How to Make a Worm Composting Bin, Quick, Simple and Inexpensive Gardening

what's going on growers James because you only coming to you live from Jersey now that falls here the garden work and maintenance has started to slow down but that doesn't mean we have to so today I want to share with you easy way to convert your kitchen scraps into next year's organic fertilizer by building your own simple homemade vermicompost setup let's go now is a great time to build your own worm bin this way when spring rolls around we'll have some worm castings to add to our garden and we'll be able to make our own vermicompost tape most of us still have leftover scraps from our garden yeah we have our compost piles going but this worm bin is going to be an additional way to take our waste and allow nature through the worms to convert that into beautiful black gold perfect for our soil building our own vermicompost setup doesn't have to be expensive it doesn't have to be complicated we don't want to overthink it too much what we want to do is create an ideal environment for these worms to thrive and to decompose our food while also reproducing in there basically we can add additional bins if we'd like to what we will need to start our setup is an O peg storage bin 18 gallons is about as small as you want to go we want to have adequate space in there for enough oxygen to get in which we'll get into even more later and we're gonna need a lid for that and also an additional lid at the bottom or something to catch the worm juice as it drains out we'll need a drill with a quarter inch bit and you can use nails also to knock in air holes but the drill is going to make it the easiest for you we're not going to be building a multi bin system with different tiers we're just going to keep it simple and effective this will be cheaper in the long run if you want to add additional totes and additional bins but also it'll be easier to monitor the whole system I think this is effective too because it's gonna be easier to allow the oxygen by stacking the bins that can reduce some of that oxygen and create anaerobic bacteria which we do not want that'll really hurt the worms in the long run the first thing we want to do is drill holes at the bottom of our bin this way the worm juice can drain out the bottom so it doesn't sit down there and reduce the oxygen and go anaerobic you'll know what to anaerobic if you get that foul nasty smell that's not the kind of decomposition that we want so I'm gonna remove this bottom lid as well that's going to catch the juice and just drill a bunch of holes at the bottom here to allow that drainage you'll notice that I'm drilling these holes at the lowest part that's where it's going to drain to and I'm also drilling into wood this way it's just not getting popped through and having to rip it back out putting that wood underneath it to drill to makes it a little easier on you now that's finished I put a bunch of them in there we'd rather have too many then not enough I'm gonna do the same thing at the top here on the sides to let airflow come in and then I'm gonna drill the top of the lid as well again I'm gonna be drilling that lid onto the onto the wood to make it easier for me to go in and out how many holes you should drill that's sort of up to you just make sure you have enough you really don't want to have too little especially at the top these worms I know I've said a lot of times but they need good oxygen there we go that's good bunch of holes should be perfect now I'm gonna drill some holes in the side of the bin you can see what we did with this bin so we don't want to go out and buy expensive bins this thing was like five or six dollars knew I had some older bins but I just want to grab a fresh one so I can give the worms a nice home and keep it nice and clean for them to start because I didn't want to make sure I had any chemicals or anything in the bin that I was going to use so let's move on to the next step tucks out here with me today we're trying to make the most of this nice weather before it starts to get too cold and the next thing we want to move on to is the bedding for the worm bin where they're going to live so the most ideal thing to use is some homemade compost something that's almost finished that's why I think this time of year is such a good time to build your worm bin that's what we have here a bunch of compost and we want to make sure that the compost isn't hot that it's not cooking that could injure the worms so what I did was I came out the other day and I just separated some compost and then put that in a bin this way the worms will be okay with the temperature of it and you don't have to use compost but this is gonna be the most ideal it's gonna provide food for them it's gonna have a nice pH a nice environment they're gonna be comfortable moving into a place like this you could start with newspaper and stuff but you don't want just newspaper when you're first started if you don't have homemade compost who uses your bedding and you're going to be using shredded up newspaper or shredded up cardboard just make sure you add some in Seoul too that to bring some grit in that will help the worms decompose everything better and will also add some beneficial bacteria which will help the worms in the long run one thing that's super important when putting your bedding in is the depth we don't want too deep or that I'll cut off some oxygen it'll make everything get a little too dense that's not what we want so a good amount is about six to eight inches at the bottom and your compost it should have a good earthy smell to it it shouldn't smell bad again that's that sign of the anaerobic bacteria so I'm just going to be adding some of this homemade compost down here to about six to eight inches then after that we'll have everything set up where we can start bringing our worms in now you may be wondering where do we get these worms from and our there are kind of worms that are actually best for this kind of thing yes there are worms that are best and those are the red wigglers you can go out to your garden and harvest some of them but that's going to take a little bit of time you're gonna have to wait for those to be produced so you can get a full worm bin set enough to actually decompose a bin like this the best thing to do in my opinion is to start a system is to order 500 to 1,000 worms first size like this from a reputable company and I'm gonna start with a thousand what that's going to do is to get this thing whole kick-started once they start really doing well and reproducing I'll be able to start an additional bin without having to purchase any more worms and the red wigglers are going to be the best for a number of reasons one thing is that they actually like staying in the top part of the soil and they're not territorial like your night crawlers could be we're almost finished getting this compost transferred from one bin to the next making sure we're getting the right height and I'm taking out any of the big sticks and stuff that are in here and again how many worms our bins you're going to need is going to be based on how much food you're eating it's all gonna be young weight so for instance we're gonna start with a thousand red wigglers which is about one pound like I mentioned they'll eat half of their body weight every single day so that's about 0.5 pounds of food they'll eat every day we want to feed these once every week so that's gonna be about 3.5 pounds a week in order to maintain those thousand red wiggler worms if you are eating less food then you can go with maybe about 500 worms and I'm gonna be making sure I try to pack the food in here to make sure that you can continue to reproduce and continue to do well you don't want to put too much in but it's something you have to learn over time it's something you'll get a feel for the worms will actually maintain their population based on how much food and how much space they have so if you just want to stick with 500 or if you just want to stick with you know if you're only producing about half of a pound or a pound of food then just keep adding that into your bin once a week and your worms will actually start to develop that regulation they'll regulate themselves and their population based on how much base and how much food you're giving them I plan on giving them more as much as they can eat so they will reproduce quick and I can create more and more bins we have all the compost transferred in it looks great now it's time to add these worms we're gonna add these styles and I got them from Uncle Jim's worm farm great reviews other people said it's a good place to use so we're gonna add these in they're gonna be a little lethargic to start because they spend a few days in the mail and it's just peat moss I think that they're left in here with just to suck up any moisture so they're looking okay we're getting some good movement which is always a good sign they should really enjoy this compost and for the first week or so I'm not going to be adding any additional food because I want them to get used to their new home almost like what happens when you transfer a plant or you transplant what happens is it takes a little bit for them to adjust so I want to make sure the worms can adjust in this composters are gonna be plenty of food for them to snack on and then in a week I'll come and I'll start feeding them some kitchen scraps I'm not gonna feed them whole scraps I'm gonna cut them up or I'm gonna probably blend them that's the easiest for them to digest what I'll do is come on one side take the blended food scraps and dump them right here and then cover them it'll take them a good week to eat those scraps and again how much food they can actually process it's gonna be dependent on a number of things for instance a newer bin like this is gonna take a little while of him to start really thriving and really decomposing those scraps quickly so once I get a feel for it is how I'm gonna adjust it I want to make sure I can reproduce as many worms in here as possible though so I can build more bins so we're gonna push the envelope but we don't want food sitting in here for longer than because it'll start to get fungus and that's not what we want worms are in you'll notice that I didn't mix them up I just laid them over top they'll naturally go down and burrow into the bedding they'll enjoy it you saw that it's not super wet its moist because these worms need moisture but it's not super super wet it's not soggy we don't want that and when I do put the food scraps in the blended scraps I'm just gonna bury a small hole and then cover it with about an inch of mulch for the worms on one side let them migrate over eat all that and then a week later I'll do it on the other side one thing to think about is the worms they're not gonna eat the vegetable seeds that's just part of nature that's part of what's it ingrained into them so when you put your worm castings out you may have some things popping up some tomato seeds and some seeds from other plants so just keep an eye on that when it comes to temperature these worms are gonna want to be in a spot that's about 50 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit to maintain a temperature you don't want it super hot super cold so I'm gonna bring them into the garage which I have one side which is kind of heated it'll be the perfect ideal temperature for so what I'll do is pop the lid on and then put that base underneath it let the worms settle in and let them start going to work and do what they do best a few things you don't want to feed to your worms our fatty foods foods that are salty anything with really vinegar in it or even citrus because the citrus is actually going to be antimicrobial and these worms like eating food that is breaking down that's rotting if you're finding that you can't keep up with how much the worms are eating then a good thing you can do is go to your local coffee shop and get some coffee grounds don't worry we'll eat those and you could also go around and harvest some leaves locally that's why I think right now is a great time to build your bin because people are gonna start raking up their leaves around here putting them in bags so I'll go around grab some of those bags and store them this way I can keep these worms well-fed I'll be honest with you and most of you already know this but what I think is the most efficient and effective way to farm worms if they do it naturally in your own garden with a thick organic matter mulch let the worms just come in like they would and constantly be working for you I don't think if the compost bin is a bad idea though I think it's a great idea and one of the reasons I want to started was so I can make use of those kitchen waste that I have without having to come out to my regular compost pile when it's cold and deal with it like that but also I want to get that worm castings so I can make some worm compost heat which is going to be so beneficial for my garden next year I'd be spraying it on my plants as the foliar feed putting it down low and just using those worm castings in my raised bed too so I think it's a great addition I don't think it's something that can supply to food for us like I have but working in combination with having the worms work naturally out here and then having them work inside for me I think that's just gonna be great I think it's to be beneficial and I think it's something that you know any true gardener loves to do they love to take advantage of things like kitchen waste and converting that into gold into soil fertility into something that's gonna grow more and more food for us the worms have been in here for a few minutes I wanted to show you how they've migrated down you don't see much up top here anymore as I move there's some squirming around there but they're settling down they're starting to move into the compost too so they're really gonna love this stuff and I'm excited to give them a nice home we're gonna be waiting a week like I said till I give them food but soon I'll update you guys later and then I'll be expanding adding more and more bins okay a few days have passed and the worms are well adjusted to the new location now I'm gonna be adding some food if you just start it with newspaper or cardboard you want to make sure you put the food in right when you get the worm bin starting they have to have something to eat but because I have this composting this allowed them to have adequate food while they were adjusting to their new home the worms are doing real well the dryness up top here is still some of that peat moss from the initial pouring in but the worms are all scattered through here really enjoying the soil consistency or the compost again homemade compost is gonna be your best bet to start but you can start with newspaper scraps and cardboard things like that so worms are down there working now that a few days have passed I'm gonna pour some food scraps in just dig a little down like that like I did and then we're gonna pour these blended up scraps we blended these up this is gonna make it a lot easier for the worms to digest pour it right in there it'll help keep the moisture content pretty high too if it's too wet in there add some newspaper if it's not wet enough then you might want to add a little moisture or some water we'll just cover that back up just like that and then about a week or so we'll put food on this side and then cover that up we'll just keep alternating side to side that's today's video gross thanks for watching I hope you enjoyed it I hope you got something out of it hope you got encouraged inspired to get out there pay your own worm bin started this way you can take what most people see is waste and convert them to soil fertility convert it into food for you convert it to something that benefits actually all of us if you enjoyed the video hit the like button hit the subscribe button share with your friends don't forget to check out the merch down-low talking james way back to with another one real soon we [Music]

Channel: The Gardening Channel With James Prigioni

Views: 345,962

Rating: 4.9367614 out of 5

Keywords: garden, gardening, worm bin, vermicompost, how to make a worm bin, making a worm bin, building a worm bin, organic, organic garden, organic gardening, james prigioni, migardener, calikim29, daviddobrik

Id: bPcWeL1JBpI

Length: 14min 8sec (848 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 13 2019