Does anyone know how to make your own "Worm Composter"?

Question

I know you can buy these worm composter in Bunnings Warehouse, but I would like to make my own. I heard that these composter gives your garden a very good organic liquid fertisliser and also gets rid of your kitchen waste too. Anyone have make one?

Answer 1

We have a worm bin. It looks like a big garbage can with four places down near the bottom where we drove big bolts into the ground (to stabilize it). The lid twists and locks down to keep the varmints out. We have raccoons in the neighborhood, so that is reassuring.

The large container has a few vent slots (upper and lower) around the sides. The bottom of the bin consists of a plastic grid (for drainage and air flow).

We started ours with a sack of manure and then we had sawdust from a project. We have the composter under a bay tree but I read someplace where it wasn't advisable to add those leaves (toxins?) but I have now forgotten reason. I ordered the worms after setting up the bin. Since then, the population has multiplied. The worms just love the fruit we throw in there and multiply like crazy with papayas, pineapple, and apricots.

Periodically, I turn the compost using a garden fork. When adding kitchen garbage, avoid adding meats or foods with oils in the bin -- as advised by the brochure we got along with the bin. We only put-in fruit and vegetable trimmings. Whenever I add kitchen stuff to the bin, I push aside some of the compost and pour it into the well, then cover it up because otherwise, flies grow and multiply. After a week or so, I turn the compost. Must turn the compost periodically. Sometimes need to sprinkle with water, can't allow it to dry. The resulting compost has a sweet clean smell after it's been digested by the worms.

It's really hard for me to turn the compost with a frozen shoulder on the mend. No, my husband won't help. I wish I had one of those rotating types instead.

http://www.cityfarmer.org/wormcomp61.html

Answer 2

Both 1 and 2 offer some great advice. I'll just add my 2 cents.

Best Worm Compost plot would be IN GROUND. Certainly it can be a framed structure built up, bottomless; but allows worms free access and range.

Food waste works, but is subject to other critters intrusions unless to put a screen lid on the framework.

Grass and leaves are slow to degrade. Egg shells don't degrade rapidly either. Coffee grounds add acidity.

Any food product other than Meats; will degrade rapidly. That isn't to say meat won't work; it just takes longer to decompose.

Steven Wolf

Mt persoanl favorite was a compost pit under a Rabbit Hutch. Not only did the screen caging allow food to drip into the pit, but rabbit waste is all vegetable generated. I had worms large enough to make for great fishing, and the blackest soil in the entire yard.

Certainly some moisture helps, and turning; as suggested; to aireate.

Answer 3

Worm composting is a method for recycling food waste into a rich, dark, earth-smelling soil conditioner. The great advantage of worm composting is that this can be done indoors and outdoors, thus allowing year round composting. It also provides apartment dwellers with a means of composting. In a nutshell, worm compost is made in a container filled with moistened bedding and redworms. Add your food waste for a period of time, and the worms and micro-organisms will eventually convert the entire contents into rich compost.