been doing in ground Vermiculture for 10+ years. I have a 5 gallon bucket with a lid in each of my raised beds with the bottom cut out and holes drilled in the sides. Looks like a bucket takes up less space than those boxes and I'm sure it is a lot cheaper. I don't harvest castings from the bucket though, when I'm rotating crops like moving from spring to summer plants I pull the bucket out of the ground, cover what is there and move the bucket to a different location in the raised bed. It's been working great.
@@Fireinthesquash I've done different sizes. Some big holes (1 or 2 inches) or many small holes (I did 3/8 of an inch I think). I haven't noticed much difference other than the buckets with the small holes are stronger as i didn't remove as much material. I also try to remove any burrs or sharp edges from the holes.
I just use any container with a lid. I really like quart yogurt containers. It doesn’t have to be buried. Just touch the soil with holes in the bottom. Put infood scraps or dried organic matter. Top with a bit of native dirt. Water periodically. After a bit (a day?) the container will be full of worms. You can keep adding organic materials or dump the whole thing into any container you are making to add the worms and worm compost. I put the small composters all over the garden, next to plants. It helps feed the plants and creates new soil to add to new containers for planting. Oh yeah, I add no worms. They come for the food and dirt. They will stay and breed as long as there is still food. I will dump out the containers full of worms and digested organic materials (worm compost), or add them to a new container so they can work there, or move the containers around for instant worms.
This seems brilliant! I was concerned about the size, even of the subpod mini, but i am excited to try this new approach. Currently i have a tumbler and it is slow to get me partially broken down compost.
This is really useful for schools trying to reduce green waste. Lots of schools in Australia have this system because it just reduces the effort required to manage the composting process.
I have an in ground bin. It’s just a 5 gallon bucket with holes drilled into the bottom and sides buried in the garden. I keep finding bonus compost tomato seedlings growing in the bucket. I also have a vermicompost bag stand in the garage from your website. Both work well. Harvesting the in ground one is messy.
I put one in my garden as well and I just put some leftovers from the garden. But I needed to add worms and add more veggies to make it more feasible. I will set the bucket up like the demonstration on the video and do some layering.
I also have an in ground 5-gallon bucket with holes. I added 500 worms. I continually add my vegetable scraps. It works great. It cost a dollar or two. I followed a RUclips tutorial created by Growing in the Garden.
I have the original Subpod and raised bed and love it so much. Here's one tip I would recommend for gardeners who are in places with cold winters. I garden on the eastern end of Long Island, New York, so we get a lot of wind and sub-freezing temps in January-March. I had my Subpod against the wall of the raised bed as you do in this video, and was how it was recommended to be installed (their idea was that the Subpod could also be used as a garden bench, so you install in by the raised bed wall so you can sit down). That said, when it was predicted to be super cold (teens--20's) in January of this year for an extended period of time, I ordered a cold frame to install over the subpod, so that my worms wouldn't freeze (I had been feeding them since last May, so really didn't want them all to die!). Well, the cold frame wouldn't fit between the Subpod and the wall of the raised bed, so I had to dig a trench behind it in order to move it back. Not fun when the soil was frozen, and it was so cold! I dug it out, moved it back about 3 inches, installed the cold frame, and the snow was kept out and the temp inside was warmer. All that to say this--I LOVE the SUBPOD! I love being able to compost almost all of my food waste (not meat, not onions, garlic, citrus), I love being able to feed a lot of my cardboard and food packaging and junk mail and old magazines to the worms. But for folks in cold weather environments, install the subpod back from the edge of the raised bed, in order to cover them in winter.
I have a question? I live in the north east, can’t you just use worms already in the ground and not buy red wrigglers, who don’t like the cold? I currently have a compost bin , just a section of my yard where I throw my veggie scraps, grass etc. the regular worms do a great job of eating that stuff. What’s the advantage of red wrigglers? ( ps I have had red wrigglers before, kept in the house.
@@benettemcneill984 earthworms and compost worms are different. You need compost worms to eat your food scraps. The earthworms will eat their poo and take it down deeper which will improve your soil a lot.
@@summcunt5421 I know they are different worms. Clarify what you said ,”they will eat the poo” who , the earthworms or red wrigglers? Don’t earth worms eat my scraps and leave their poo behind thus making compost? This is what I am doing. Sometimes I just dig a hole in the ground and bury my food scraps. But with my more controlled areas I end up with compost to put on my plants.
For myself I would have traded out the big composter for the mini in the center of that bed then buried the bid on in the ground where you did. Just makes more sense to me getting a better use in both areas. What was that I heard. Jacques "Nooooo, now he'll make me move them."
I was obsessed with this a couple of years ago, ultimately, I decided it is a lot of work for a small amount of composting space. My Geobin has a ton of worms and is more flexible on volume.
I use 1 gallon pots on top of my 20-30 gallon pots and compost in place in the 1 gallon. I water through the 1 gallon distributing the nutrients to the larger pots below. The worms and the plants love it.
Buckets with holes. I use plastic containers with lids. Feeds all my soil and plants. I use paper shreds and cardboard. Worms love it. I have buckets of work castings.
Haha we think alike! I used to use all different containers, such as quart yogurt containers. Basically, any food containers that I can reuse. Most of them last forever, since they mostly sit under leaves and in shaded areas.
Burrowing vermin can make quick work out of those thin buckets. I have had numerous goes at buried systems... Raised beds are a different matter buckets are good for those.
Thanks for the review. I would have to stick with an indoors one since I get hard freezes where I am, and I also don't think it's worth taking the space since I only have about 120 square feet of gardening space, so even if it only takes 4 square feet that's a pretty good chunk. As long as it's helping people get into composting, I'm happy it exists!
I've had my Subpod for two years now and I really like it. In fact, I purchased a second one. I don't think it's for everyone, but it really works for me. When I bought my urban house it was already really planted out and there wasn't an out-of-view area to set up a composter. I also run a hospitality business from my home so my property can't look like a working farm. This was the perfect solution for adding composting to my space. It's very low profile, and it increases productivity in my raised beds without a lot of fussing on my part. I didn't purchase Subpod's raised bed, I put mine in larger wooden raised beds that already existed on my property. One of my raised beds has a somewhat unproductive end because it's mostly shaded, so putting a composing system into that end of the bed made sense. You can certainly set up your own system for way cheaper. I saw someone who drilled holes in 5 gallon buckets and sunk them into their beds. For me, having the polished look and performance of the Subpod was worth it.
I think you are exactly the ideal user - someone who wants to improve the soil, recycle scraps but needs to do it in an esthetically pleasing way. I'm lucky I've got the space and much lower esthetic needs (LOL)!
Added this to my yet to be bought birdies raised garden beds, ain't getting any younger so think before going about garden beds, what will your garden need. The more planning put in for the future of your garden the better. Reasons for gardening: fruits and vegetables to share with our neighbors and help others while benefitting from prior planning! List so far: Raised beds Subpod' (a few as my neighbors love gardening) Worms of course This plan will come together in the next 18 months. Also to fill the raised beds, look at hugelkulture (not sure on the spelling of the word),. Also many thanks for the video, been looking for different channels and videos on a variety of subjects. Old age, will be growing roses.
Love the full size sub pod with its own raised bed. In my garden I will put the pod in the middle so it does not freeze in my climate. Grow small items like radish or carrots around the pod. Then after transferring the pod back and forth several times maybe once a year empty the entire bed and use through out the garden. The worms go in and out enriching the entire bed but you can get them back into one side to be able to use all the soil, and start over.
I respect you so much for being so honest and fair in your review. Great video as always Kevin!!!! I wish I could cultivate the like button more than once!
Great, informative video, Kevin. Will you be showing us more results in the next couple of months, please? Very interested in the smaller system. Thank you again.
Maybe use the large bin in your orchard. Trees like worms also. I use Ecobin composting bins (Amazon). Easy to set up and work during the composting system. I have 5 bins going at any time. I tuck them in the back of my garden out of the way. I added worms 4 years ago and they have MULTIPLIED. I add waste from my kitchen, chicken coop, garden, etc. Stuff breaks down pretty fast. I also add the partially decomposed materials and worms directly to my raised beds. Helps add worms and composting heat directly to the beds. We have long winters in Northern Idaho so my raised beds have some down time. Good luck,
Hi Kevin, I really enjoy your videos. I am wondering, why do we need a big hunk of plastic in the garden? I think back on my German grandmother who just dug a hole in her garden where she put all her kitchen scraps. It was covered with a board with a rock on top. Each year she moved the hole. I'm sure you could add some bedding if needed and. the worms would be free to come and go. Sometimes I think we make things to complicated. She always had a beautiful garden.
@@epicgardening Pardon me, but I bought a bunch of capsicum and chilli's a year and a half ago. They fruited amazingly in the first season, but since then they've been straggly and more brown than green. They're still alive, but their fruiting this season is hopeless. Any suggestions?
Gonna be honest, with the price of $139 per subpod, I think I could achieve the same affect with some milk crates or another cheap container with holes in it. They look nice but they're way above my budget plan for a worm bin.
We are getting the double pod for a raised bed of 1200mm x1000mm at school. It looks good and will be a focal point. DIY mini pods for the other beds so that the worm tea can benefit them. Castings can be spread around
I agree with you, to me it is a waste of space to have it in the raised bed. Putting it in the soil is the best option to me. Thanks for the illustration and information 😊
Sub pods look great. Just a couple thoughts to consider for some: the first location being next to a steel garden wall in some climates might get pretty hot and may not be ideal for the worms. The other is if you are in a climate where you get freezes these boxes won't work unless you bring them in for the winter. But in many milder locations, this looks like a great product.
take one plastic paint bucket get a drill put holes in the side and bottom everywhere bury 2/3 in the ground fill with paper/cardbd/leaves espec add banana skins cost zero and does the same job the primary purpose of the stacked bin system is for collecting the worm tea at the bottom rather than making castings
I bought the mini and haven't set it up yet. So glad you tested this. I didn't buy the double sided for the same reason you didn't like it. Only wondering how to harvest castings without getting worms 🤔. I also live in zone 7a and will be to provide warmth. I have a soil thermometer. I saw a video where someone used a seedling heat mat to keep them warm. We'll see.
This is the issue with the mini, you don't have the migration of the worms to the other side. I actually like to have some worms in the compost I harvest as they help make the soil healthy in other locations. But something I noticed is that if I don't immediately place the compost in the intended location but hold it in a container, the worms will move down away from the light and air. I can take compost from the top of the container without getting the bulk of them. When I do run across a batch of worms, I'll either throw them back in the bin, or on the bed where the bin is located. They can make their way back into the bin.
I made a large raised bed for mine, I’ve had it for almost a year and the plants in that particular bed are thriving. I may be wrong but I think the aerator tool is purchased separately or for an additional fee. Highly recommend it.
When I read the title, I thought it was stupid. You clearly proved me wrong real quick as you explained how it worked. This is a very clever idea. I think I'll do this.
I'm thinking I may do this with a milk crate wrapped in chicken wore or something with narrow holes for passage then cover with plywood. Awesome video and definitely something I will put in all of my raised beds!
Question. So the full size sub pod has two halves and once one is "done", you bait the other side with food and the worms migrate. then you can removed the castings and use them. Now the Mini had no such divider. How do you extract the castings and leave the worms behind?
I've been wondering that as well -- it seemed like one major pro of the original was that you could easily disperse castings from the previous chamber to other beds. I guess maybe with the single you'd just let them run out of food so they disperse into the bed, then collect the castings and try to call them home again with fresh bedding and food? Hope someone with actual experience can shed some light on this!
I was thinking a good solution would be go to Tap Plastics and purchase a piece of 1/4” plastic with holes drilled in it to go in the middle. Thus creating 2 sides.
Yup, that's exactly how the big one works! The small one I'd probably remove the top layer of food + worms once full, then scoop castings from very bottom (worms unlikely to live there)
I have several in-ground worm stations - I'm aiming for at least one in every bed. The worms seem to do a great job in moving the castings into the surrounding bed because the stations don't fill up nearly as fast as the above ground worm farms do. Very occasionally I'll remove the top layer and grab a few handfuls from below and distribute those castings around plants not close to a worm station, then simply return the top layer. But as I said - the worms are pretty efficient and I rarely need to reduce the contents.
Because of your vid in vermicomposting 3 years ago i got inspired so last year i start wormfarming from 4 pounds now i got roughtly 60 pounds and counting keep it up kevin shout out please im from philippines
I used to use a pair of my girlfriends tights with holes in and fill it with food waste every so often and put it around the raised beds but I can see this is a better way of doing it
Great idea, though i’d add cardboard in and around the insides, then drill some smaller holes rather than the big milk carton holes to start. Less chance of pest or unwanted critters getting into your worm bin, added insulation, and food once the cardboard breaks down.
Great and very informative videos as usual Kevin, thanks for all the time and effort you put into this! I never thought of shredded paper and straw, it's awesome! 🌿
I just put one of these systems in this morning. I'm just hoping I didn't stuff anything up and they survive. It's my first composting system ever. I hope it was okay that I already put in some food. Some cardboard from the box they came in and some partially decomposed plant trimmings. All damp (but not soaked as the sureounding soil is quite moist from earlier rain).
Looks cool! I live in an apartment so I have an indoor stacking tray type system but I’d love to switch to something like this when I have a house someday!
My mom has told me stories of her mother (back in the 1930's & 1940's) having a spot near the backdoor where she would put some of the kitchen waste. And then she'd dig worms out of it for fishing and to give to the chickens. Not really what we do with raising worms today, but it does speak to nothin' new under the sun.
The mini would be cool for me, at the moment I use a old fridge load with red wigglers which give a good supply over the summer. Maybe I will give this idea a try if I expand my garden space.
I have the original SubPod in a 12’x4’ raised bed and it works really well but I am considering the Mini for my 8’x4’ beds so I don’t lose so much growing space. Everything growing right next to the SubPod does awesome though.
That's awesome to hear Bryce! Great to hear your plants are benefiting from the worm action below... we actually find it's far more affective than adding casting to the top soil, as compost is being deilvered directly to the roots.
Just watching how easily you dug up that bed after digging out a wet clay soil bed by hand to replace with cuttings/soil mixture made me wanna cry. I'm going to steal my mom's tiller this weekend.
tilling clay will make it worse, not better. It will still be clay, only you will have destroyed all the fungal networks and worm tunnels that add structure and aeration. Just keep adding organic matter and the worms will till it for you
Thanks so much for sharing Kevin! We've noticed a few people asking how to harvest your casting from your mini. Since Subpod is connected to the ground, you can scoop out castings rest them on the surrounding soil and the worms will travel back to the pod. Here's a short educational video :) tps://ruclips.net/video/W-fAVsAtD6U/видео.html
Mostly great content but for my 7000sq yard garden I have one 70 gallon compost bin that provides all my worms. When I shovel out my black gold from the bottom, I segregate 1/2 the worms back into the top of my compost and they seem very happy the rest go into my raised beds. Here in 9b Sacramento, Ca. Thanks for the vids, bro.
Do you see yourself building an African Keyhole garden? I've researched different versions, and have found a few that are modified to collect worm castings under the composter. I find the design of the Keyhole garden to be easy to build. I just finished building one for my spring garden. Also, Keyhole gardens are designed for dry areas, and for water conservation. You should research it if you already haven't. Also, with the Keyhole design, you get more planting space.
Now I’m looking more forward to setting up my subpod mini. I got it earlier in the week after seeing it on IG from Airam. I was going to put the mini on a 30 gallon grow bag. I just gotta find the grow bag. lol
I received mine as well and haven't set it up. Wondering how to harvest castings in the future to spread in my other beds. I currently have my worms indoors and wanted to move them out. This seems like a solution. We'll see.
I enjoyed this review! Finally convinced that it’s something I could integrate into my nutrient deficient bed😂. Just have to figure out how to care for the worms 🤭
I can see these being useful for composting outside food composting in edible gardens. I make something similar out of empty plastic cat litter containers. cut out the bottom, drill holes in the sides and top, bury by ornamental/non edible plants. They break down my dog and SOME cat waste quickly without smell. Can't use it that way on edibles at all but I can see these working for pet waste composting.
I live in a really cold climate, so I'd probably just get 2 of those collapsible storage bin containers that have the little holes in them already. Pack of two is $40 on Amazon, then all I'd need to do is make a lid. It'd work better for me, because I could take them out of the ground in fall, rinse them off, collapse them flat, and store them away until spring. I wonder if I even have to buy worms? 🤔 I like this idea a lot, so definitely going to incorporate something like this for myself in the future.
We used an antique bathtub for worm composting. Unfortunately we didn't realize that Moles love worms, so when we were ready to harvest, there were trails but very few worms.
my cheapo diy version where you don't even need to use a bucket: put some worms in all your raised beds. mulch with at least 4 inches of straw. lift straw and put food scraps underneath. worms eat the straw and scraps. my plants are growing in giant worm bins. i buy a few bales of straw in the fall to replenish the mulch which feeds and keeps the worms warm and happy through winter. i live in zone 8A so we get snow but the beds don't freeze solid. ymmv if you're in a colder climate.
I'd love a subpod for my local community but it was a bit too expensive so we use 20L buckets with holes in them and it's footprint is only 30cm in diameter.
Hi EG, inspiring stuff. Considering starting my own garden exploits. Was really hoping you'd do a video on crop rotations through the season? Thanks and keep it up!
Charles Dowding talks quite a bit about this. I don’t remember a video specifically about it, but it’s often sprinkled throughout his videos. He shows himself harvesting beds and popping in new seedlings so he’s always using the beds.
Scanning comments here, but maybe already said. Three thoughts: 1) Seems to me it may be practical in smaller spaces to (a) make the underground bin able to support a person walking on it and then (b) embed it into the path between beds, rather than take up planting space. If it's the right width with holes on two sides, then the only way out for the worms is into one bed or the other. (Or keyhole setup, with three sides connected to beds.) 2) As long as the bin area has food available for the composting worms, I am skeptical how much they would venture out of the bin.... A lot depends what is in the soil of the planting bed, I suppose.... But perhaps having a couple smaller underground bins in other parts of the bed would encourage emigration, if the main bin is left without food for a while. (At least until worms are discovered in the satellite bins.... Wonder if the worms can be "trained" to venture from one to the next. Perhaps if it's more of a line of very small bins, rather than a long venture. (I'm thinking almost like a subway system.) 3) Similar to #1, for a more agile person (or a person with long arms), one can have a 7 ft x 7 ft x 1 ft (deep) planting raised bed (for instance) with a small square worm bin in the middle. (Say 2 ft x 2 ft.)... The more agile person can squat on worm bin, when closed (again, needs to be able to support the weight), or the person with longer arms can reach to feed the worms.... The "hole" in the middle of the planting area isn't perhaps ideal, but it would help to prevent plants from shading each other out, similar to when a fruit tree is pruned to empty out the middle of it.... For a person especially agile or who has especially long arms it may make sense 8x8 ft or even 9x9.
Maybe in sunny San Diego, don't get me wrong not bashing Cali, from Fresno, but where I'm at now in Northern Utah i have the most beautiful soil on an acre that has been planted by the same couple since the house was built in 1948, both died in their 100s in 2012 and then i bought it and i have never found a worm ever, too cold or too dry, but drop a seed and it grows.
I have worms. I put no money into it. I put almost no effort into it. The worms are happy. No foodscraps get thrown away. The vermicompost is good. I keep my worms in the big woven plastic bags that my dogs food comes in. It just sits on the ground in a shaded area. It doesn't smell. I have never had to add extra water. It can sometime leak a few drops but thats probably a good thing. When it is time to harvest I make sure to feed the worms from the top and wait a week or so. Then I put the bag flat on the ground, push a little to divide it into two and cut the bag in half with scissors. The top part contains most of the worms so that goes straight into a new bag. The bottom part might contain some worms. If I happen to see one I will put it with the others, but I am not going to fuss about it. Can it be easier and cheaper than that?
I'm wondering if the thickness of the pod or the mini is thick enough to keep out chewing shrews. They've been a problem in my garden every year. I had a (notice the word *had* ) triple thick horse tackle outdoor storage box with a locking lid and the shrews chewed through it like it was nothing. I had shrews get into my outdoor worm bins the last two years and devoured so many. Is the plastic on the subpod thicker than any of the outdoor storage boxes / deck storage boxes? I'm thinking not because it has so many holes it would be easy for the shrews to simply connect the holes and make entry. Thoughts?
Could you just bury a milk crate, having it stick out a bit for airflow (maybe put a screen on the exposed part to keep bugs out), and attach a lid to it?? I have lots of those crates and you can find them at a supermarket for free.
vid on mung beans? they're really cheap and come in huge packs, but I haven't succeeded yet. you can harvest them as microgreens or just wait for harvest which is very fast
I wish you did a test between beds with subpods and no subpods. Or something like subpods vs traditional no till. I can't imagine worms from the subpod is helping much vs a properly prepared no till bed where much of the aeration and compost is added in the initial steps. No need to waste space and money on something you can do or nature does automatically.
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been doing in ground Vermiculture for 10+ years. I have a 5 gallon bucket with a lid in each of my raised beds with the bottom cut out and holes drilled in the sides. Looks like a bucket takes up less space than those boxes and I'm sure it is a lot cheaper. I don't harvest castings from the bucket though, when I'm rotating crops like moving from spring to summer plants I pull the bucket out of the ground, cover what is there and move the bucket to a different location in the raised bed. It's been working great.
Do you add more worms when you move it? Love ur idea!
@@gypsygrama No I do not add anymore worms. They find the new location of the food and they have been reproducing.
how big are the holes you drill? This set up sounds perfect for me.
@@Fireinthesquash I've done different sizes. Some big holes (1 or 2 inches) or many small holes (I did 3/8 of an inch I think). I haven't noticed much difference other than the buckets with the small holes are stronger as i didn't remove as much material. I also try to remove any burrs or sharp edges from the holes.
Exactly!
I just use any container with a lid. I really like quart yogurt containers. It doesn’t have to be buried. Just touch the soil with holes in the bottom. Put infood scraps or dried organic matter. Top with a bit of native dirt. Water periodically. After a bit (a day?) the container will be full of worms. You can keep adding organic materials or dump the whole thing into any container you are making to add the worms and worm compost. I put the small composters all over the garden, next to plants. It helps feed the plants and creates new soil to add to new containers for planting.
Oh yeah, I add no worms. They come for the food and dirt. They will stay and breed as long as there is still food. I will dump out the containers full of worms and digested organic materials (worm compost), or add them to a new container so they can work there, or move the containers around for instant worms.
This seems brilliant! I was concerned about the size, even of the subpod mini, but i am excited to try this new approach. Currently i have a tumbler and it is slow to get me partially broken down compost.
This is really useful for schools trying to reduce green waste. Lots of schools in Australia have this system because it just reduces the effort required to manage the composting process.
I have an in ground bin. It’s just a 5 gallon bucket with holes drilled into the bottom and sides buried in the garden. I keep finding bonus compost tomato seedlings growing in the bucket. I also have a vermicompost bag stand in the garage from your website. Both work well. Harvesting the in ground one is messy.
Is your bucket for worms or for composting?
I put one in my garden as well and I just put some leftovers from the garden. But I needed to add worms and add more veggies to make it more feasible.
I will set the bucket up like the demonstration on the video and do some layering.
I have one as well.
I also have an in ground 5-gallon bucket with holes. I added 500 worms. I continually add my vegetable scraps. It works great. It cost a dollar or two. I followed a RUclips tutorial created by Growing in the Garden.
@@dudleyhaines9826 really
I have the original Subpod and raised bed and love it so much. Here's one tip I would recommend for gardeners who are in places with cold winters. I garden on the eastern end of Long Island, New York, so we get a lot of wind and sub-freezing temps in January-March. I had my Subpod against the wall of the raised bed as you do in this video, and was how it was recommended to be installed (their idea was that the Subpod could also be used as a garden bench, so you install in by the raised bed wall so you can sit down). That said, when it was predicted to be super cold (teens--20's) in January of this year for an extended period of time, I ordered a cold frame to install over the subpod, so that my worms wouldn't freeze (I had been feeding them since last May, so really didn't want them all to die!). Well, the cold frame wouldn't fit between the Subpod and the wall of the raised bed, so I had to dig a trench behind it in order to move it back. Not fun when the soil was frozen, and it was so cold! I dug it out, moved it back about 3 inches, installed the cold frame, and the snow was kept out and the temp inside was warmer. All that to say this--I LOVE the SUBPOD! I love being able to compost almost all of my food waste (not meat, not onions, garlic, citrus), I love being able to feed a lot of my cardboard and food packaging and junk mail and old magazines to the worms. But for folks in cold weather environments, install the subpod back from the edge of the raised bed, in order to cover them in winter.
MVP advice right here!
I have a question? I live in the north east, can’t you just use worms already in the ground and not buy red wrigglers, who don’t like the cold? I currently have a compost bin , just a section of my yard where I throw my veggie scraps, grass etc. the regular worms do a great job of eating that stuff. What’s the advantage of red wrigglers? ( ps I have had red wrigglers before, kept in the house.
@@benettemcneill984 That's such a great kind of obvious question. Why not use the worms that ate already in the ground?
@@benettemcneill984 earthworms and compost worms are different. You need compost worms to eat your food scraps. The earthworms will eat their poo and take it down deeper which will improve your soil a lot.
@@summcunt5421 I know they are different worms. Clarify what you said ,”they will eat the poo” who , the earthworms or red wrigglers? Don’t earth worms eat my scraps and leave their poo behind thus making compost? This is what I am doing. Sometimes I just dig a hole in the ground and bury my food scraps. But with my more controlled areas I end up with compost to put on my plants.
For myself I would have traded out the big composter for the mini in the center of that bed then buried the bid on in the ground where you did. Just makes more sense to me getting a better use in both areas.
What was that I heard. Jacques "Nooooo, now he'll make me move them."
I was obsessed with this a couple of years ago, ultimately, I decided it is a lot of work for a small amount of composting space. My Geobin has a ton of worms and is more flexible on volume.
I use 1 gallon pots on top of my 20-30 gallon pots and compost in place in the 1 gallon. I water through the 1 gallon distributing the nutrients to the larger pots below. The worms and the plants love it.
I love your channel, I've been watching since I was about 9 now 13 and you've helped me so much with gardening keep up the great content 😁
I'm 14 right now, started watching when I was 13 :D
His videos are great.
Man, it's good to see younger people getting into growing their food! Kevin, you are doing good work sir.
I’m 20 and still feel like I’m 13 sometimes! Have fun in the garden! So awesome to hear guys like you getting into gardening! Kevin is the best.
Appreciate you!
Never to early to start learning about Gardening 👨🌾
I have a sub pod and love it. I live in an area with lots of clay and I have planted many trees, so putting it in the raised beds made sense!
Buckets with holes. I use plastic containers with lids. Feeds all my soil and plants. I use paper shreds and cardboard. Worms love it. I have buckets of work castings.
Haha we think alike! I used to use all different containers, such as quart yogurt containers. Basically, any food containers that I can reuse. Most of them last forever, since they mostly sit under leaves and in shaded areas.
Burrowing vermin can make quick work out of those thin buckets. I have had numerous goes at buried systems... Raised beds are a different matter buckets are good for those.
Thanks for the review. I would have to stick with an indoors one since I get hard freezes where I am, and I also don't think it's worth taking the space since I only have about 120 square feet of gardening space, so even if it only takes 4 square feet that's a pretty good chunk. As long as it's helping people get into composting, I'm happy it exists!
I've had my Subpod for two years now and I really like it. In fact, I purchased a second one. I don't think it's for everyone, but it really works for me. When I bought my urban house it was already really planted out and there wasn't an out-of-view area to set up a composter. I also run a hospitality business from my home so my property can't look like a working farm. This was the perfect solution for adding composting to my space. It's very low profile, and it increases productivity in my raised beds without a lot of fussing on my part. I didn't purchase Subpod's raised bed, I put
mine in larger wooden raised beds that already existed on my property. One of my raised beds has a somewhat unproductive end because it's mostly shaded, so putting a composing system into that end of the bed made sense. You can certainly set up your own system for way cheaper. I saw someone who drilled holes in 5 gallon buckets and sunk them into their beds. For me, having the polished look and performance of the Subpod was worth it.
I think you are exactly the ideal user - someone who wants to improve the soil, recycle scraps but needs to do it in an esthetically pleasing way. I'm lucky I've got the space and much lower esthetic needs (LOL)!
Added this to my yet to be bought birdies raised garden beds, ain't getting any younger so think before going about garden beds, what will your garden need.
The more planning put in for the future of your garden the better.
Reasons for gardening: fruits and vegetables to share with our neighbors and help others while benefitting from prior planning!
List so far:
Raised beds
Subpod' (a few as my neighbors love gardening)
Worms of course
This plan will come together in the next 18 months.
Also to fill the raised beds, look at hugelkulture (not sure on the spelling of the word),.
Also many thanks for the video, been looking for different channels and videos on a variety of subjects.
Old age, will be growing roses.
Love the full size sub pod with its own raised bed. In my garden I will put the pod in the middle so it does not freeze in my climate. Grow small items like radish or carrots around the pod. Then after transferring the pod back and forth several times maybe once a year empty the entire bed and use through out the garden. The worms go in and out enriching the entire bed but you can get them back into one side to be able to use all the soil, and start over.
I respect you so much for being so honest and fair in your review. Great video as always Kevin!!!! I wish I could cultivate the like button more than once!
Appreciate you - definitely trying to give pure honest feedback
Why would he not be honest about the experience he has had?
I love my Subpod - one of the best purchases ever made
So happy you're enjoying your Subpod. How long have you had yours for? :)
@@Subpod almost 2 years now. I have bought more as gifts and hope to buy another when I’m set up with more space.
Great, informative video, Kevin. Will you be showing us more results in the next couple of months, please? Very interested in the smaller system. Thank you again.
Yup!
Maybe use the large bin in your orchard. Trees like worms also. I use Ecobin composting bins (Amazon). Easy to set up and work during the composting system. I have 5 bins going at any time. I tuck them in the back of my garden out of the way. I added worms 4 years ago and they have MULTIPLIED. I add waste from my kitchen, chicken coop, garden, etc. Stuff breaks down pretty fast. I also add the partially decomposed materials and worms directly to my raised beds. Helps add worms and composting heat directly to the beds. We have long winters in Northern Idaho so my raised beds have some down time. Good luck,
Love this bin system. It feels foolproof and easy for beginners.
Hi Kevin,
I really enjoy your videos.
I am wondering, why do we need a big hunk of plastic in the garden? I think back on my German grandmother who just dug a hole in her garden where she put all her kitchen scraps. It was covered with a board with a rock on top. Each year she moved the hole. I'm sure you could add some bedding if needed and. the worms would be free to come and go.
Sometimes I think we make things to complicated. She always had a beautiful garden.
Vermin can easily dig and feed off a hole.
And there are only so many holes you can dig.... And remember.
And the time....
I wonder what his neighbors think when he's laying in the garden popping out from things lol
They're used to it by now...I hope
@@epicgardening 🤣🤣🤣
"My neighbor's dope"
Like, that cracked me up 🤣😂🤣😂🤣 #brilliant
@@epicgardening Pardon me, but I bought a bunch of capsicum and chilli's a year and a half ago. They fruited amazingly in the first season, but since then they've been straggly and more brown than green. They're still alive, but their fruiting this season is hopeless. Any suggestions?
Gonna be honest, with the price of $139 per subpod, I think I could achieve the same affect with some milk crates or another cheap container with holes in it. They look nice but they're way above my budget plan for a worm bin.
I'm making mine out of 3 plastic totes a couple bricks n compost
I like when there is new systems coming out for gardening
Just started my composting journey with the Subpod mini! So excited
We are getting the double pod for a raised bed of 1200mm x1000mm at school. It looks good and will be a focal point. DIY mini pods for the other beds so that the worm tea can benefit them. Castings can be spread around
I agree with you, to me it is a waste of space to have it in the raised bed. Putting it in the soil is the best option to me. Thanks for the illustration and information 😊
Sub pods look great. Just a couple thoughts to consider for some: the first location being next to a steel garden wall in some climates might get pretty hot and may not be ideal for the worms. The other is if you are in a climate where you get freezes these boxes won't work unless you bring them in for the winter. But in many milder locations, this looks like a great product.
This is really cool because you can keep the eye sore out of your yard too.
take one plastic paint bucket get a drill put holes in the side and bottom everywhere bury 2/3 in the ground fill with paper/cardbd/leaves espec add banana skins cost zero and does the same job the primary purpose of the stacked bin system is for collecting the worm tea at the bottom rather than making castings
Ha I does the same
I love watching your videos and especially love watching your creative intros! Thanks for the laughs Kevin! 🌻
Glad you like them!
Awesome job Kevin. Love that mini. I may buy or construct my own that I can put in my tomato garden. Thank you!!!!
Omgosh! I can just use the milk crates I acquired from a corner market. It’s similar enough and I can makeshift a top. So excited!!!!!!
I bought the mini and haven't set it up yet. So glad you tested this. I didn't buy the double sided for the same reason you didn't like it. Only wondering how to harvest castings without getting worms 🤔. I also live in zone 7a and will be to provide warmth. I have a soil thermometer. I saw a video where someone used a seedling heat mat to keep them warm. We'll see.
This is the issue with the mini, you don't have the migration of the worms to the other side. I actually like to have some worms in the compost I harvest as they help make the soil healthy in other locations. But something I noticed is that if I don't immediately place the compost in the intended location but hold it in a container, the worms will move down away from the light and air. I can take compost from the top of the container without getting the bulk of them. When I do run across a batch of worms, I'll either throw them back in the bin, or on the bed where the bin is located. They can make their way back into the bin.
I made a large raised bed for mine, I’ve had it for almost a year and the plants in that particular bed are thriving. I may be wrong but I think the aerator tool is purchased separately or for an additional fee. Highly recommend it.
I believe it is, yes as an accessory...really nice!
When I read the title, I thought it was stupid. You clearly proved me wrong real quick as you explained how it worked. This is a very clever idea. I think I'll do this.
I'm thinking I may do this with a milk crate wrapped in chicken wore or something with narrow holes for passage then cover with plywood. Awesome video and definitely something I will put in all of my raised beds!
I've been liking all ur videos for the extra blessings and they have all come true!
That is such a neat worm compost bin! I have a bin but it doesn't go underground it's above
Wow Kevin, I'm impressed by the special effects
Question. So the full size sub pod has two halves and once one is "done", you bait the other side with food and the worms migrate. then you can removed the castings and use them. Now the Mini had no such divider. How do you extract the castings and leave the worms behind?
I have the same question. Glad to see you address it.
I've been wondering that as well -- it seemed like one major pro of the original was that you could easily disperse castings from the previous chamber to other beds. I guess maybe with the single you'd just let them run out of food so they disperse into the bed, then collect the castings and try to call them home again with fresh bedding and food? Hope someone with actual experience can shed some light on this!
I was thinking a good solution would be go to Tap Plastics and purchase a piece of 1/4” plastic with holes drilled in it to go in the middle. Thus creating 2 sides.
Yup, that's exactly how the big one works! The small one I'd probably remove the top layer of food + worms once full, then scoop castings from very bottom (worms unlikely to live there)
I have several in-ground worm stations - I'm aiming for at least one in every bed. The worms seem to do a great job in moving the castings into the surrounding bed because the stations don't fill up nearly as fast as the above ground worm farms do.
Very occasionally I'll remove the top layer and grab a few handfuls from below and distribute those castings around plants not close to a worm station, then simply return the top layer. But as I said - the worms are pretty efficient and I rarely need to reduce the contents.
Because of your vid in vermicomposting 3 years ago i got inspired so last year i start wormfarming from 4 pounds now i got roughtly 60 pounds and counting keep it up kevin shout out please im from philippines
WOW. Shoutout and salamat for watching
Woooooooooot woooooot
Looks like to me a milk crate with hinges. Don't know how much those cost, but milk crate would be really cheap.
That’s what I was thinking. I can find free milk crates and just attach some kind of lid.
x) i was thinking the same exact thing about the milk crates but price wise the mini was $130 and the large $320.
I used to use a pair of my girlfriends tights with holes in and fill it with food waste every so often and put it around the raised beds but I can see this is a better way of doing it
Great idea, though i’d add cardboard in and around the insides, then drill some smaller holes rather than the big milk carton holes to start. Less chance of pest or unwanted critters getting into your worm bin, added insulation, and food once the cardboard breaks down.
I stole some milk crates outside a breakfast cafe… i like your idea except the holes are too big allowing bigger bugs and pests
Great and very informative videos as usual Kevin, thanks for all the time and effort you put into this! I never thought of shredded paper and straw, it's awesome! 🌿
I just put one of these systems in this morning. I'm just hoping I didn't stuff anything up and they survive. It's my first composting system ever. I hope it was okay that I already put in some food. Some cardboard from the box they came in and some partially decomposed plant trimmings. All damp (but not soaked as the sureounding soil is quite moist from earlier rain).
We have very clever possums in Australia...they can break into anything, so little clips for lid are good !!
Looks cool! I live in an apartment so I have an indoor stacking tray type system but I’d love to switch to something like this when I have a house someday!
Great concept. I think the smaller one would work best in most home gardens. Worms do amazing things for your plants 🪱
Worms are a big trigger for me (they make me nauseous) but I listened without looking because I love your videos!
I live for the popping out of different spots in the Intro. 😂
My mom has told me stories of her mother (back in the 1930's & 1940's) having a spot near the backdoor where she would put some of the kitchen waste. And then she'd dig worms out of it for fishing and to give to the chickens. Not really what we do with raising worms today, but it does speak to nothin' new under the sun.
The mini would be cool for me, at the moment I use a old fridge load with red wigglers which give a good supply over the summer. Maybe I will give this idea a try if I expand my garden space.
My store was just gifted one and am excited to learn about it.
I would think the temperature and moisture regulation would be superior. I think I will add this to my secondary raised beds. Thanks for the info
This would save space for condo or townhome dwellers!
I have the original SubPod in a 12’x4’ raised bed and it works really well but I am considering the Mini for my 8’x4’ beds so I don’t lose so much growing space. Everything growing right next to the SubPod does awesome though.
That's awesome to hear Bryce! Great to hear your plants are benefiting from the worm action below... we actually find it's far more affective than adding casting to the top soil, as compost is being deilvered directly to the roots.
@@Subpod it definitely helps and I am glad to see that you have a smaller one. I will have to try it out in one of my 8’x4’ beds.
This is exactly the thing- the mini! thanks!
Cool, it looks like a great garden invention to help the worms in our garden.
Ooo, you should look into that flow hive bee hive thingy. I think that would be awesome for your garden. Bonus honey too.
Great idea!
lizards are getting into my subpod and eating my worms!! they fit through the holes!
Wanting to know for these winter months….!
Just watching how easily you dug up that bed after digging out a wet clay soil bed by hand to replace with cuttings/soil mixture made me wanna cry. I'm going to steal my mom's tiller this weekend.
We just made them...that's why!
tilling clay will make it worse, not better. It will still be clay, only you will have destroyed all the fungal networks and worm tunnels that add structure and aeration. Just keep adding organic matter and the worms will till it for you
Sir! Very powerful gardening content! Mr pakman gave me a perfect recommendation for this channel
Thanks so much for sharing Kevin! We've noticed a few people asking how to harvest your casting from your mini. Since Subpod is connected to the ground, you can scoop out castings rest them on the surrounding soil and the worms will travel back to the pod. Here's a short educational video :) tps://ruclips.net/video/W-fAVsAtD6U/видео.html
Mostly great content but for my 7000sq yard garden I have one 70 gallon compost bin that provides all my worms. When I shovel out my black gold from the bottom, I segregate 1/2 the worms back into the top of my compost and they seem very happy the rest go into my raised beds. Here in 9b Sacramento, Ca. Thanks for the vids, bro.
Do you see yourself building an African Keyhole garden? I've researched different versions, and have found a few that are modified to collect worm castings under the composter. I find the design of the Keyhole garden to be easy to build. I just finished building one for my spring garden. Also, Keyhole gardens are designed for dry areas, and for water conservation. You should research it if you already haven't. Also, with the Keyhole design, you get more planting space.
Now I’m looking more forward to setting up my subpod mini. I got it earlier in the week after seeing it on IG from Airam. I was going to put the mini on a 30 gallon grow bag. I just gotta find the grow bag. lol
I received mine as well and haven't set it up. Wondering how to harvest castings in the future to spread in my other beds. I currently have my worms indoors and wanted to move them out. This seems like a solution. We'll see.
I enjoyed this review! Finally convinced that it’s something I could integrate into my nutrient deficient bed😂. Just have to figure out how to care for the worms 🤭
Definitely a thought since worm farming is TEDIOUS for me
Im the same
I can see these being useful for composting outside food composting in edible gardens. I make something similar out of empty plastic cat litter containers. cut out the bottom, drill holes in the sides and top, bury by ornamental/non edible plants. They break down my dog and SOME cat waste quickly without smell. Can't use it that way on edibles at all but I can see these working for pet waste composting.
A company in New Zealand (Tumbleweed) manufactors Pet Poo Composter $299.
hi @kevin that "twisty turny device" is a compost aerator. Just FYI
Cool video, this mini one looks really good.
LOL.. always a trip watching your videos.. man, you have come a long way..
I live in a really cold climate, so I'd probably just get 2 of those collapsible storage bin containers that have the little holes in them already. Pack of two is $40 on Amazon, then all I'd need to do is make a lid. It'd work better for me, because I could take them out of the ground in fall, rinse them off, collapse them flat, and store them away until spring. I wonder if I even have to buy worms? 🤔 I like this idea a lot, so definitely going to incorporate something like this for myself in the future.
Thanks for bringing the jump out back! 😂
We used an antique bathtub for worm composting. Unfortunately we didn't realize that Moles love worms, so when we were ready to harvest, there were trails but very few worms.
Thank you for this information. I am assuming the moles came up through the drain, could you have covered that with screen wire?
The special effects in this video are 👨🏻🍳😘
The benefit I see(being in Colorado) is the regulated temperature. I’ve lost many worms to freezing temps.
my cheapo diy version where you don't even need to use a bucket: put some worms in all your raised beds. mulch with at least 4 inches of straw. lift straw and put food scraps underneath. worms eat the straw and scraps. my plants are growing in giant worm bins. i buy a few bales of straw in the fall to replenish the mulch which feeds and keeps the worms warm and happy through winter. i live in zone 8A so we get snow but the beds don't freeze solid. ymmv if you're in a colder climate.
I do this, too. Except I don't buy straw, I mulch with grass and leaves from my lawnmower. Works fantastic for me in Zone 5A.
@@judyhamblin9366 i wish i could do that too but i live in the desert!
I'd love a subpod for my local community but it was a bit too expensive so we use 20L buckets with holes in them and it's footprint is only 30cm in diameter.
thats what I am thinking, too.
Hi EG, inspiring stuff. Considering starting my own garden exploits. Was really hoping you'd do a video on crop rotations through the season? Thanks and keep it up!
Charles Dowding talks quite a bit about this. I don’t remember a video specifically about it, but it’s often sprinkled throughout his videos. He shows himself harvesting beds and popping in new seedlings so he’s always using the beds.
Scanning comments here, but maybe already said. Three thoughts:
1) Seems to me it may be practical in smaller spaces to (a) make the underground bin able to support a person walking on it and then (b) embed it into the path between beds, rather than take up planting space. If it's the right width with holes on two sides, then the only way out for the worms is into one bed or the other. (Or keyhole setup, with three sides connected to beds.)
2) As long as the bin area has food available for the composting worms, I am skeptical how much they would venture out of the bin.... A lot depends what is in the soil of the planting bed, I suppose.... But perhaps having a couple smaller underground bins in other parts of the bed would encourage emigration, if the main bin is left without food for a while. (At least until worms are discovered in the satellite bins.... Wonder if the worms can be "trained" to venture from one to the next. Perhaps if it's more of a line of very small bins, rather than a long venture. (I'm thinking almost like a subway system.)
3) Similar to #1, for a more agile person (or a person with long arms), one can have a 7 ft x 7 ft x 1 ft (deep) planting raised bed (for instance) with a small square worm bin in the middle. (Say 2 ft x 2 ft.)... The more agile person can squat on worm bin, when closed (again, needs to be able to support the weight), or the person with longer arms can reach to feed the worms.... The "hole" in the middle of the planting area isn't perhaps ideal, but it would help to prevent plants from shading each other out, similar to when a fruit tree is pruned to empty out the middle of it.... For a person especially agile or who has especially long arms it may make sense 8x8 ft or even 9x9.
Oh you fancy with the special effects 🗯
Yeah like where did you come from. This is the most educational channel I've seen in like forever
That's the goal!
Good review. The mini is cool.
Seems big compared to the garden. I do diy worm towers, they take up less real estate in the garden 4 inch pipe.
Maybe in sunny San Diego, don't get me wrong not bashing Cali, from Fresno, but where I'm at now in Northern Utah i have the most beautiful soil on an acre that has been planted by the same couple since the house was built in 1948, both died in their 100s in 2012 and then i bought it and i have never found a worm ever, too cold or too dry, but drop a seed and it grows.
I was NOT ready for that intro😆🤣
Composter vs worm bin. Thoughts on whats best? And a little drain at the bottom for liquod gold
I have worms. I put no money into it. I put almost no effort into it. The worms are happy. No foodscraps get thrown away. The vermicompost is good.
I keep my worms in the big woven plastic bags that my dogs food comes in. It just sits on the ground in a shaded area. It doesn't smell. I have never had to add extra water. It can sometime leak a few drops but thats probably a good thing.
When it is time to harvest I make sure to feed the worms from the top and wait a week or so. Then I put the bag flat on the ground, push a little to divide it into two and cut the bag in half with scissors. The top part contains most of the worms so that goes straight into a new bag. The bottom part might contain some worms. If I happen to see one I will put it with the others, but I am not going to fuss about it.
Can it be easier and cheaper than that?
I'm wondering if the thickness of the pod or the mini is thick enough to keep out chewing shrews. They've been a problem in my garden every year. I had a (notice the word *had* ) triple thick horse tackle outdoor storage box with a locking lid and the shrews chewed through it like it was nothing. I had shrews get into my outdoor worm bins the last two years and devoured so many. Is the plastic on the subpod thicker than any of the outdoor storage boxes / deck storage boxes? I'm thinking not because it has so many holes it would be easy for the shrews to simply connect the holes and make entry. Thoughts?
beautiful soil!
If I ever get my own house I would use one in my yard as a muni septic tank for my pets. I’ve seen it is pretty common…
Hi. What do you think about putting a small one inside a green stalk garden?
Could you just bury a milk crate, having it stick out a bit for airflow (maybe put a screen on the exposed part to keep bugs out), and attach a lid to it?? I have lots of those crates and you can find them at a supermarket for free.
vid on mung beans? they're really cheap and come in huge packs, but I haven't succeeded yet. you can harvest them as microgreens or just wait for harvest which is very fast
So I guess Kevin finally learned some magic! Your a wizard Kevin.
Oh man, I need something like this, I have similar bed to that too.
I wish you did a test between beds with subpods and no subpods. Or something like subpods vs traditional no till. I can't imagine worms from the subpod is helping much vs a properly prepared no till bed where much of the aeration and compost is added in the initial steps. No need to waste space and money on something you can do or nature does automatically.
Would doing a subpod (or other type solution) in ground near raised beds give any benefit or would the worms pretty much stay in the subpod?