Composting with redworms is great for apartment dwellers who don\u2019t have yard space, or for those who don\u2019t want to hike to a backyard compost bin with their food scraps. Some kids like to keep worms for pets! By letting worms eat your food wastes, you\u2019ll end up with one of the best soil amendments available\u2014worm castings. This is the cheapest and easiest to manage worm bin system that I\u2019ve seen:<\/p>\n
Materials Needed to Make an Easy Harvester Worm Bin:<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Step 1<\/strong><\/p>\n Drill about twenty evenly spaced 1\/4 inch holes in the bottom of each bin. These holes will provide drainage and allow the worms to crawl into the second bin when you are ready to harvest the castings.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Step 2<\/strong><\/p>\n Drill ventilation holes about 1 \u2013 1 \u00bd inches apart on each side of the bin <\/p>\n Step 3<\/strong><\/p>\n Prepare bedding for the worms by shredding Newspaper into 1 inch strips. Worms need bedding that is moist but not soggy. Moisten the newspaper by soaking it in water and then squeezing out the excess water. Cover the bottom of the bin with 3-4 inches of moist newspaper, fluffed up. If you have any old leaves or leaf litter, that can be added also. Throw in a handful of dirt for “grit” to help the worms digest their food. Step 3 Cont.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Step 4<\/strong><\/p>\n Add your worms to the bedding. One way to gather redworms, is to put out a large piece of wet cardboard on your lawn or garden at night. The redworms live in the top 3 inches of organic material, and like to come up and feast on the wet cardboard! Lift up cardboard to gather the redworms. Or, if you wish to purchase worms, the Extension office can give you names of suppliers in Whatcom County. An earthworm can consume about 1\/2 of its weight each day. For example, if your food waste averages 1\/2 lb. per day, you will need 1 lb. of worms or a 2:1 ratio.<\/p>\n There are roughly 500 worms in one pound. If you start out with less than one pound, don’t worry they multiply very quickly. Just adjust the amount that you feed them for your worm population.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n
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\nnear the top edge using the 1\/16 inch bit. Also drill about 30 small holes in the top of one of the lids.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n