Anything with lots of seeds in, for example melon or squash innards.Chili peppers or the seeds from bell peppers.Highly acidic foods such as citrus fruit, tomatoes, or pineapple.Compostable plastics, but only the thin bags rather than thicker, bio-degradable cups.Fruit peelings, including banana skins and melon rinds.Make sure you feed your worms a varied diet.Īs a general rule, if you’d compost it, the worms will love it, but with a few important exceptions: Do compost:.Some worm farms come with wood chips or cardboard to place at the bottom to start the worms off and provide aeration within the worm farm, but filling roughly 20% of the worm farm with shredded newspaper or cardboard will also do the trick. Make sure you’ve added something for aeration.Be patient while the population – and therefore capacity – grows and bear in mind worms will eat a lot less in cooler weather. During the first few weeks only feed small amounts to your worms so they have a chance to process the compostables into a habitat. Don’t feed your worms too much all at once.If you’ve purchased a worm farm composter rather than make your own, it should come with instructions specific to that particular design, but for all worm farms there are a few basic steps to keep in mind when starting out: So I’ve got everything I need, how do I get started? As a general rule choose a shady spot out of the direct sun, and move the bin inside when temperatures drop below freezing. Very high or very low temperatures can possibly be fatal to your worms, so while you may be limited in your choice of worm farm by the space you have available for it, consider the natural climate where you live if you choose to worm farm outdoors. Where should I position my worm composter? Make sure the worms you are buying are not an invasive species such as Asian Jumping Worms, also known as Alabama or Georgia Jumpers which will inevitably make their way into your garden no matter how much care you take. Department of Agriculture extension office. It is also sometimes possible to order worms directly from your local U.S. Search online for providers such as Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm (US), Gardeners Supply Company (US), Wormbox (CA), Worms Down Under (AU), Wiggly Wigglers (UK), or Wormery (UK). Ideally, you’re looking for red wigglers (also known as tiger worms) or common earthworms.
The Spruce also has a great DIY for creating a slightly more attractive, stackable outdoor worm farm setup.
Yes, of course! The United States Environmental Protection Agency has a great guide to safely building and maintaining your own indoor worm composting bin. If you’re looking to worm farm indoors and you don’t have a basement don’t be put off: there are actually some pretty stylish options available! Can I build my own worm farm composter? For outdoor worm farming, you can also buy subterranean designs that you can sink into the ground to attract existing worms through holes into your composter. Traditionally there are two common designs: single bucket or bin styles (these may or may not have a tap for harvesting worm fertilizer ‘tea’, they’re also less common in the US) or stackable bins or trays to help you harvest a large amount of compost in stages.