My worm farm (for Earth Worm Castings)

[RedEyeJedi]

A worm farm that I started a week ago with 200 red earthworms (red wigglers). Contained in a 1x2 ft opaque plastic container.
Bedding was made with shredded newspapers, two handfuls of soil and a little cardboard. Feeding it only veggies, fruits (non citrus) and teabags from the kitchen garbage bin.
It all got a little too damp (as you can tell from the pics), so I added a bit of coco coir.

It's so easy to get such amazing organic compost, I'm surprised more people aren't doing this (either that, or am I wrong and lots of people are already on it, which would be great)

[newton]

Great stuff, you can also add crushed eggshells for grit that helps the worms to digest the food quicker, please keep us updated with the results.

[RedEyeJedi]

Next feed has crushed eggshells. I'll keep updating this here...

[newton]

Feed your chiili plants with some of this compost and water run off and you will find your chillies will have more "heat" about them due to the plants chemical changes to deter being eaten by animals

[Muhammad Arif Khan]

Once upon a time I tried it and later found that if you add enough leaf mould to your beds they become worm farms and you have the castings where you want them.
During rains when they come out to mate I collect the ones on the paved surfaces and relocate them to desired places.

[RedEyeJedi]

I have veggies going along side, so i get ample green leaf matter from pruning etc. but don't have any brown leaves for leaf mould. Will get around to collecting some this fall and give it a go in the bin.

Interesting, shall give that a shot too Newton. Have a tray going under the bin for the runoff.

[RedEyeJedi]

After 15 days. You can see some castings already, they're not much but at least i know the bin is working, and they're feeding. I've fed them only once till now. The kitchen scraps i gave em were pretty big, took a while for it all to break down and still not completely.
Will feed them cantaloup and potato skins, eggshells and teabags all blended together in a processor. Im pretty sure this will be consumed much faster, should be interesting to see.

What does everyone here think about the blood/bone meal i've seen being sold in specialised gardening stores in Karachi? They're locally sourced and can be bought in open bags by weight... are they really what they say it is?

[Muhammad Arif Khan]

Once upon a time I tried it and later found that if you add enough leaf mould to your beds they become worm farms and you have the castings where you want them.
During rains when they come out to mate I collect the ones on the paved surfaces and relocate them to desired places.

My earth worms working in situ



The castings are just tip of the ice berg.
Arif

[Muhammad Arif Khan]

Do you know if while hoeing the worm is cut in two it does not die, you get two worms.

[newton]

One word of caution though is to avoid having too many in your lawn as the casts when left on the grass are ideal places for new weed seedlings to develop.

One way to deal with them there is to brush them off so all the soil gets spres inbetween the grass