You could go out and spends lots of money to bring home a flashy wormery bin, but why would you when you can create one for under $5? Your wormery bin will serve the same function just as efficiently but for next to no cost to you! Let's get your wormery compost started.

The first thing you need to find to get started on your wormery is your compost bin. This is the only time you will need to spend money...or is it? You need to get a plastic tub, about 8-10 gallons in volume. This can be bought from Walmart for under $5. You may even have one of these lying around your house just accumulating dust.

Now that we have our compost bin, we have to get it ready. There are a few important facts that you should know about your wormery. It needs to be constantly aerated and it should be damp! We will need to drill a few holes in our plastic tub because of this. Drill about 10 holes in the bottom of your new wormery compost bin. This is too enable excess water to drain. Now drill holes along the top of the side walls. They should be a couple of inches apart. These holes are to allow fresh air to get into your wormery compost bin.

The next step is to acquire bedding for our worms to live in. This doesn't have to be anything special or particular. All you need is a biodegradable waste that is capable of absorbing and retaining moisture. Here are a few of my choice things to use as bedding:

-Old newspapers
-Cardboard
-Grass clippings
-Fallen leaves

Shred up your bedding material, wet it, and fill your container with it. You want to fill your wormery compost bin to about 75% full.

Your compost bin is now finished! The last step is to get some worms. Worms can be purchased from your local garden shop or online for about $30 per pound (you'll need about two pounds), but in the spirit of making a free wormery compost, let's find our worms for free. One procedure you can do is to find a manure pile and start digging...but who wants to do that?

Instead, do this: Locate a big sheet of cardboard, or unfold a cardboard box. The next time you get a good rain where the ground gets a good drench, lay the cardboard on your grass and leave it overnight. Worms live only a few inches deep, and will happily wriggle to the top for such a tasty treat! The next morning, pick up your cardboard and start gathering your worms.