Easy Homemade Worm Bin

The other day I mentioned that I really wanted a kitchen composter. However, they can be spendy and if you’ve got the space outside you can make a super simple worm (or compost) bin in almost no time at all.

Make your own rich compost in a homemade worm bin.

You’ll need a container of sorts…

The container can be simple or elaborate depending on how much time and money you want to spend on it. Worms like the dark so if you choose a plastic clear container surround it with a cover. Covers such as paper won’t work outside due to rain, so it’s better just to make a dark container. Worms also only need 12 inches of depth, so while you can have a deeper container, it’s not necessary. Keep in mind that the bin’s size directly affects how many pounds of scraps your worms will munch down and process per week. Use the one to one rule = one square-foot of surface area to one pound of scraps per week.

You can use a bucket, wooden box, or even an old plastic bin as a worm home. If you’re making a bin drill at least 10 or so holes on the bottom of the bin. Many people also drill holes near the top edge of the bin, which helps encourage air flow.

You also need a lid. Wood, rubber, a dark plastic sheet, or even hard plastic will do. Keep in mind that wind can send a lid flying, so make sure you tie plastic down, or latch the lids on – talk to clerks at a local hardware store to get the 411 on the proper latch. Your bin also needs drainage space so place the bin atop concrete blocks, bricks, or blocks of wood.

Now that you’ve got your bin…

Fill the bin with a moist but not wet bedding material like shredded newspaper in thin strips or dead leaves. Toss in a couple of handfuls of soil to facilitate the process of your worms actually eating. If your bin is outside, make sure it’s protected from heavy rain or too much sunshine. Then move some red worms into your bin. Bury food scraps and other compost material into the bedding of your compost bin each week. See what to and what not to place in your compost bin.

Removing your compost…

Once you see that most of the bedding and food materials have turned into compost, you’ll need to remove it. One method is to dump everything out onto an old sheet – not useful if you made a large bin, and shine a bright light onto the pile. Worms will head to the darker bottom of the pile and you can scoop most of the compost up and out. A better less worm stressing (do worms get stressed? Hmmm) way to do this is to move the good compost to one side of your bin. Put new bedding and new scraps in the other. Worms will go where there’s food – they don’t want to stay in the compost, so after adding a second pile, wait a week or so for the worms to all move, then remove the compost.

To see a huge array of composting educational materials available for download, visit the U.S. Composting Council.

[image via stock.xchng]