WORM BINS:

You should have only 8-16 inches deep, since compost worms are surface feeders. You can create your own bin by using a washtub, a dish pan, used shipping crate or using a commercially available worm bin. Just be sure your worm bin has a lid to keep out flies and some other rodents. It should also have holes under your bin (a quarter inch or smaller), for ventilation and drainage.

Rule of thumb for worm bin size should be two square feet of the surface location per person, or one square foot of surface location per pound of food waste per week, because worms like moderate temperatures, place your bin in a shady area where it will not freeze or over just fine. Examples of good locations for you to put your worm bin.

In the corner your kitchen.

At your garage

At your basement

Patio

Outside the back door

And at your laundry room.

You can buy or build a container to serve as a worm compost bin or you can use an old dresser drawer that you are not anymore using, trunk or a barrel. Wooden containers are absorbent and a good insulator for the worms. Plastic containers can do work but it can compost tends to get a quite wet worm bin.

 Your container should be 8-12 inches deep and you should provide one square foot of surface location for every pound of food waste per week.

If you depend on your container’s size, you should drill 8-12 holes under your aeration and your drainage. A plastic bin can be used more drainage- if your contents get too much wet, drill some more holes. Raise your bin on the bricks or as the wooden blocks so that your container can have some air circulation. Place a tray underneath so that your container can capture excess liquid, which it can be used as liquid plant fertilizer at your plants.

Worms like a moist, and a dark environment. Worms bodies are 75-90 percent water and worms’ body should be at the moist surface for them able to breathe. You should cover the bin to be able conserve moisture and to be able provide darkness. At the indoors, place some sheet of a dark plastic or a burlap sacking on the top of the bedding. If you are at the outdoors, use a solid lid able to keep out unwanted scavengers and rain.

Your worm bins can be located in your basement, shed, garage, balcony, or at the counter of your kitchen. Worms need to be kept out of the hot sun, heavy rain, and out of the cold areas. When the temperature drop below 40 degrees, your worm bins should be kept indoors, heated or in well insulated. The container can be heated with an electric heating cable placed under the third of the container. To insulate, surround your container with rigid Styrofoam.

BEDDING MATERIALS

Your black and white newspaper is the most readily available and its easy to use bedding material in your worm composting bin. Tear your newspaper into strips about 1 inch wide and moisten it as a damp as a damp wrung out sponge. The cow or horse manure can be also be used to be lighten bedding and absorb your excess moisture.

You can use a handful/ 2 of soil; ground limestone/well crushed eggshells every few months are good for providing grit and calcium. You should fill your bin with moistened bedding, toss in a few handfuls of some soil, you are ready to add the worms and food together. Over time, the bedding and the food are eaten by the worms and turned into dark worm compost.