Worm Man's Worm Farm

I get many questions from people who want to produce worm castings for houseplants or for spring gardens but who live in cold climates.  They ask if they can compost indoors year round without getting fly and gnat infestations in their compost bins and without using stinky manure.

The answer is a big YES.  You can composting in your house and you can do it without smells and pests if you do it right.

Supplies you will need:

1.  12 Gallon plastic storage bin with a lid.

2. Drill

3.  Dry Newspapers

4.  5 cups of peat moss or coir bedding.

5.  2 cups of garden soil (for grit and microbes.

6.  250 to 500 red worms

7.  Food Scraps.

Drill holes around the upper rim of the bin for air and also drill holes in the lid.  Just drill all you want to create good air flow.

Rip newspaper into strips and then soak the strips until they are soaked.

Soak the peat and then squeeze the peat until it is just moist but not dripping wet.

Mix the peat and the newspapers together and add the garden soil to the mixture.

Add the food scraps to the mixture in the bin and burry them beneath the bedding.

Add the worms and place the lid on the bin.

That’s it.  As you generate food scraps bury them in the bin to eliminate odors and to stop flies and gnats from getting at the food and laying eggs.

After 30 days or so you should check the worms to see if it is swarming with baby worms.  When you see baby worms remove the breeders you started with and start a second bin.

Stop feeding the babies in the first bin and let them eat all of the food as they grow.  When you no longer see visible food and when the bedding is sand-like you can harvest the worms from the first bed and use the castings for your plants.   Use the worms to start new beds.  You should have plenty of worms by then to start a couple of bins.

Please write with your questions. There are so many variations on how you can harvest and feed that I want to cover them but I don’t want to drone on and on in this post.  Thanks!

Ken