Worm Farms

Ninja...Worm Farm Cat

Scubagran from The Bay Of Islands 'over the ditch' in NZ emailed me recently about some info on veg growing and I noticed on her blog post Here that she is also after an easy worm farm.

As it just happens to be Compost Week this week I thought it time to pop a post up about our home made worm farms.
I have avoided those 'Tower systems' as they seem to get too hot in summer and we regularly have temps over 40C here that tend to cook the worms in those bins. Plus I didn't think they were worth the price.

My main farm is made from an old oil drum...in it's former life Doc made it into a BBQ by cutting it in half an hinging the lid at the rear. Our son had many a fiery BBQ out the back with his mates on this little setup. When Doc bought himself a 'real' gas BBQ and I seized the chance to grab the drum for a worm farm.

I lined the base which had holes drilled in it already with small rocks and covered that with a piece of shadecloth. Then I built up the layers of bedding with:

• soaked coir peat
• shredded paper
• some well cooked compost
• a little good soil from the garden
• added the compost worms
  
• topped it off with a piece of underfelt
• and a grid to keep the cats off at first

Anything that needed soaking had molasses added to the rainwater.

I used an old baby's bath underneath to catch excess water

I soon gave up on the idea of keeping the cats off
because the worm farm is a favorite sleeping spot for the Black Ninja.

I also made a smaller farm out of the box I used for the Grey Water Worm System a couple of years ago. It now functions very well as a small back-up farm (without the grey water).

See here for details on the ways I feed the worms in my farm


Some links to other great worm farm info:
You can read more about setting up one of those 'tower' systems on this link and even download a podcast about it.

Read a great article by Sonya on Aussies Living Simply all about Worms Here

A fact sheets from ABC's Gardening Australia
Building a Worm Farm

A recent update from Lucky's Duck Farm on her Worms.