My worm bin is almost exactly like yours. I hot glued small squares of window screen along the top sides where your air holes are so no worms could get out. I use 100 percent leaf mold bedding from my yard compost which works amazing. My kids treat them like pets, they made them an avocado and banana cake for out 1 year worneversary and my daughter gets some strange looks when she tells people about her pet worms! Haha. We love them.
I told my wife I was gonna do this. Her reaction was so over the top disgusted! I couldn't stop laughing. She REALLY freaked out. She'll feel better when she eats some more yummy tomatoes from the garden
Its funny to hear you mention some people being put off by worm composting. I remember when I was in school as a young kid and a lady came into our class to show us how composting and worm composting works and maybe perhaps because of her it seems like the most normal thing in the world.
Our County now separates the garbage and puts the food scraps into compost. We're becoming much more recycle conscious to make rich soil for gardeners and landscapers. I'm so happy about that!
Hey Luke! Please do another video when you get to the next step of the process! That way we can see a sort of start to the process through the maintenance and then harvesting of it!! Thanks!
I'm interested in starting one of these myself. I'd like to see a video of you harvesting what you use for your garden and how you go about it. Thanks for all you do for the gardening community!
I started vermicomposting this summer. I've been wondering/ worried about how my worms would survive in my Winter zone 7A. This video has inspired me to go out right now and get all the worms and put them into bins for the Winter in Subpod and bring them into my basement for the winter. For some reason I thought it would be harder to have indoor composting. I am inspired, thank you.
This video got me started into worm farming! Thanks for introducing me to a fascinating new hobby that actually had very low start up cost, with this method.
Hi, Luke. Nope, I do not find worms to be disgusting! One of my gardening buddies gifted me with a bunch of red wigglers. After a while, I split them into two bins. It is now time to divide the two bins into four bins. The worms live out in my potting shed. Thanks for the update! (👍#149 and comment #45). Best wishes from Kate in Olympia, WA -- 5/1/2019.
Worms don’t have teeth and need finely ground egg shells, a little garden soil, or sand to grind their food in their gizzards. Compost Worms have a muscular gizzard. Small parts of food mixed with some grinding material such as , egg shells, sand, topsoil or limestone are ingested. The contractions from the muscles in the gizzard compress those particles against each other, mix it with fluid, and grind it to smaller pieces. For many years my garden has run off my worm farms (in ground worm bins mostly). I do love that every speck of food waste goes into our numerous worm farms. 2 of them run on dog waste (these odourless castings go to non edibles). We have a very small amount of non compostable rubbish going into the rubbish bin each week.
Thanks for a new look into your bins. Started mine up about 18 months ago after some hesitation about worms in the basement but haven't looked back. Great to take the food smoothies to the basement when there is 2 feet of snow outside and super cold. My seed starting mix for 2 springs has yielded amazing results with 25% by volume vermicompost. My friends don't think it is weird either when I start veggies for them. My only downfall was putting dried bean pods (from seed saving) in the bins - almost killed them all before I took out the pods and outdoor composted them. Found a local company who sold worms with starter fill for $25 🇨🇦 and used a bin from downsizing around the house. Cheap and cheerful.
@@soniabrannan412 the worms just started to die off. The numbers increased after I removed all the pods I could find. Not sure what it was in the bean pods but I don't put them into the bin any more.
I love the idea of 100% organic gardening and reducing waste. I also have avid fishermen in my family and once I get enough bins going they will always have a supply of worms for bait. This makes worm bins a triple benefit especially for someone looking to gain more self-sustainability in their food choices. I can't wait to start my worm bins. I have worms on order and a bin waiting for them!
My worm is made from an 18 gallon storage container that looks identical to that. I used wet crushed leaves from outside as a starter, and they seemed mostly happy with that.
Ive done only shredded newspaper and cardboard and they’ve done fine. I had 1-2 cups of soil to introduce organic matter so it wasn’t only sterile stuff. Bottom 1/4 of my bin is now beautiful soil. To your point, I did have to add water a few times in the first couple of months until it could retain its own moisture. I found putting a few handfuls of ice on the top works next as it melts all the way down. Blending your food with a little water helps increase moisture content too. It’s all just an experiment which makes it great!
ALL new housing ought to be BUILT with an outdoor compost bin of some sort... We have had one for over 15 years, 10 feet from the kitchen door. African keyhole style, with driplines for the herbs planted around the outside edge. Build a door for access to the worms and compost in the "keyhole". Clean it out once every year or two, separate out the worms and use most of the compost - leaving a little in there to start over with.
That idea is wonderful & too much like right. "Progress" is unfortunately & sadly taking the world in another direction 😢🌎 Same reason cars can run on other things besides petrol gasoline. Vegetable oil, solar, even water! But those prototypes will unfortunately never see the light of day🤦 HOA will never let homes be built where people have their own composting bins. Just grow grass 🤷
I am going to do this year. Whenever I go fishing I put my leftover worms in the gardens. I have a small compost pile now so I can put them in there as well. Plus, if I raise my own worms - I can save $4 every time I go fishing! And that's a lot of times from spring through fall.
That's what my dad does! Because he's too cheap to buy fish bait. But he's had that fish bait worm bin for almost 15 years in his old costco detergent bucket. And all in our apartment in the middle of our concrete jungle city. It's pretty awesome
Worms urine is in the castings. If you have drippings in bottom of your bin it is from the food, not urine. The leachate is Anaerobic has been setting does not have air can be bad.it is what comes from the food and any water that is added. I would not use it in the garden. Make tea from their castings for your garden. The drill makes sharp edges on inside, try using a burnishing tool, it melts the holes and they are perfectly smooth. (soldering iron works too) Love your garden videos!
I followed this tutorial and my worm bin has been thriving for a year now! I have so many worms!! The only things I did differently is I didn't drill drainage holes because I didn't want any leakage. Doesn't seem to be a problem. I also used super cheap gardening dirt. I tried dirt from outside and had a shitload of other weird little bugs infiltrate. Their populations seem to have died down over time but it was pretty diverse in there for awhile
This video makes me motivated to get my worm bin started again!!! Thank you Luke. I not only needed to see this video; I also needed to listen to you speak about it. Nicely done as usual my friend. Take care 🐝☮️☯️
Thank you! You simplified the process for me. I'm starting mine soon. I was under the impression I had to order a worm tower. Again, I ran across one of your videos just in time.
Yay! I watched your video years ago and finally got to a place where I could have a worm farm. Instead of just for composting, I look forward to feeding excess worms to my lovely chickens. Thank you so much for all of your videos and sharing your knowledge
For collecting worm juice, incline the boxes by a half inch or so. The juice collects in the low end and is easily removed with a turkey baster. A lid may work as a bottom piece to collect juice, but it is not made for that purpose and may not be able to support the weight. A slightly bigger box or tub would better. Ridges on the bottom piece can cause the worm juice to collect in the middle and effectively prevent more water from exiting the box. A flat bottom piece is recommended. Raise the worm box off the bottom piece with scrap wood, either small pieces spread out or longer pieces running the length. This allows much better drainage. If the bottom piece is weak, use a piece of plywood to support it before inclining the box.
Love worm composting. I have the healthiest garden in the neighborhood. I just freeze the fruits and vegetables in large empty yogurt containers until I’m ready to take them out to the worm bin. Then throw them in the bin. I occasionally add overnight soaked shredded paper. I never buy fertilizer and I have 9 large raised beds.
I just started my build for a great worm farm. I will share all my info as I Finnish. I will have a few ideas with reasons on why. Wish me luck my fellow happy growers from Michigan and all over.
I'm interested in starting this! I live in town and have turned my front yard into a huge garden. I need to figure out how to make my own fertilizer. This will be year # 2 for me doing an Urban Homestead, :)
Awesome video! I just built a worm bin based off of some of your older videos. It's only been three weeks, but I can tell they've made a lot of progress. I also went with uncle Jim's work farm, but I did start out with 1000 worms.
I now have a 100 plus worms to start my compost bin thanks to your video! I can't wait to get holes drilled in my container and get dirt in it to Make a home for my newest little babies
We’re getting our worms delivered tomorrow! Thanks for the tips on a simple set up. I’m limited on space but I really want the benefits of worm castings for my garden! I love your channel and I always learn something new. Also, there is nothing gross about worms. They’re amazing and absolutely essential for soil health! We fertilize with fish and bat 💩, so what’s the big issue? 🤣
Great video, I would love to see something about choosing between a worm bin and conventional composting. My understanding is that worms are the way to go if you want to compost inside, and/or use a small amount of waste (typical home kitchen). Worms also produce the highest quality compost.
Here in Australia .... worm farming, as we call it has been going strong for the last twenty years.. we also have a big yellow bin for recycling .. a big green bin for composting & a small red bin for rubbish that's picked up from the kurb
I started with one bin 4 years ago. Now I have two bins just like yours. It's in my garage. No problem at all. I worried that it may be too cold in winter here in Michigan, but they have adapted well.
Luke thank you for the redo of the video. I was thinking of building a worm bin last winter but never got around to it. I do compost and get some of my neighbors food scraps too. Some people ask if I sell the compost, but right now I have over 35 raised beds so I need all the compost I can make.
Amber Schueler when I was in school many years ago the janitor was also a pig farmer and made all of the kids empty their compost into a separate bucket for him to take home. If available try and contact someone who raises pigs they can get thru that amount of waste alot quicker than worms can.
My kids' school does this. They also have aquaponics (with barramundi), wicking beds (both edible and ornamental), and chickens. It just takes one new thing, and that can be built upon. Public school too, fwiw
This is my question too. I'm not sure the process, or what is meant by flushing out the bins (I'ma newbie too!). If anyone can give an explanation of how to do this, I'd appreciate it. Thx.
After listening to the video over, I assume he means he flushes out the tray....catching the spill water, and spraying down the tray. I'll learn as I go if this is true. If you've already learned, would you please pass that info on to me? :)
I’m following a gal on tiktok that teaches how to do worm farms and she does a vertical migrating system. What she does is ones the worms have exhausted their space she puts another tub with hole on top and starts putting her waste in the next tub and the worms migrate upward to the next bin.
Love this video! I just started my bin like yours yesterday. I am planning on getting my grandson involved too. he's almost 4. can't wait to see a better garden and reduce waste at the same time. :-)
You can make essentially a wicking bed with these tubs with rocks on the bottom for in and then have a drain hole cut with a tube coming out of the drain hole and a container of some sort so that all the worm pee drains into your container and you can just use that directly for your worm tea
Worms seem to naturally like living in small confined spaces. I found red wriggly worms living in a 2" drainage trench and blocking it with some amazingly gooey black stuff next to my brick shed. Unfortunately it was tainted with flaky old paint and rusty old screws so I didn't add it to my food plants. They like the dark too so I don't feel bad about putting a living creature in a sealed box. Nice to see this really basic set up in operation. Gonna do something like this.
I get the setting up for worm composting. What I don’t see is what’s next? When you feel the compost is ready for the garden what do you do to separate the compost and the worms? And the bottom lid of worm drain off, do you just lift the container off and pick up the lid and drain it into a bucket? You mention running some water through it, how much, do you go outside to do that, you just rinse the worms too, how often in a year would you do that? A video showing after care once set in motion would be great. Enjoy your videos.
I've been wanting to worn compost for years but never realized I could do it indoors, my chickens would feast if it was outdoors. Shared your $5 worm bins with my sister. When will you have castings available?
I love the information you share and I thank you. I still have to get over the eek factor. I'd be wearing gloves. Yet I use worm droppings in my garden no problem. Strange huh? I think it's because they wriggle and I worry that I may harm them and that they seem slimy to me. I think I should get over myself, lol. Anyway, thanks again, and I will definitely start a worm farm. Blessings
I added two bins to my worm farm just this weekend. I was making too much kitchen waste for one. All i do is put holes in the bottom, lots of holes. Add some dirt, sand, cardboard and peat moss. wet it down a bit. ready for worms and kitchen scraps.
My granddaughter and I started our first worm bin last December, this august she won FIRST PRIZE at The county and state fair for her presentation of vermicomposting!! How cool is THAT?!?!
Luke you do a video explaining harvest the worm castings and not harvesting with them? When I had my wormery I would always get the worms with the castings and I’d end up either throwing them out or just putting them back in or picking them out with a toothpick. Thanks
Wgat works best for me is to buy some burlap cloth and a bag of coconut fiber mixed with some soil. I put the soil and coconut fiber in the bottom of a second bin. Wet the burlap, throw some food in the new soil/bedding and put the burlap on top. Spread an inch or two of castings on top and leave it open with the light on. The worms will crawl through the burlap and go to the food. After a few hours or half a day you should have no worms in the top. Empty the castings into another bin, and add more unsorted castings to the burlap and start again
I also bought a Worm Tower and worms from Uncle Jim's. I'm hoping to become a successful vermicomposter, but only time will tell. Thanks for your tips on the behavior of the red wrigglers and how to feed them.
Great video thank you. I am restarting my worm farm. I moved so I am just about ready for worms again. Thank you for the information. I am going to look into your link
My son Peter and I have 1 working worm farm with plans to expand to 4 farms. Peter loves learning about and feeding the worms. He also loves finding cocoons because he knows they mean new baby worms.
Brilliant video ! Thank you so very much as I can too start this project with my girls and help them to learn the cycle and process of the food that we too eat and how we can keep it continuously going on in ways that are beneficial. Also too help me find and add another way of keeping them from their ipads/phones as much as possible, which is always a grate thing in my opinion, thank you once again ! Superb video !
Thanks for the video Luke! I am waiting until I have compost ready before I begin a worm bin for my small garden. I want the little guys to have a great home! A quick question: does it make any sense to move some red wigglers into the garden after the bin population has reached maximum capacity? Maybe moving some of them into the garden might be beneficial ( making sure to put them in balanced pH garden soil of course). I know they are doing the same thing, if not better, in the bin...and you can just make more bins but why not put some out in the garden where the population can really take off. Might be a good backup too in case something happens to the bins. I bought some seed and trifecta from you guys for the first time this year and can't wait to see the results! I know you put alot of love and attention into your garden so I think you are a reputable guy!
Some will automatically be moved into the garden because it's almost in possible to get them all out of the harvested compost. But if you want to intentionally add them it definitely will not hurt.
I dont remember where i heard about this, but i will try it this year: In raised beds, in the center, put a pvc pipe with holes drilled in the bottom 12 inches (like on the sides of the bins). have it sticking out of the soil a bit, and put scraps, etc in the tube, then cover with browns. Supposedly, the worms can crawl in and out, eating, then pooping right into the garden. I would add some worms from my vericomposting bins. I plan to use a french drain pipe, and with 5 raised beds, i hope to have a smaller compost bin (I rent). Wish me luck!
I have an accidental worm bin. I made a compost bin out of cat litter buckets and when I went to get some compost, it was full of worms! I had a hard time harvesting compost without worms in it.
Hey man! I wanted to grow work castings for my garden and I watched your video 3 years ago so I could. I was thinking to myself I didn’t see you make anew video about this yet. Then I went to your channel and I saw it. You made a new vid about it. Love your brain reading skills. Thanks.
Thanks Luke, I started my worm bin last week. I live in Pennsylvania, so no brainier to buy from Uncle Jim's Worm Farm. The worms come next week. I live in an apartment, so doing it with 8 gal buckets, but process follows your set up.
I really would like you to look into using black soldier fly larvae in conjunction with red wrigglers for composting. Bsfl process waste super fast and you can then transfer their semi processed compost to the worms, which love it. It is almost as easy and cheap to build a bsf bin. Just use the same type of tote (Walmart has them for $5 now) and insert a 1/2 pvc pipe cut lengthwise into bin at 45 degrees so the bsfl can self harvest. Then you can feed the larvae to chickens, bearded dragons, fish, etc
My family and I will be moving into a new home that has a lot of land. I want to build worm farms to help my growing as much of our food as possible. Thanks for the video.
Great video I would like to learn about worm castings. I compost now, and I transfer worms between bins . I would like to purchase worms to get more established. Thank you
Luke ! Like all your videos. New to gardening (1 year to be exact) often use your videos as a reference point thank you . Really would like to see a video for how to identify different nutrient deficiencies/illnesses . Also a more coherent and knowledge filled video on container gardening . Ex. What kind of containers best suit which veggies/fruits . What to put in the soil ?(hummus or peat) What can be coupled together or not .? I know you’ve covered these topics all in separate videos but a more detailed video on all of these would be very helpful!
Agree with Kelli Webb. Please do a video on harvesting the worm casting. What technique do you use? I vermicompost and harvesting is challenge. Not difficult but time consuming and I'm hoping you have some tips? Thanks for the great videos!
My worm bin is almost exactly like yours. I hot glued small squares of window screen along the top sides where your air holes are so no worms could get out. I use 100 percent leaf mold bedding from my yard compost which works amazing. My kids treat them like pets, they made them an avocado and banana cake for out 1 year worneversary and my daughter gets some strange looks when she tells people about her pet worms! Haha. We love them.
I told my wife I was gonna do this. Her reaction was so over the top disgusted! I couldn't stop laughing. She REALLY freaked out. She'll feel better when she eats some more yummy tomatoes from the garden
😂🤣
My husband was like that too. He still hesitates to eat the fresh food I harvest but I convince him while eating in front of him....lol
I would have loved it.
@@cheryltavares2757 Hesitates to eat fresh food...? Is he convinced the food he eats grows in the supermarket?
Hahahaha that’s hilarious
You should do a video on harvesting the worm castings!
He has a video if you haven't seen it! 😍
@@PerspectivelyKaybe what’s the link ?
@@Johnnys_World859 ua-cam.com/video/xAERTNAQXDE/v-deo.html
@@AshleyRossersmlybright ty!
@@PerspectivelyKaybe what is that link? Thank you!!
Its funny to hear you mention some people being put off by worm composting. I remember when I was in school as a young kid and a lady came into our class to show us how composting and worm composting works and maybe perhaps because of her it seems like the most normal thing in the world.
Our County now separates the garbage and puts the food scraps into compost. We're becoming much more recycle conscious to make rich soil for gardeners and landscapers. I'm so happy about that!
Hey Luke! Please do another video when you get to the next step of the process! That way we can see a sort of start to the process through the maintenance and then harvesting of it!! Thanks!
I'm interested in starting one of these myself. I'd like to see a video of you harvesting what you use for your garden and how you go about it. Thanks for all you do for the gardening community!
I started vermicomposting this summer. I've been wondering/ worried about how my worms would survive in my Winter zone 7A. This video has inspired me to go out right now and get all the worms and put them into bins for the Winter in Subpod and bring them into my basement for the winter. For some reason I thought it would be harder to have indoor composting. I am inspired, thank you.
This video got me started into worm farming! Thanks for introducing me to a fascinating new hobby that actually had very low start up cost, with this method.
Do unmake money doing this? I’m thinking of trying.
Great video. Something every gardener should incorporate!
Hi, Luke. Nope, I do not find worms to be disgusting! One of my gardening buddies gifted me with a bunch of red wigglers. After a while, I split them into two bins. It is now time to divide the two bins into four bins. The worms live out in my potting shed. Thanks for the update! (👍#149 and comment #45). Best wishes from Kate in Olympia, WA -- 5/1/2019.
I am so excited you are bringing back the worm bins! You were a huge help when I got started a few years back! Awesome, cheap and fun hobby for sure.
My hubby was just talking about doing a worm bin! Great info Luke ! You rock!!!!
Worms don’t have teeth and need finely ground egg shells, a little garden soil, or sand to grind their food in their gizzards. Compost Worms have a muscular gizzard. Small parts of food mixed with some grinding material such as , egg shells, sand, topsoil or limestone are ingested. The contractions from the muscles in the gizzard compress those particles against each other, mix it with fluid, and grind it to smaller pieces.
For many years my garden has run off my worm farms (in ground worm bins mostly). I do love that every speck of food waste goes into our numerous worm farms. 2 of them run on dog waste (these odourless castings go to non edibles). We have a very small amount of non compostable rubbish going into the rubbish bin each week.
Thanks for a new look into your bins. Started mine up about 18 months ago after some hesitation about worms in the basement but haven't looked back. Great to take the food smoothies to the basement when there is 2 feet of snow outside and super cold. My seed starting mix for 2 springs has yielded amazing results with 25% by volume vermicompost. My friends don't think it is weird either when I start veggies for them. My only downfall was putting dried bean pods (from seed saving) in the bins - almost killed them all before I took out the pods and outdoor composted them. Found a local company who sold worms with starter fill for $25 🇨🇦 and used a bin from downsizing around the house. Cheap and cheerful.
@@soniabrannan412 the worms just started to die off. The numbers increased after I removed all the pods I could find. Not sure what it was in the bean pods but I don't put them into the bin any more.
Geneva is going to grow up with (arguably) the most knowledgeable person about gardening as a Dad, just how much will she end up knowing herself😱😱
I love the idea of 100% organic gardening and reducing waste. I also have avid fishermen in my family and once I get enough bins going they will always have a supply of worms for bait. This makes worm bins a triple benefit especially for someone looking to gain more self-sustainability in their food choices. I can't wait to start my worm bins. I have worms on order and a bin waiting for them!
My worm is made from an 18 gallon storage container that looks identical to that. I used wet crushed leaves from outside as a starter, and they seemed mostly happy with that.
Raoul Snyman They definitely love moist leaves. I just found a bunch under some old leaf piles . I gathered them and am starting my own lil worm farm.
Raoul, that is what they eat in nature. Leaves fallen fruit, animal droppings
@@svetlanikolova7673 Yup! I didn't know as much about red wigglers then as I do now. They love any organic material that is breaking down.
you dont use bricks on the bottom to help make space between the bottoma and the cover that catches the excess water?
@@Holypikemanz Yep, that's exactly what I do.
Ive done only shredded newspaper and cardboard and they’ve done fine. I had 1-2 cups of soil to introduce organic matter so it wasn’t only sterile stuff. Bottom 1/4 of my bin is now beautiful soil. To your point, I did have to add water a few times in the first couple of months until it could retain its own moisture. I found putting a few handfuls of ice on the top works next as it melts all the way down. Blending your food with a little water helps increase moisture content too. It’s all just an experiment which makes it great!
ALL new housing ought to be BUILT with an outdoor compost bin of some sort... We have had one for over 15 years, 10 feet from the kitchen door. African keyhole style, with driplines for the herbs planted around the outside edge. Build a door for access to the worms and compost in the "keyhole". Clean it out once every year or two, separate out the worms and use most of the compost - leaving a little in there to start over with.
You should post a video detailing how yours works/looks
Excellent idea!
Yes! Make a video because i would love to know!
That idea is wonderful & too much like right. "Progress" is unfortunately & sadly taking the world in another direction 😢🌎
Same reason cars can run on other things besides petrol gasoline. Vegetable oil, solar, even water! But those prototypes will unfortunately never see the light of day🤦
HOA will never let homes be built where people have their own composting bins. Just grow grass 🤷
I am going to do this year. Whenever I go fishing I put my leftover worms in the gardens. I have a small compost pile now so I can put them in there as well. Plus, if I raise my own worms - I can save $4 every time I go fishing! And that's a lot of times from spring through fall.
That's what my dad does! Because he's too cheap to buy fish bait. But he's had that fish bait worm bin for almost 15 years in his old costco detergent bucket. And all in our apartment in the middle of our concrete jungle city. It's pretty awesome
Worms urine is in the castings. If you have drippings in bottom of your bin it is from the food, not urine. The leachate is Anaerobic has been setting does not have air can be bad.it is what comes from the food and any water that is added.
I would not use it in the garden. Make tea from their castings for your garden. The drill makes sharp edges on inside, try using a burnishing tool, it melts the holes and they are perfectly smooth. (soldering iron works too) Love your garden videos!
I followed this tutorial and my worm bin has been thriving for a year now! I have so many worms!! The only things I did differently is I didn't drill drainage holes because I didn't want any leakage. Doesn't seem to be a problem. I also used super cheap gardening dirt. I tried dirt from outside and had a shitload of other weird little bugs infiltrate. Their populations seem to have died down over time but it was pretty diverse in there for awhile
My wife started her own worm bin that serves two functions great stuff for the garden and a treat or two for our chickens.
This video makes me motivated to get my worm bin started again!!! Thank you Luke. I not only needed to see this video; I also needed to listen to you speak about it. Nicely done as usual my friend. Take care 🐝☮️☯️
Thank you! You simplified the process for me. I'm starting mine soon. I was under the impression I had to order a worm tower. Again, I ran across one of your videos just in time.
Yay! I watched your video years ago and finally got to a place where I could have a worm farm. Instead of just for composting, I look forward to feeding excess worms to my lovely chickens. Thank you so much for all of your videos and sharing your knowledge
LOVE the video Luke. We're just trying it for the first time and we are so excited. Thanks for the tips!
Fantastic advice! Indoor worm bins are cheap, simple and easy and worms make the BEST organic fertilizer!
For collecting worm juice, incline the boxes by a half inch or so. The juice collects in the low end and is easily removed with a turkey baster. A lid may work as a bottom piece to collect juice, but it is not made for that purpose and may not be able to support the weight. A slightly bigger box or tub would better. Ridges on the bottom piece can cause the worm juice to collect in the middle and effectively prevent more water from exiting the box. A flat bottom piece is recommended. Raise the worm box off the bottom piece with scrap wood, either small pieces spread out or longer pieces running the length. This allows much better drainage. If the bottom piece is weak, use a piece of plywood to support it before inclining the box.
Ah the Turkey baster trick.... gold. Great tip
Love worm composting. I have the healthiest garden in the neighborhood. I just freeze the fruits and vegetables in large empty yogurt containers until I’m ready to take them out to the worm bin. Then throw them in the bin. I occasionally add overnight soaked shredded paper. I never buy fertilizer and I have 9 large raised beds.
I just started my build for a great worm farm. I will share all my info as I Finnish. I will have a few ideas with reasons on why. Wish me luck my fellow happy growers from Michigan and all over.
I'm interested in starting this! I live in town and have turned my front yard into a huge garden. I need to figure out how to make my own fertilizer. This will be year # 2 for me doing an Urban Homestead, :)
I’m just starting with gardening.
Your videos have been helpful.
Any suggestions, regardless of how simple, is greatly appreciated.
Your videos are the reason why I started mine👍🏻 ty
Awesome video! I just built a worm bin based off of some of your older videos. It's only been three weeks, but I can tell they've made a lot of progress. I also went with uncle Jim's work farm, but I did start out with 1000 worms.
I now have a 100 plus worms to start my compost bin thanks to your video! I can't wait to get holes drilled in my container and get dirt in it to Make a home for my newest little babies
We’re getting our worms delivered tomorrow! Thanks for the tips on a simple set up. I’m limited on space but I really want the benefits of worm castings for my garden! I love your channel and I always learn something new. Also, there is nothing gross about worms. They’re amazing and absolutely essential for soil health! We fertilize with fish and bat 💩, so what’s the big issue? 🤣
Great video, I would love to see something about choosing between a worm bin and conventional composting. My understanding is that worms are the way to go if you want to compost inside, and/or use a small amount of waste (typical home kitchen). Worms also produce the highest quality compost.
You can do both. Having work buns and then adding them to your not hot compost pile speeds and enhances the composting process!
From WI. Thank you! Starting worms soon!!
Starting to do this right now. Got the bin and cardboard and about to get worms. Just add veggies. Thank you!
Here in Australia .... worm farming, as we call it has been going strong for the last twenty years.. we also have a big yellow bin for recycling .. a big green bin for composting & a small red bin for rubbish that's picked up from the kurb
Amazing!!! Last night i was binge watching all your videos on this subject, and lookie here a new one!!! Thanks for all the information, Mr. Luke!
Can u show a harvest video? Thank you.
"Red Wigglers, The Cadillac of worms, We're the Cadillac of worms."
I tried my first bin 18 months ago and they didn't do well so I'll try your way. Thank you
Great presentation. Thank you.
I started with one bin 4 years ago. Now I have two bins just like yours. It's in my garage. No problem at all. I worried that it may be too cold in winter here in Michigan, but they have adapted well.
Excellent video Luke. Always enjoyed your videos! From Manchester, England 🏴
Your the first one who has mentioned why they keep leaving the bin. Thanks!
Luke thank you for the redo of the video. I was thinking of building a worm bin last winter but never got around to it. I do compost and get some of my neighbors food scraps too. Some people ask if I sell the compost, but right now I have over 35 raised beds so I need all the compost I can make.
Kc Lewis what about rat infestation. Do they ever infiltrate ur raised beds ? Thx
This is my first year doing raised beds. But I have been composting for a while and never had problems with my raised beds with mice or rats
I would love to get my work (elementary school) to do this. You have no idea how much food is thrown out each day.
Amber Schueler when I was in school many years ago the janitor was also a pig farmer and made all of the kids empty their compost into a separate bucket for him to take home. If available try and contact someone who raises pigs they can get thru that amount of waste alot quicker than worms can.
My kids' school does this. They also have aquaponics (with barramundi), wicking beds (both edible and ornamental), and chickens. It just takes one new thing, and that can be built upon. Public school too, fwiw
@@BlackCatRoadie Let me at those barramundi, yummo! lol
I LOVE THE IDEA OF RECYCLING FOR THE BENIFITS OF ALL!!!
I'M ALL FOR IT!!!
Can you give any more info on flushing the bins out? Complete newbie here, just ordered 500 worms!
This is my question too. I'm not sure the process, or what is meant by flushing out the bins (I'ma newbie too!). If anyone can give an explanation of how to do this, I'd appreciate it. Thx.
After listening to the video over, I assume he means he flushes out the tray....catching the spill water, and spraying down the tray. I'll learn as I go if this is true. If you've already learned, would you please pass that info on to me? :)
Same!!!
Don't waste money ordering them get them from your yard and they will multiply fast!👍🏻👍🏻
Awesome video! Going to try to build my bins this week. I have not seen one at any community gardens in Brooklyn so we may be the first, Thank You!
I’m following a gal on tiktok that teaches how to do worm farms and she does a vertical migrating system. What she does is ones the worms have exhausted their space she puts another tub with hole on top and starts putting her waste in the next tub and the worms migrate upward to the next bin.
I'm loving this! I am starting this today!!!
Love this video! I just started my bin like yours yesterday. I am planning on getting my grandson involved too. he's almost 4.
can't wait to see a better garden and reduce waste at the same time. :-)
Just bought some, thanks for the push!!!! Your videos are great and super helpfull....
I think all cities need to have yard waste garbage bins, and compost programs. Many do. I would still probably make my own, but many people wouldn't.
You can make essentially a wicking bed with these tubs with rocks on the bottom for in and then have a drain hole cut with a tube coming out of the drain hole and a container of some sort so that all the worm pee drains into your container and you can just use that directly for your worm tea
Thats smart thank you!
Trying this for the 1st time and using bins like these. Just gotta figure out where I'm going to put them. Great video!
Hey Luke! Can you put the materials needed in the description for reference? I went to purchase materials and had to watch the whole video again
Worms seem to naturally like living in small confined spaces. I found red wriggly worms living in a 2" drainage trench and blocking it with some amazingly gooey black stuff next to my brick shed. Unfortunately it was tainted with flaky old paint and rusty old screws so I didn't add it to my food plants. They like the dark too so I don't feel bad about putting a living creature in a sealed box. Nice to see this really basic set up in operation. Gonna do something like this.
I get the setting up for worm composting. What I don’t see is what’s next? When you feel the compost is ready for the garden what do you do to separate the compost and the worms? And the bottom lid of worm drain off, do you just lift the container off and pick up the lid and drain it into a bucket? You mention running some water through it, how much, do you go outside to do that, you just rinse the worms too, how often in a year would you do that? A video showing after care once set in motion would be great. Enjoy your videos.
I've been wanting to worn compost for years but never realized I could do it indoors, my chickens would feast if it was outdoors. Shared your $5 worm bins with my sister. When will you have castings available?
I love the information you share and I thank you. I still have to get over the eek factor. I'd be wearing gloves. Yet I use worm droppings in my garden no problem. Strange huh? I think it's because they wriggle and I worry that I may harm them and that they seem slimy to me. I think I should get over myself, lol. Anyway, thanks again, and I will definitely start a worm farm. Blessings
This was so cool me and my family are heading to walmart to make one!!!
My pops did this when I was a kid. He grew worms for fishing bait back then. I am so doing this. Its now generational... sweet ty
I added two bins to my worm farm just this weekend. I was making too much kitchen waste for one. All i do is put holes in the bottom, lots of holes. Add some dirt, sand, cardboard and peat moss. wet it down a bit. ready for worms and kitchen scraps.
Great info!! Doing this for new homestead. Thanks!!
Have used Uncle Jims before. Great company! Oh and new sub also.
My granddaughter and I started our first worm bin last December, this august she won FIRST PRIZE
at
The county and state fair for her presentation of vermicomposting!! How cool is THAT?!?!
Can't wait to start my work box! Looking forward to the great benefits to my plants!
Luke you do a video explaining harvest the worm castings and not harvesting with them? When I had my wormery I would always get the worms with the castings and I’d end up either throwing them out or just putting them back in or picking them out with a toothpick. Thanks
Wgat works best for me is to buy some burlap cloth and a bag of coconut fiber mixed with some soil. I put the soil and coconut fiber in the bottom of a second bin. Wet the burlap, throw some food in the new soil/bedding and put the burlap on top. Spread an inch or two of castings on top and leave it open with the light on. The worms will crawl through the burlap and go to the food. After a few hours or half a day you should have no worms in the top. Empty the castings into another bin, and add more unsorted castings to the burlap and start again
I also bought a Worm Tower and worms from Uncle Jim's. I'm hoping to become a successful vermicomposter, but only time will tell. Thanks for your tips on the behavior of the red wrigglers and how to feed them.
Great video thank you. I am restarting my worm farm. I moved so I am just about ready for worms again. Thank you for the information. I am going to look into your link
Luke, I love that you admit you have better speaking skills! You really have improved!
What could be done with avocado peels and the seed/pit?
Wouldn't you want to add some grit in there? Crushed eggshells, for example.
Thank you
My son Peter and I have 1 working worm farm with plans to expand to 4 farms. Peter loves learning about and feeding the worms. He also loves finding cocoons because he knows they mean new baby worms.
Brilliant video ! Thank you so very much as I can too start this project with my girls and help them to learn the cycle and process of the food that we too eat and how we can keep it continuously going on in ways that are beneficial. Also too help me find and add another way of keeping them from their ipads/phones as much as possible, which is always a grate thing in my opinion, thank you once again ! Superb video !
Love this video, I’ll be setting this up for myself this weekend!
Thanks for the video Luke! I am waiting until I have compost ready before I begin a worm bin for my small garden. I want the little guys to have a great home! A quick question: does it make any sense to move some red wigglers into the garden after the bin population has reached maximum capacity? Maybe moving some of them into the garden might be beneficial ( making sure to put them in balanced pH garden soil of course). I know they are doing the same thing, if not better, in the bin...and you can just make more bins but why not put some out in the garden where the population can really take off. Might be a good backup too in case something happens to the bins.
I bought some seed and trifecta from you guys for the first time this year and can't wait to see the results! I know you put alot of love and attention into your garden so I think you are a reputable guy!
Some will automatically be moved into the garden because it's almost in possible to get them all out of the harvested compost. But if you want to intentionally add them it definitely will not hurt.
@Birdhouse, yes it makes sense to put some out in the garden, where your veggies are too!
I dont remember where i heard about this, but i will try it this year: In raised beds, in the center, put a pvc pipe with holes drilled in the bottom 12 inches (like on the sides of the bins). have it sticking out of the soil a bit, and put scraps, etc in the tube, then cover with browns. Supposedly, the worms can crawl in and out, eating, then pooping right into the garden. I would add some worms from my vericomposting bins. I plan to use a french drain pipe, and with 5 raised beds, i hope to have a smaller compost bin (I rent). Wish me luck!
I watched your videos since day one! I learn a lot! 😎
Thank you for sharing this information with us!
I have an accidental worm bin. I made a compost bin out of cat litter buckets and when I went to get some compost, it was full of worms! I had a hard time harvesting compost without worms in it.
Hey man! I wanted to grow work castings for my garden and I watched your video 3 years ago so I could. I was thinking to myself I didn’t see you make anew video about this yet. Then I went to your channel and I saw it. You made a new vid about it. Love your brain reading skills. Thanks.
Thanks Luke, I started my worm bin last week. I live in Pennsylvania, so no brainier to buy from Uncle Jim's Worm Farm. The worms come next week. I live in an apartment, so doing it with 8 gal buckets, but process follows your set up.
Excellent informative video. very much appreciated. Getting my first 2,000 red wiggler mix from Jim's this weekend. 👍
I really would like you to look into using black soldier fly larvae in conjunction with red wrigglers for composting. Bsfl process waste super fast and you can then transfer their semi processed compost to the worms, which love it. It is almost as easy and cheap to build a bsf bin. Just use the same type of tote (Walmart has them for $5 now) and insert a 1/2 pvc pipe cut lengthwise into bin at 45 degrees so the bsfl can self harvest. Then you can feed the larvae to chickens, bearded dragons, fish, etc
I compost every bit of food that I can. Cooked, not cooked......it all composts beautifully!!
I started with 2 cups of fishing worms from Walmart. I added some here and there but they're all doing great.
They were red wigglers.
My family and I will be moving into a new home that has a lot of land. I want to build worm farms to help my growing as much of our food as possible. Thanks for the video.
I just ran into your videos and I’m so glad I did. Just hearing you say ‘bottom’ 100 times in a row made it worth it lol.
Great video
I would like to learn about worm castings. I compost now, and I transfer worms between bins . I would like to purchase worms to get more established. Thank you
Thank you! This explained worm bins much better than other videos. I'm glad I found your video since I was going to use all the wrong things.
Here's another video!
ua-cam.com/video/AF-jzWKMdwE/v-deo.html
If you have ducks, chickens, or fish you can supplement their food with worms from the vermicompost bin. That way they keep reproducing.
Awesome video, very informative. Quick and easy!
Luke ! Like all your videos. New to gardening (1 year to be exact) often use your videos as a reference point thank you . Really would like to see a video for how to identify different nutrient deficiencies/illnesses .
Also a more coherent and knowledge filled video on container gardening .
Ex. What kind of containers best suit which veggies/fruits .
What to put in the soil ?(hummus or peat)
What can be coupled together or not .?
I know you’ve covered these topics all in separate videos but a more detailed video on all of these would be very helpful!
Agree with Kelli Webb. Please do a video on harvesting the worm casting. What technique do you use? I vermicompost and harvesting is challenge. Not difficult but time consuming and I'm hoping you have some tips? Thanks for the great videos!
love the video! I'm going to start 3 worn farms tomorrow... wish me luck