We decided to start with a worm farm before we got into the nitty gritty of setting up a garden. The fruits that are produced from a worm farm are the castings and worm tea (worm wees). Waiting for these to come to fruition takes patience and attention (good practice for waiting for the fruits of your labour when gardening). These castings are a rich fertilizer and the worm tea is a SUPER STEROID for your plants (just think of the worm poo wearing a cape and sending your plants big zaps of growth booster)
3 styrofoam boxes (same size)
Knife and scissors (lets cut some things)
Soil Compost, Sand, Damp shredded newspaper & a worm blanket
Food waste DO NOT USE - meat, dairy products or bread (these attract vermin) onions, citrus peel and tomatoes are acidic and not good for the worms. HELPFUL FOOD - lime and crushed eggshells reduce the smell and keep away flies
Gloves (protect them digits)
AND last but not least woooorms (at least a 1000)
1. You will have three boxes. The bottom box is the collection box (where the worm wee ends up) the middle and top box are the feeder boxes (where the worms get their feed on and will turn into castings) In the bottom of the middle and top box you will need to cut 8 holes 2cmx2cm. (as shown in photo) DO NOT make holes in the bottom one - where would the worm wees go you silly sausages?
2. Next, lets attach the tap to the bottom, the tap when turned on will let all the wees flow freely so you can use it for your garden! So... place the tap at the bottom of the styrofoam box, trace a hole around the edge. Grab your knife, cut the hole and then BAM put the tap in. Secure the tap with blu tak on the outside to ensure that the worm wees does not seep out the sides!
3. Place the middle box on top of the bottom box. Layer with damp newspaper (muslin can be used as an alternative) to cover the holes. (this ensures that the wees gets through but the castings that are being made stay secure). You will then fill the middle box a third full of an even mixture of soil, compost, sand and damp shredded newspaper (feel free to get your Edward Scissor hands on).
4. Add the worms. ( There are three types of worms to be used - Tiger Worms, Red Wrigglers and Indian Blues) We got our box from Margaret River Bunnings, these were Tiger Worms.
5. On top of the worms we then added a layer of food. Then another thin layer of the soil,compost and damp shredded newspaper.
6. THEN, you are ready to put your worms to bed...dampen the worm blanket and then let your worms eat some kai (Maori - food) and catch some zzzzzz's.
7. Feed your worms once a week - a thin layer each time. Assess this as time goes on, if there is rotten food in the worm farm, you are feeding them too much and this should be removed.The farm should not be wet, just damp - the feeling of a damp sponge.
Keep your worm farm in a shady place, away from hot sun. Side of your house or in the garage are a perfect home for your farm!
Be awesome and try and recycle as much as you can wherever you can. We nabbed our styrofoam boxes from the back of the local district club. (Old vege boxes - IGA/Coles may also have these)
Compost, Soil, Worms and Tap- we didn't have any of these available to us so have had to venture to Bunnings to buy these. We have later heard that we could have got our worms from a local, but unfortunately we didn't have the contact at the right time! Don't forget to ask around when endeavoring to carry out your new projects - your friends may even have compost and soil available.
We will keep you updated with handy notes and tid bits about the upkeep of your worm farm as we carry it out on ours!
