There is something about making a worm farm. First thoughts are that it will be complicated and messy. Think about though, your pet dog makes more mess and you don’t have to take your worms for a walk.
The thing I enjoy about it is that my kids are enjoying the worm farm and are immensely proud to show it to their friends. It has created a safe, computer game free activity that father and children can participate in and enjoy together. The worm farm is $75 and the worms are $50. So for $125 which is a little more than the lastest video game for your gaming console, you will get the kids out of the house, and into the backyard.
Here’s how we did it:
The kit we used was Reln’s Can-O-Worms. It contains a bottom tray and
two working trays. There are 5 legs, one tap and a bedding block.
The whole unit can be put together by a four year old, and it was. The
legs look a bit flimsy, but when you consider there are five of them,
the whole thing is quite stable once set up. Being lightweight, it can
also be moved easily.
Even the tap is very simple to put together and the instructions in the
booklet provided, remove any doubt as to how to put the thing together.
Next we placed one of the working trays on top of the unit. This will be the worms new home, but first we have to make a bed.
The kit comes with a block of coir peat. This is actually made from the outer husk of a coconut – much of it produced in Sri Lanka. It is a waste product, unlike peat moss which is harvested from peat bogs. I have also used it for beefing up a potting mix and giving it greater longeivity. Put the block into 5 litres of water and in 15 minutes it is a beautifully consistent and friable product.
Of course 15 minutes is a long time in a yong kids life, so we got out a screwdriver and helped it along. It was just like making an oohy goohey wombat stew (but without the wombat of course !)
Here is a really cool bit. You use the outer packaging as a base in the working tray. It just helps support everything until the worms get started, and of course they will eat this bit in time. The picture above shows the wastage of the Can O Worm packaging – not much. (This doesn’t include the plastic and cardboard outers of the box of 1000 worms – they are in the yellow box in the first picture)
So we poured the bed into the tray. We then made the bed, so it was nice and neat for our little friends to jump into and mess up !
Next we opened our big box of 1000 worms. You can buy them in 500s,be ut we were advised to start with 1000. The plastic bag is not sealed and I knew these worms had been in our nursery for a few weeks now, so I hoped there was still live worms. Yes there was – I didn’t count them, but there was enough to make me think we got our thousand.
Once you have the worms put to bed, of course you need to give them a blanket. Wet hessian would probably be perfect, but for now, we are using newspaper. Then move the worm farm to an area protected from the sun, and the worm kingdom has begun.
Here is the first nights vegie scraps. The thrill of putting this into the worm farm was amazing. My kids now have a new interets in their lives – an interest in recycling.
WORM CARE
The worms will take a month or so to settle in and will eat the bed first, so you won’t be able to add too much too early. Too much food will result in an anerobic smell.
When the tray is full, add the second tray (which we haven’t used yet). These trays have holes in them and the worms work their way into this top tray and then you can use the castings, or worm poo, from the bottom tray.
Flush your worm farm out every week or so with about 5 litres of water. Leave the tap on until it drains fully. Use this bucket of juice in the garden. If you turn the tap on and get the stronger worm juice, dilute that in water 1 part to 10 parts water, and use that on your plants.
These worms are smart. One day when it was raining, heaps of them were up in the lid. I guess they were worried about their house getting flooded and were getting out of the way. They must have sensed this from the moisture in the air. Next they will be forming alphabetic letters and signalling words to me.
I love my new friends.
Gardenworld has 2 types of worm farms and worms available at 810 Springvale Rd Braeside 3195, or for home delivery to Melbourne Metro go to gardenworld’s online shop
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