Comments on: Setting Up & Harvesting Your Own Worm Composting Bin

By: Jacqui

Jacqui — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 17:46:14 +0000

I live in a cold climate. What happens when the bin is full? I have nowhere to empty it because of the cold/snow outside and I don’t have a garden yet, I plan on starting one in the spring.
Thanks.

By: Liz

Liz — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 22:18:58 +0000

I am so thrilled to see more women taking on worm composting. It took me a little while to get over the gross factor and some 5 years later, I am now teaching worm composting classes to others. My kids love helping with harvesting. I do have one tip that will speed up your harvesting. Use pumpkin puree. The worms love it and will swarm it fast, making the trash bag harvesting even quicker. I recommend filling an avacado shell with the pumpkin puree, waiting 4-5 days then lift to find it full of worms. Keep doing that for a few weeks and you can get most of the worms from a homemade bin that way. Hope this helps.
Liz
BigTex Worms

By: Becky

Becky — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 03:45:28 +0000

I set up my worm compost tonight! I had begun saving scraps and grass for a compost pile when I read this post. So, now I’m doing this. I’m so excited about reusing and reducing waste as well as feeding my vegetable garden good nutrients next spring. Thanks, Lindsay!

By: Heather

Heather — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 00:35:46 +0000

I love my worm bin! It doesn’t stink at all, and i bought one with stacking layers. It really doesn’t require much maintenance and mine has a nice spout that you can turn to get the worm tea out. Great project!

By: Leanne

Leanne — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 02:56:55 +0000

Good idea! And I even have one of these containers left over. I bought a bunch and used them for an experimental container garden this year — they were so much cheaper AND deeper than the planters in the store. My tomatoes have been GREAT, my rhubarb (first year — from seeds) looks good, my beets & carrots look good, my beans were pretty good for 10-year-old seeds, my sorghum was great, … . Anyhow, I plan to use them again next year. But now I can maybe use my one empty one for composting.

Thanks for the good blog!

By: Lindsay

Lindsay — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:53:42 +0000

I keep my bin inside the garage in the winter (it still gets somewhat cold but not extreme temp) and then transfer it to a closet in my house in the summer when the garage heats up to a very high temeperature. My garage is insulated, so it is a little more difficult to figure out. I think you should be perfectly fine in your situation. The ideal temperatures for them is 55-77 degrees. Bedding above 84 degrees can be harmful, but then you have to calculate that it will be cooler in the bin than in the air around it. They should be protected from freezing temperatures as well. Below 55 degrees can slow down the production.

By: Lindsay

Lindsay — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:48:49 +0000

I keep it pretty easy. I store a glass quart covered jar near my sink and under my sink to collect the daily scraps. You really could use any small covered container for the job. When it is full, I make the trip to the compost bin. I do this usually at the end of the day after cleaning the dinner dishes, or every other day. With your size family, you will just have to cut back on how much you will be able to give them. No, you probably do not want to give them all your food scraps. The basic recommendation for 1000 worms is 1/2 lb of food scraps per day. You don’t want to overfeed. You will be able to use the majority but not all your scraps. If you want to use all, you will have to set up a larger bin. Yes, you can leave the compost through the winter, but it is just as easy to transfer it to the garden pretty quick or pass it on. Hope that helps!

By: Lindsay

Lindsay — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:44:33 +0000

I didn’t like the idea of the worms at first either, but when I finally decided to attack the pile to harvest, it really wasn’t that bad after all. You can use gloves if that helps…but it actually turned out kind of fun to get my hands dirty with them.

By: Lindsay

Lindsay — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:43:32 +0000

You don’t have to worry about turning your compost in this small of a bin. I spray it with a water bottle just lightly every time I add my food scraps. I store mine in the garage in the winter and in a hallway closet in the summer when it gets too hot in the garage.

By: Sarah M

Sarah M — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 18:22:24 +0000

Thank you for this post, you always seem to write about things when my family needs them! I sent this link to my husband and he was very interested to read it, too, since we are expanding our garden and need better soil!
THANK YOU!
Sarah M