy Swan design. Smaller footprint, taller tower. In the winter I wheel it in to the garage. It’s about the size of a college dorm fridge. Doesn’t smell bad at all, even with fruit going in but you have to keep a top layer of browns. (Cardboard, dried leaves, etc. )
What about toxic chemicals in the ink on the paper (the shredded junk mail)?
I do t use the junk mail. Just plain white paper.
...And, does the dirt eventually begin falling through screen to the bottom box and piling up in the liquid pans?--which box is emptied in to garden as good dirt into garden, the middle one?
(guess I am one if those inexperienced yard gardeners who need a flash video at the end if build video showing a finished process if each step, nit just loading the top, but unloading it, opening, and unloading middle, and opening and emptying bottom pans if liquid? Can't visualize how it should look, thanks).
**Last comment/question: when I was growing up my mom's outside kitchen garden would get a few say lettuce it chopped collard raw scraps occasionally it coffee grounds maybe...but she always noted it a good sign when digging, to come across earthworms.
So, why not just mix into soils when fluffing, mitigating your beds for spring, don't we just throw a few red wigglers in while planting? Is that okay fir raised beds--wouldnt it keep an empty in between box from becoming packed cement before re-planting?
Thank you. Love your show, just now found you in youtube.
What happens in winter to the worms?
Adults don't survive freezing temps. outside. But the cocoons do and they will replace the populations next spring.
Isn't the chlorine toxic? I've read not to use white paper as mulch in the garden.
Chlorine dissipates quickly once it's exposed to air. It shouldn't be an issue by the time you use it, Donna.
@@joegardenerTV Thank you. Very good to know I can still put my shredder to good use. LOL.
Why couldn't the bottom box be open at the bottom altogether, why catch the liquid?...new to this, thanks.
The liquid is called “worm tea” search that.
@@markoesterling5257 It's actually leachate, not tea
Pretty sure all pine pallets are treated. The heavy duty pallets made from hardwood aren’t 🍺🍺
Find pallets that have "HT" stamped on them. They are heat-treated.
None if them are pressure treated with chemicals or copper--it is too time and cost consuming, if HT, it's benign and mostly to dry because...
They are used to transport, stack fir stores and I one cares if they last a week after the contents are emptied.
This video is incomplete.....did you understand estimate the time it takes to accumulate the worm castings?
I see how the last thing I said could sound confusing to someone new at this. I've been making worm castings for a long time so I do understand the time it takes for the worm castings to accumulate. Thanks.
They don’t use toxic arsenic in pressure treated lumber anymore. Safe for kids, pets and pretty much anything else from what the research says?
For years now, the treatment option has been copper vs. arsenic. So today's treated wood is much less toxic but copper is a heavy metal that can build up in soil. So, it's definitely better but not as safe as untreated wood, such as the cedar used in making this worm bin.
Who prints junk e-mail ?!
starts at 2:07