Vermiculture, Worm Farming, create your own organic fertilizer add to your self-reliance skills it's a cool activity.

  I am a worm farmer, it is, in my opinion, an integral part of my desire to be as self-reliant as I can be, I raise them for a variety of reasons. This blog is intended to instruct how to start a worm farm, the vessels required to raise them and how to make the bins from plastic storage containers, so let's get on with it. Information on worm composting is available at this Link.
  Worm bins may be constructed from a large array of containers, buckets (round or square), wood bins, commercially available setups and even bathtubs. Containers that nestle together and are easily drilled are the types used by most worm farmers. I have several bins that I raise the worms in:
  *Some like my 9 raised garden beds are not dedicated to raising them however each now has an estimated 2,000 - 4,000 residents. I have no way of knowing for sure how many "head" (ok it's cheesy but) of worms are in each, I began by placing 250 into each box over 2 years ago if they reproduced at a reasonable rate they have multiplied by at least as much as my estimate. The boxes are made of reclaimed 2x6 planks of wood, then they were filled with compost from a local nursery, delivered.

This is my 4-foot worm farm prior to filling it with organic
material, and worms. I built this one on top of a 1/2 inch piece
of cardboard to keep the worms from going down. I cover it
with an old shower door I found somewhere.

 *Another bin of wood construction is 4-foot x 4-foot x 4-foot, with a hog wire front to allow air flow through the mass of organic material composting inside.
 *I have a commercially made set-up, the 360, I bought the one with 4 trays, I am happy with it, the learning curve was surprising but with time and patience, it works fine. The learning curve was mostly dealing with when to start moving the worms up to the feeding bins.
 *I have a plastic bin type that I made, this blog will explain how to make one and explain how to prepare it for the addition of the worms. This Link will lead you to a discussion on worms, it's interesting.
  I first attempted vermiculture 10 years ago, it's one of those things that I thought I knew a lot about, I mean after all worms live in the dirt right? Dirt is everywhere right? Doesn't that mean get a bunch of dirt toss a handful of worms in it and viola there is a worm farm. Whoa not so quick, it does not work like that, my Red Wigglers do not live in the dirt, European Night Crawlers do, sort of. 
  The plastic storage bin I will make this worm bin from is an 18-inch long model, I want to replace a 24 inch that I have had a lot of success with.

This is an 18-inch bin, laid out for holes. 

There are 3 reasons I raise worms:
 1)  For the Castings, worm manure or as I prefer to call it and all other feces "Scat".
 2)  Worm "Tea", with two different ways to make this very rich organic fertilizer.
 3)  I have a goal to reach zero garbage, there will always be plastic, glass and shiny colored cardboard, but I don't have to add foodstuff to the landfill.
  We need two bins, they will both be built identically alike, they work together. The tools you will need are 1- A drill motor. 2- 1/4 inch drill "bit" 3- A marker suitable to be seen on plastic and 4- A straight edge 2-4 feet long. We will also need spacers to place under the bin for air flow.

Nothing fancy, just equal size spacers, old children's blocks
work great, as do empty medicine bottles.

  I recommend using new bins, I do have three used bins that I am not using right now but plan on using in the very near future, they are difficult to clean properly. Difficult to clean unless you don't know what was in them, these had dry goods in them for many years in my neighbors' garage, he tossed them in the trash heap and I rescued them. If you do choose to use containers that stored something else, clean them well, and perform the "triple rinse".
  The first thing to do is to set the bin on a flat table of comfortable height, remove the lid and flip the box so the bottom is facing towards the sky or ceiling. Holes need to be "laid out" and drilled, it is recommended no less than 20 holes on the bottom, I more than double that. There are 4 important requirements for raising worms, Water, Bedding, Food and abundant Air. Warm air accumulates in the bin, rising to the top and out the holes, the natural draft draws fresh cool air in through the bottom holes, proper aspiration will be achieved when the holes in the bottom equal the holes in the top.

Laid out with 2-inch centers, this bin is ready to drill holes in,
drill at each intersect. 

The inlet holes must equal the same total open area on the top and bottom or the air may stall in the box. In this 18 inch box, I laid out and drilled 45 holes, on the bottom they are on 2-inch centers. Start on one edge of the box, place a mark 3 inches from the edge of the box from all 4 sides, a small dot will do. Next, draw a line from one dot to the next forming a square on the bottom. Determine how many holes you choose to drill, some commercial boxes have 100 or more holes, I feel 30-40 is an optimal amount. Determine in the square the spacing of the holes, draw the lines the long side and the narrower ends, measure the desired spacing draw the lines and every intersection drill a hole. Now let me toss a wrench in the works, determine how many holes you want and eyeball them, no measuring just drill 30 to 40 holes randomly, you, and the worms will be OK with that. I laid out and drilled the holes for demonstration purposes, normally I don't go to great pains to lay the holes out, I draw a few lines and begin to drill, I do it that way because if I don't the holes have no symmetry at all, I am not artistic in the least. Now take out your pocket knife and knock the "Irish Pennants" from the inside of the bottom.
  Second is the lid, In the same manner, lay out the holes on the lid, it's a little more of a challenge due to the reliefs formed in the plastic making the lid not flat. Drill 25 holes in the top, again knock the Irish Pennants from the far side of the lid. Now we need 20 more holes, these will be drilled on the outer top edge of the box. Measure an inch or more below the outer lip of the box, mark equally spaced marks on the line, drill a hole at each intersection, more holes are better than less.

The lid laid out, any pattern will work, the photo above shows
the side of the bin laid out and ready to drill.

  Do not use a drill over the diameter of 5/16 inch, my nemesis is mice, I had a bad experience with them. I saw a bin floating down the river, being the borderline hoarder that I am, I made several attempts with a rope to hook it, I finally did. It looked like it was a worm bin, how lucky could I be, the holes were just a little oversized is all, but heck it'll do just fine. I cleaned it up, made some bedding, added a bit of food and then added nightcrawlers I was raising in plastic buckets, there were about 5,000 worms in total. The bin had 1/2 inch holes drilled in it, way too big, but this is how we learn isn't it? The next morning all of the bedding was scattered all over the garage floor and my worms were gone, how many mice were involved? I have no idea, but either a few had big appetites or many had just a sampling, I don't know. I replaced that bin and had to start all over, at the very maximum use 5/16 inch holes, I strongly recommend 1/4 inch, they work fine.
  Make the second box to match the first, we need just one, to begin with, in fact, it will be a few months until it is needed, we can wait to make the second box, I generally do just that. Before adding our worms to the bin there are a few more things to do, add bedding, moisture and a bit of food. Worms literally eat their way through their environment, the bed must be edible for them, several materials can be employed, I will explain how I make mine. Worm bedding is made up of "Carbon" and "Protein", the carbon consists of organic material such as coconut coir, cotton fiber material, paper, cardboard and tree leaves. Protein consists of foodstuffs, vegetable, some fruit, coffee grounds, tea bags, egg shells and all other human food. Avoid citrus, hot peppers, an overabundance of fruit, onions, zero meat, fat, oils, bones and scat from meat-eating animals. What they are fed depends on what kind of castings are desired, I do not use animal scat, meat or bones ever due to the possibility of creating Pathogens, when spread on vegetables Pathogens could cause serious illness or worse. Worm food Link.
  I use leaves, dried leaves, some to avoid are: Green Bay leaves, Eucalyptus leaves and Citrus tree leaves. My choice is Pecan or Black walnut, although any leaves will do fine with the exception of those 3 listed, however, dried Bay Leaves work fine, it's the shiny waxy covering on the leaves that cause the problem with the worms. I have not used Eucalyptus or Citrus, the would be an experiment. I place the leaves in a large vessel (bucket), I chop up the eggshells as fine as possible and toss them in the bucket, I tear or cut clear cardboard into 1/2 inch or fewer pieces, sometimes I will shred them if I can separate the layers of cardboard. I toss in the coffee grounds and the filter, add a few tea bags, I then add water to the bucket, about 1/2 full, I mix the bucket contents by hand and let the bucket rest for at least 24 hours for the leaves to soak up as much water as possible. The next day I drain the water from the bucket and mix the contents until everything is wet. I always add finely chopped eggshells to the bed, there are two reasons 1) The calcium is a neutralizer, if the bed becomes acidic they will neutralize it. 2) Worms have gizzards, they use the eggs shells to grind their food. It's the same reason I use the leaves, first growth vegetation has a lot of silica in it, sand, they use it in their crops as well. For more information on Worm bedding Link.
  This is the beginning bin, a piece of cardboard needs to be laid covering the bottom holes so the worms won't leave through the bottom, cut the cardboard to fit and place it in dry. One more piece will be needed to cover the top, a newspaper may be used instead, in fact, a newspaper is preferred by many worm farmers, I use cardboard, soak the piece that will cover the top.
  Take the bucket of bedding and spread it over the cardboard on the bottom to form a 6-inch layer of bedding. Place a small amount of food on one end of the bin, don't bury it, cover it. I will sometimes use a coffee filter (used) laying one under the food and one covering the food then cover this with the leaves on the bottom. Under the box place spacers, I show a 2x4 that I split to use, anything as long as they are equal in size will work, we just want an air space. Now is when we add the worms, leave them in the center of the bottom, they may be balled up, resist the urge to pull them apart. Set the entire ball in the center on the top, close the lid and don't bother them for three days, their stress level is high as shown by their being balled up, a normal activity until they relax. There are a number of theories people have on why they ball up, I don't adhere to any except they are stressed and so I leave them alone.

Our desired end result, notice the paper cups used for air flow
spacers, many items work well. 

  Now comes the learning curve, read, read, and ask questions, for instance, more moisture is better than not enough, to a point you will discover. Food consumption, amount, and type they prefer. A good indicator I use is if there are eggs in the farm, it denotes it as being a healthy environment for them. You will learn what a worm egg looks like, how they are formed and how prolific they are. There is a lot to it, and after a short while, it is entirely manageable. It will take a few months to fill this bin with castings, when it is about 3/4 full we place the second bin on top, setting it up identically as we did the bottom bin with the exception of the cardboard on the bottom, it's not needed.
  Thank you for reading and sharing, I enjoy raising worms, it's said we have to be a little eccentric to do so and that's OK, the organic fertilizer is far superior to the commercial synthetic stuff, the results seen in the plants is amazing. I made a video on how to construct the bin if you desire please watch it at this link.
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