I love worms. These tiny wigglers make something so healthy and important - and composting with worms is so easy ANYBODY can do it! I wanted to make certain that any of you who want to make your own worm bins had the info ... I didn't expect any of you to be taking notes while watching The Bonnie Hunt Show! Things have to happen so FAST when doing these little televised 'How-To' segments - there is really no way you can understand, remember, and follow the steps for building your own bins and making your own worm compost - so Germi to the rescue! Follow these steps, and you can have the richest compost that will make your garden sing with joy!
So here are the basics - Compost is decomposed organic matter
that is used as a soil amendment and fertilizer in our gardens and
in our container plantings. If we make our own compost, then we
know that it is absolutely organic, which is so important to the
health of our planet, and to our own health and well-being
especially if we grow our own vegetables!
(Grow your own potted vegetable
garden!)
Regular composting can be a little time consuming, and I like to keep things simple - that?s why I love my creepy crawly worms, because they'll do all the hard work for you! All you need to do is give them a home, feed them your scraps, and in a few months you'll have the richest, most nutritious organic compost that you made yourself!
This is REALLY fun to do with kids! gardening is MAGIC, and this is one way kids can see how nature works to turn one thing into another! Just follow the following steps and if you start now, you can have a big tubful of super-rich compost by spring!
Steal these secrets from top garden designers and add earthy polish to your outdoor space.Now about getting your worms - online sources can be pretty pricey considering you probably have all the worms you need chomping on fallen leaves in your backyard right now. Herd them up if you are so inclined! If you live in an apartment, or don't want to go digging around your property on a worm hunt (because you'll need about 400 of them to start out) you can do what I did - go to a pet shop. I got 500 worms for $4.75! You can also get them at bait shops - or, you can get super special earthworms at Whole Foods ... gotta love a grocery store that will sell you earthworms! Okay - off we go...
Step 1 - First, we get plastic tubs. You can get them anywhere pretty cheap - I like the Rubbermaid variety. For one worm bin, you need 2 plastic tubs that can fit one inside the other, with a lid.
Step 2 - Drill about 8 or 9 small holes in the bottom of one of the bins and stack it inside the other one. These are drainage holes, and the stuff that drains from worm composting is called 'Worm Tea', and it is great to water your plants with!
Step 3 - You'll want to put in some window screen that you've cut to fit the bottom of the tub. This is so the worms don't crawl out of the drain holes.
Step 4 - Now it's time to build the nest for your worms. Get a bunch of shredded newspaper and fill the bin about halfway up with it. The worms will live in this, but they'll also eat it, so it's going to disappear. You should add more shredded newspaper about once a month to keep the whole bin fluffy and aerated.
Read steps 5-7 and get the rest of the dos and don'ts of composting here!MORE FROM DOMINO:
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