How to build the best in-garden worm farm
After many years of struggling with sub-standard worm farms I've finally got one that works without me working hard to make it work.
This is it.
What do you do with it when you don’t want it any more?
This GIY topic looks at worm farming, composting, recycling codes of conduct, green waste and how to get rid of toxic stuff that you know shouldn’t go in the rubbish but you don’t know where it should go!
After many years of struggling with sub-standard worm farms I've finally got one that works without me working hard to make it work.
This is it.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. Worms are a pet that just keeps on giving. They only give you joy and are great little gardeners.
If you're a worm fan, or just starting out, this is a great way to get worms to do lots of the gardening for you. You feed them your food scraps in a 'tower' or tube, they come and eat it, then explore the garden doing their wormy business all through the soil. This makes your garden rich, fertile and bountiful ...and all you've had to do is feed the little worms the right stuff.
A bokashi bucket is a small-scale kitchen 'composting' bucket that works on the principle of fermentation. It's a really easy and efficient form of composting if you haven't got lots of space.
The air-tight bucket can fit almost anywhere and can handle almost all your kitchen waste - raw and cooked food, meat, dairy, citrus and onions. The only thing it can't take is big bones and lots of liquid.
Your worm farm should smell as sweet as a Richard Marcs love song, be a writhing mass of wrigglers happily munching through food and be free of any form of little black flies.
If your worm farm is full of smelly, slimy uneaten food which is attracting hordes of little black vinegar flies your worm farm needs a makeover.
This video will show you how you can quickly fix it up so that it becomes a lean green wriggling composting machine.
Trickiness rating: Easy
Modern Cloth Nappies (MCN's) are a great alternative to disposables - in fact many types of MCN are just like putting on a disposable nappy only you wash them rather than throw them in the bin.
All-in-one nappies are the closest cloth nappy to disposables - they are all in one piece with the stay-dry layer, absorbant layer and waterproof layer all sewn together.
This video takes you through the basics of the all-in-one (AIO).
A well working worm farm is a joy to see, and smell. Earthy rich soil and not a fly to be seen.
Worms will turn all your organic scraps into fantastic garden fertilizer and don't take up much space - perfect in courtyards, balconies, carports and gardens.
Worms are the perfect pet - you don't have to take them for walks, you feed them rubbish, you want their poo all through your garden and you can even carry them around in your hand-bag to cafes (if you're Paris Hilton)
Find out everything you need to know to build a worm farm from scratch.
There are some great rebates and incentives available from your local, state and federal government to help you reduce your energy and water use.
Check out these sites to see what you are eligible for.
In this GIY episode find out what to do you do with all your organic waste if you live in a little apartment using a Bokashi Bucket.
The bokashi bucket is a composting system that is ideal for small spaces. It is, as the name suggests, a bucket with a tight fitting lid and a tap that fits in a corner of your balcony or under your kitchen sink.
It does a great job of fermenting your green waste, doesn't smell and when it is full, just bury it in a friends garden.
This is not land-fill on a small scale - it just sounds like it!