All About the Maze Worm Farm & Vermicomposting
We recently started worm farming at #wildlandhouse so I’m excited to be sharing our worm farming journey with you all and what we’ve learnt so far! For today’s post, I’m sharing with you our Maze Worm Farm which you can easily find at Bunnings.
HOW DO WORM FARMS WORk?
Worm farms are great for people with smaller gardens or no gardens as they take food scraps only. With worm farms, you’ll need to regularly feed your worms with food scraps and they will in turn give you worm castings to use in the garden.
HOW TO SET UP A WORM FARM
Step 1: Follow instructions to assemble the worm farm.
Step 2: Add the worm bedding. I used the provided coconut peat as bedding which you have to soak in water for 30 mins before using.
Step 3: Add the worms and their bedding.
Step 4: Add a worm blanket on top (I used the provided hessian material).
Step 5: Wait around a week for the worms to settle and get used to their new home. After that, you can start feeding the worms food scraps from the kitchen. You place these scraps on top of the worms, but below the worm blanket. The smaller you can cut these food scraps, the faster the worms will process them. Some people even blend their food scraps in a blender to make it easier for the worms!
If you want to watch a video version of me setting up our worm farm, you can watch it below or on Youtube here!
WHAT CAN YOU PUT IN A WORM FARM?
You can put fruit and veggie scraps, but unlike compost bins, you need to exclude citrus and onions as worms don’t like them. Worm farms also take egg shells, cartons, newspaper, tea leaves and bread.
HOW DO YOU USE WORM CASTINGS?
With worm castings, you can spread these in your garden like fertiliser, by digging it into your soil. You can also mix the worm castings with water and water your plants with it like a liquid fertiliser.
WHAT’s Good about worm farms?
The good thing about worm farms is that it’s a much faster process than composting, in that you’ll be able to reap the benefits within a number of weeks, compared to composting where you have to let the pile sit for longer before it’s ready. It’s also good if you have a large amount of food waste compared to garden waste, as this is a system that focuses mainly food waste and so you can convert this food waste more efficiently with a worm farm.
WHAT YOU’D HAVE TO KEEP IN MIND THOUGH:
However, something to keep in mind is that worms need to be fed regularly. After all, they’re living beings! So if you are going on holidays, not only will you need a pet sitter (if you have a pet), you’ll also need a worm sitter who will need to come over at least once a week to feed your worms and make sure everything is working how it should be.
The other thing about worm farms is that they don’t like citrus, garlic or onion waste (something we love to eat a lot!) so you would need to deal with this food waste in a separate system like a compost bin or bokashi bin.
WHO ARE WORM FARMS GOOD FOR:
When it comes to worm farms, I’d recommend them to people who want to focus on composting food scraps but don’t have much garden waste to create a balanced compost pile. Worm farms are also a great option to use alongside a compost bin or bokashi bin as well, as it can help account for excess food waste that won’t fit in your other system.
Lastly, worm farms might make you more committed to composting your food scraps as you might get a greater sense of responsibility having to look after your new pet and wanting to keep them alive. I think worm farms are a great way to encourage people to compost because of this, and may be easier to help people stick to the habit of composting knowing they have to keep feeding the worms.
With good care, worm farms are an incredible addition to your composting line-up. These days, there are also lots of hybrid worm farm options which are really useful as well which I’ll be sharing in the future!