Building or choosing your own wormery
There are all sorts of things you can use to make your wormery from - in the interests of the environment it is always good to try and use something that might otherwise end up in a landfill site. Our current wormery is housed in an old fridge turned on its side, for example, while we are planning another one that will use an old washing machine as its core! We have also made wormeries from old bathtubs and wheelie bins; your imagination is the limit when it comes to homes for worms.
Queen Cleopatra realised how important they were when she declared the worm sacred and anyone trying to leave Egypt with one in their luggage would suffer the death penalty. We are not quite so extreme, but visitors to the foundation will be searched when they are leaving in case you are tempted to worm-nap!
We are passionate about our humble yet mighty worms! (in fact a whole worm temple is an intrinsic part of the entrance to our "Perpetual Garden" project in recognition of their intrinsic value.)
Building your wormery
Whatever it is that you decide to use as your wormery, it is important that it has drainage holes near the bottom, and air holes near the top. In the base, drill drainage holes around the bottom of the wormery, to let excess water out and to collect the liquid gold, worm juice. Drill air holes near the top; it is important that the worms do not overheat in the summer;( if they are in an insulated fridge or freezer conversion, you may have to keep the lid partially open as well as the holes, because the heat from the compost could cause them to evacuate or worse, boil, if it becomes too intense. You may want to put small holed wire netting around the top to discourage rodents. Rats in a wormery will eat not only the compost but the worms as well.). Try to make sure the holes are about 20-30 cm apart - and if you are using an old fridge or freezer, be careful that you do not drill through into the piping that stores the gas!
At the base of your wormery, lay around 10 cm of gravel then a layer of broken slate or broken pots and china or sand, and on top of that a layer of straw. Next, lay a 4 inch layer of horse or cow manure (there are wormeries that use rabbit or chicken manure, but you have to be careful not to make it too acidic as they like limey conditions.) Then add cardboard from old boxes torn into pieces as another layer; make sure its all nice and moist : ideal conditions for the worms are warm, not too hot, moist and not acidic. It may sound difficult, but it really is quite simple to keep them happy!
Add your worms
When it is all in place, add your worms - at least 100 of them to start with! You can get these from existing wormeries, a mature compost heap, or you can purchase them. See our links page.
Next, add some food waste on one side of the bin, and cover it with more moist cardboard (a good way of recycling boxes from shopping trips). Put the lid back on, and leave it for a couple of weeks at least to let your new friends settle in!
Using your wormery
Once everyone is settled in, you can start using your wormery. Don't feed the worms too
much as they can be killed by overfeeding, so wait until one lot of waste has been composted before adding more. Try to give your worms a variety of foods,( old teabags and coffee grinds are fine to add) rather than just one thing and be careful to avoid any mouldy food waste, citrus peel, onions and garlic and chillies. Just make sure it is all moist enough as dry oats or hard pasta will not be appreciated!
In the winter months, the worms will decrease their productiveness and, if not kept warm, go dormant until spring. This is where a nicely insulated freezer comes into its own. Make sure they are warm enough: if it is a particularly cold winter the wormery would benefit from being covered in old blankets. Treat the worms nicely and they will repay you threefold!
Buying a wormery
If you are looking to buy a ready-made wormery, then we recommend a visit to Grow Green Solutions.