Easy Build Worm Farm

With the beginning of garden season fast approaching, I am in a hurry to get our worm farm going. The rich worm tea as well as the worm castings it will generate, are a ‘must have’ in my organic garden.

Back in Australia we made a large worm farm out of an old bathtub. We used the method taught by Permaculture Consultant Geoff Lawton and it worked wonderfully. I have hunted around for an old bath tub here but without success. I will keep searching.

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Prepare the Worm Farm Structure

In order for me to go ahead and get started, I am going to make do with what we have. I found an old large plastic storage container that we used last year to house baby chicks. My plan was to drill a hole in the bottom and put it up on some bricks. This will give it enough height to be able to fit a bucket underneath to catch the worm juice.

I created a filter with an old fly screen wrapped around some old wire mesh. A half brick I found lying in the garden will work to weigh it down. I placed it over the hole in the tub to filter out the worms and worm castings but allow the rich worm juice to go through to the bucket below.

Find a Good Location for the Worm Farm

Ideally you would place your worm farm in a cool shady place outside where it can still receive rain but no harsh hot sun. I decided to put ours behind the shed under a big oak tree in the yard next to the garden. In this spot, the worms had a shady protected area but would still receive rainfall. It also had the benefit of being nearby to where I will want to cart the worm juice and the worm castings.

Create the Worm Bedding

The bottom layer of the farm is ideally straight manure. Cow or horse manure is ideal. If you use poultry manure you will need to make sure it is very aged or it will be too hot for the worms and may kill them.

We don’t have a cow yet but we have a good regenerative farmer up the road where we can access manure. Unfortunately we didn’t get any straight manure, it was mixed with hay. I am hopeful that it will be fine, because we sorted out clumps that were fairly high in manure content.

On top of this we lay some soiled hay that we had also collected from the same farm.

Purchase Composting Worms

We ordered our composting worms from Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm They have been farming worms in Pennsylvania for over 40 years and have many worm farm products.

Being new to the country we have not dealt with Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm before but our first experience was a good one. Our worms came within just a few days and were very healthy and vibrant when we received them.

Add Worms to the Worm Farm

Now it was time to introduce the worms to their new home! Our two youngest children were very excited to help put the little guys into their house. The little squirmy worms tickled their hands and made them giggle as they dropped them on the manure. The little red wriggers will be ‘happy as Larry’ in there eating away to their hearts content.

Water, Feed and Monitor

Next I placed a bucket under the hole. Then watered the worms with about a bucket of fresh water. This water can immediately be applied to gardens as a rich fertilizer. We can water and harvest this worm juice every day.

At least twice a week we will feed the worms. Every worm will eat their body weight every day. They will eat pretty much any organic matter except citrus fruit and the onion family. This includes breads and meats but we do not feed them to the worms because they will also attract rodents and unwanted pests. We will feed them coffee grinds, tea bags, hair clippings when I cut the boys hair, shredded paper, grass clippings, food scraps and pretty much anything that will biodegrade.

The longer the worms stay and work the farm, the richer that fertilizer will become. I will water and collect the worm juice daily, using it to grow our seedlings and gardens. It is a beautiful, simple, symbiotic relationship benefiting the worms and helping feed our family by fertilizing our gardens.

I just love worm farms. They are incredibly beneficial, simple and fairly cheap to establish and accessible to just about anyone no matter what scale they are operating on. You can get small worm farms the size of a bucket for small backyard or indoor purposes and then scale up as much as you like.

Can’t wait to see all the goodness these little guys will produce. Creation really is a wonder!

You may also like to read Starting a Garden From Scratch

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