The New Worm Farm

We sold our large worm farm a few months ago because it's simply too large and heavy to move out of province (we repurposed a chest freezer that quit working and couldn't be fixed).   As real-estate is slow here at the moment, we might be staying for longer than we anticipated and after not having a worm farm for a few months, we really missed it.   A worm farm is such an effective way to dispose of kitchen waste and the resulting fertility is so valuable in the garden!

I found this used styrofoam cooler at the thrift store for $2.00 and decided it would work well for a temporary/small scale worm farm.   It's lightweight and the styrofoam will help keep this smaller farm warm in our cold garage.  

Hubby installed this leftover plumbing fitting to aid with drainage (but a hole would work on its own).   This fitting had a ball valve so having control over drainage will be nice but we only used it because we had it kicking around - I certainly wouldn't buy a fitting!   We then taped a piece of leftover window screen material over the fitting to keep debris out of it.  This will prevent the hole from getting blocked up which would affect drainage...

I placed some wood shavings in the bottom and dampened it all well. We had these shavings on hand from our hen house - they make wonderful nesting box material!

Next, I added red wiggler worms and their accompanying organic matter

 (which was bartered for a jar of our honey).    Next to it, I dumped our kitchen scrap bucket which contained coffee grounds, tea leaves, ripped up paper, shredded toilet rolls, and some veggie/fruit peelings.

All of this was watered in gently and covered up (with air gaps for circulation).  We may need to poke holes in the sides at the top - we will monitor the moisture/air flow over the coming days/weeks.

I'm excited to have worms again - they are such an easy way to turn kitchen waste into valuable fertilizer for the greenhouse and our potted plants.  I especially love having a worm farm in winter, because the compost pile sits in limbo for most of the winter...  It's also hard to access when there's a lot of snow on the ground.  Taking scraps to the garage is much easier in frigid weather!   

Seedlings LOVE worm liquid - it's a wonderfully gentle but effective way to feed those tiny plants and I'm eager to have some on hand by the time I start seeds in a few weeks.