Worm farms

You can turn your kitchen wastes into rich soil fertilizers by making worm farms. They are easy to set up and can be placed indoors or outdoors. Hence it can even be made by people living in small apartments. They can be kept in the balcony, kitchen counter, or any place that is shaded and cool.

Material used to make worm farms:

• You need a small container. It could be anything from an old dressing table drawer, a barrel or a trunk. Make sure that the container provides one square foot surface area for one pound of food waste. You can use wooden or plastic containers.
• You need worms, preferably red worms also known as red wigglers, brandling or manure worms. You need around 2 pounds of worms for 1 pound of food waste. That will be around 2000 red worms.
• For bedding, you will need moist news paper strips, Shredded leaves or corrugated cardboards. Also a handful of soil or sand can be used.
• And of course organic wastes such as vegetable and fruit peels, tea bags or coffee ground. Avoid using meats, oily food and dairy products as they can attract rodents and may give out a bad odor.

How to set up worm farms?

Worm farms are very easy to set up. First you need to punch some holes in the bottom of the container for aeration and drainage. If you are using plastic containers then you would need to drill more holes as the contents tent to get too wet in them.

Next, place them on bricks of building blocks for air circulation and also place a tray under it to collect excess liquid.

Now place the bedding in the container. Make sure you moisten the bedding before using them. Now put in the red worms and then pull out some bedding. Add the food waste and then cover them with the pulled out bedding. Throw in a handful of soil or sand to provide grit for the worms in their digestive process.

Where to locate worm farms?

As the worm farm you built will not be too big or heavy, you can easily carry in to a cool place in your house. You can place them outdoors in milder months or indoors in the balcony, garage, and basement where it is warm, dark and dry. You can locate it anywhere in places where the temperature is between 40-80 degrees F. Make sure to keep them away from direct sunlight or heavy rains.

Worm farms are a natural way of recycling food waste into valuable soil fertilizers which can be used for your house plant, garden or backyard plants and trees. It can be a good way to teach young children about worms and how they are natural beings to produce rich fertilizers.