The Care and Keeping of Worms: Creating a Worm Bin & Feeding Worms

Thinking of adding a worm bin to your home? Worms are great for fishing, recycling kitchen wastes, and for your garden soil. The Encyclopedia of Country Living has a wonderfully comprehensive section on building a worm bin and general care and keeping of your new friends. 

(Start from the very beginning! Learn about buying worms here)

Materials

Your worm bin can be made of wood, metal, or plastic. All are equally good, but if you use wood it should be exterior-grade and not aromatic, because aromatic woods (redwood, cedar, etc.) are hard on the worms. Wooden worm boxes wear out. If you let the box dry out once in a while, it will keep longer; building 2 boxes and alternating them allows for that. Painting the wood with something like polyurethane varnish or epoxy also helps protect the wood. Otherwise a wood box will last only 2 or 3 years. If using a ready-made container, be sure it was not used to hold pesticides. Thoroughly scrub any plastic container you use. You can build or place your bin outdoors if you live in a mild climate.

Size

The container should be no deeper than 12 inches; 8-12 inches is a good size. The worms tend to stay on the surface, so a deep container is unnecessary and will only encourage the growth of smelly microorganisms, which live where there is little or no oxygen. The width of your bin depends on how much organic garbage your household produces, if you're using the worms to recycle garbage. Your bin should have 1 square foot of surface for each pound of garbage you'll be adding per week. (An average person produces about 2 lb. of garbage per week.) So for a family of 2, a 2 x 2 x 8-foot bin is generally good.

 Basic Worm Care

The less you mess with the worms, the better. Feeding them once or twice a week is sufficient. While feeding, note whether their bedding is staying moist and any other changes. As the worms eat the food and bedding, you'll see more castings. This higher proportion of castings to bedding is not the best thing for worms. If your worms are for bait, get them out of there before they start shrinking instead of growing. On the other hand, if your goal is to grow rich humus for your garden and house plants rather than fishing worms, you can let the worms stay in the bin longer.

Worm Beddings

Worm beddings not only provide moisture to the bin but also give you a place to bury the garbage. If left a long time, the bedding would be entirely converted into castings by the worms. (You won't leave the worms in the bin that long, though.) The lighter the bedding, the easier it is for the worms to make their way around the box.

Worms in nature enjoy living in organic material such as decaying leaves and rotten logs. Soil is not a necessary bedding ingredient, although you might want to add a handful to the bedding to help the worms' gizzards break down the food. But soil is heavy, and too much makes your bin difficult to move around. Powdered limestone is also a good addition: It adds grit, reduces acidity, and provides calcium for worm reproduction. Or you can use pulverized eggshells for calcium.

NOTE: Do not use slake or hydrated lime. It will kill your worms.

Worm Food

Too much food will "sour" your worm bed; the worms won't be able to keep up, and it'll smell bad. If you give them too little food, your worms will start getting smaller, and some will die. This happens if your worms have reproduced more worms than your garbage or other feeding schedule can handle. Their population will stabilize at the amount your food for them will support. Over time you'll get a feel for how much to feed.

Growing bait worms and harvesting them regularly calls for regular feedings. Worms for vermicomposting can get fed as much kitchen garbage as you have. You can let it build for a few days and give it to them once or twice a week.

How to Feed

 As you dump the food out on top of the bin, don't always put it in the same place. In fact, try to put it in a different place each time on about a nine-day feeding cycle. Dig a shallow hole, put the garbage in it, and cover with 1 inch of bedding. Covering the bin with a plastic sheet holds in moisture.

Worm Food Mix

 1 part screened topsoil and 1 part vegetable matter (grass clippings, kitchen waste, etc.). Peat moss is more water-absorbent than food scraps. If the manure is fresh, add more topsoil to prevent heating. Heating forces the worms to the bottom of the bin, where they won't eat or breed. The topsoil also absorbs odors and adds body to the mixture. Add chicken mash or cornmeal to provide the carbohydrates, protein, and fats the worms need for nutrition and to help in the formation of egg capsules. Mix very well.

Domesticated Worms?

Alright students, it's time to test your knowledge of our crawly companions. You can check your answers at the end of this post - hopefully you'll fare better than I did!

Earthworm Pre-Test: True or false?

1. If you cut a worm in half, you'll end up with 2 worms.

2. Worms have lips.

3. A worm has no brain.

4. It takes 2 worms to create another.

5. Rabbits and worms have nothing in common.

Interesting as knowing the answers to those factoids may be, what you'll definitely want to remember is that earthworms are good to fish with, good for your birds to eat, good for recycling kitchen wastes, and good for your garden soil.

In their process of digestion, worms actually reduce soil acidity and complete the composting process of freeing up plant nutrients. So if you're interested in initiating a symbiotic relationship that will benefit your garden, your worm friends, and the environment...[commence frenzied drumroll]...vermicomposting is the answer!

Worms can be used to make fertilizer for your garden out of your household garbage or other organic material. Aristotle referred to the earthworm as the "intestines of the world." These lowly creatures eat dirt and organic matter. They combine this food with their digestive juices and excrete a mixture of organic and inorganic material called "castings." The castings improve both soil structure and its ability to hold moisture. Worm castings are practically neutral in pH; they're a water-soluble humus, a perfect fertilizer for plants. Both country and city gardeners can improve their soil by raising worms and using their castings in the garden.

Here's what you'll need to get started on creating your own backyard worm bin:

Your worm bin can be made of wood, metal, or plastic. All are equally good, but if you use wood it should be exterior-grade and not aromatic, because aromatic woods (redwood, cedar, etc.) are hard on the worms. Wooden worm boxes wear out. If you let the box dry out once in a while, it will keep longer; building 2 boxes and alternating them allows for that. Painting the wood with something like polyurethane varnish or epoxy also helps protect the wood. Otherwise a wood box will last only 2 or 3 years. If using a ready-made container, be sure it was not used to hold pesticides.

Thoroughly scrub any plastic container you use. You can build or place your bin outdoors if you live in a mild climate. The container should be no deeper than 12 inches; 8-12 inches is a good size. The worms tend to stay on the surface, so a deep container is unnecessary and will only encourage the growth of smelly microorganisms, which live where there is little or no oxygen. The width of your bin depends on how much organic garbage your household produces, if you're using the worms to recycle garbage.

Your bin should have 1 square foot of surface for each pound of garbage you'll be adding per week. (An average person produces about 2 lb. of garbage per week.) So for a family of 2, a 2 °- 2 °- 8-foot bin is generally good.

Are you inspired yet? Well, either way here are the answers to the pretest.

Earthworm Pre-Test Answers

1. False. One half may continue living, depending on the cut's location.

2. True. They actually have 3 lips.

3. False. Not only does a worm have a brain, it also has 5 hearts!

4. True. The red wriggler is bisexual but still needs to mate with another worm before laying its eggs. It will be blessed with hatched-out babies in 20 to 30 days.

5. False. These 2 animals have a good symbiotic relationship.

Healthy Soil part 2: Worms!

We were inspired by this article about Will Allen and the amazing things he's doing with his organization Growing Power. So this week we are celebrating worms and their amazing ability to turn garbage into garden gold. First we'll talk about the different kinds of worms and then offer some resources for buying them.

Buying Worms:
The number or amount of worms you use will depend on the size of your household and the amount of garbage you want consumed. The rule of thumb is 2 lb. worms per 1 lb. garbage. For instance, if you produce 1 lb. organic and compostable garbage a day (or an average 7 lb. per week), you would use 2 lb. worms in the worm bed container. You can buy either “pit-run” or “breeder” worms. Breeders do lay cocoons quicker than the average pit-run worms, but they still take some time getting used to their new home before beginning to breed. Pit-run are cheaper, are usually younger, and will reproduce well soon after you get them . Because red worms are so popular for growers and fishermen, it’s easy to purchase them year-round. Try your hardware store, bait shop, or garden store — or maybe a gas station, if you’re in a rural fishing area.

Worm Words
Bait worms: Worms that fishermen use to catch fish.
Bed: The place where domesticated worms live.
Bedding: The soil of worms’ bed.
Bin: A container for worms.
Breeders: Worms that lay cocoons relatively quickly.
Castings: Dirt, etc. that has gone through a worm’s digestive tract and out its hind end. Very good stuff for your soil.
Pit-run worms: This term refers to worms of all ages and sizes, averaging 2,000 to a pound.
Vermicomposting: The process of using worms to decompose kitchen waste (or other organic materials, such as manure/straw bedding from the barn) into rich castings that make wonderful fertilizer for plants and gardens.

Worm Varieties:
The most common earthworms in the United States, western Asia, and Europe are in the Lumbricidae family, which has 220 species or types.
Garden Worms. These are the worms you find in your yard. Fishermen don’t like them because they turn white in water. They are usually sold along with a red wriggler to provide the buyer with some big worms. These are not the best kind for your compost bin.
Nightcrawler, African. Lumbricus terrestris, also known as the “rain worm, “dew worm,” or “orchard worm,” averages 5 inches long but can grow to as much as 1 foot long in adulthood. African nightcrawlers are adapted to warm weather and die quickly in cold water or cold air. They are slow breeders, reproducing only every 2 years. Don’t bother with them.
Nightcrawler, Native. Steelhead fishermen prefer these. You find them on lawns and golf courses after a heavy night rain. Native nightcrawlers are slow breeders too, but fishermen like the fact that they can handle cold temperatures and cold water. They require lots of soil for indoor growing and can’t tolerate temperatures over 50˚F. They don’t like having their bedding disturbed, so although they are good in your garden, they aren’t too useful in your kitchen- waste recycling bin.
Red Worms. These “red wrigglers” (also known as the “manure worm” or “red hybrid”) are the best for doing the job in your household compost bin. Two of the most commonly used red worms are Lumbricus rubellus and Eisenia foetida. Rubellus is the most likely of the two to be found living in your dirt, but the soil must contain lots of organic material for it to live there. This is a popular worm for growing in a worm bed because it is capable of consuming large quantities of garbage, reproduces quickly, and thrives in a worm bin. The red worm has alternating red and buff stripes. Adults are 11⁄2 to 3 inches long. The red worm produces young every 7 days. The worm reaches full maturity in 9 months, but it is capable of mating at 2 to 3 months. It lives up to 15 years. This worm is good for fishing because it stays active (doesn’t drown) and remains red in the water.
Sewer Worms. They can be found in manure piles and identified by the bright rings around their bodies. They grow quite large but are not good bait.

Uses for Earthworms: You can raise worms for bait or for vermicomposting. Some additional benefits of using worm castings in your garden are reduced insect damage and better texture. One gardener said she felt she’d hit upon a miracle when she started this. She no longer needs to use a rototiller, only a trowel!

Worm Info and Products:
The Worm Book, by Loren Nancarrow and Janet Hogan Taylor, is an amusing, informative, fascinating, and complete guide to gardening and composting with worms. Worms Eat My Garbage by Mary Appelhof is an easy-to-read guide to raising worms that’s equally suited to urban and rural folks. Her company sells supplies to worm growers: Flowerfield Enterprises, LLC, 10332 Shaver Road, Kalamazoo, MI 49024; 269-327- 0108; www.wormwoman.com. Harnessing the Earthworm by Thomas J. Barrett (Bookworm Publishing Co.) gives in-depth, scientific facts on worms and how to grow them. Raising Earthworms for Profit by Earl B. Shields tells how to raise worms to sell. An older classic is Earthworms for Ecology and Profit by Ronald E. Gaddie Sr. and Donald E. Douglas. For online worm info and products, visit these websites
ATTRA’s info on vermicomposting is at www.attra.org/ attra-pub/vermicom.html. “Earthworms and Crop Management” at www.agcom. purdue.edu/AgCom/Pubs/AY/AY-279.html.
“Earth Worms: The Agriculturist’s Friend” at eap.mcgill.ca/ publications/eap6.htm. Magic Worm Ranch sells redworms, nightcrawlers, vermicomposting kit, bins, books, etc.; 314-602-0736; 5750 Duda Road, House Springs, MO 63051; www.magicworms.com.
Seeds West offers redworms from Frog Alley Farm; 505- 843-9713; 317-14th St. NW, Albuquerque, NM 87104; seeds@nmia.com; www.seedswestgardenseeds.com.
Shields Publications publishes and sells 22 books on earthworms, including Raising Earthworms by Earl B. Shields: 715-479-4810; fax 715-479-3905; PO Box 669, Eagle River, WI 54521; www.wormbooks.com.
Unco Industries offers advice to start in the worm business, worms, and worm products: 800-728-2415; 7802 Old Spring St., Racine, WI 53406: unco@vermi culture.com; www.vermiculture.com.
VermiCo: 541-476-9626; fax 207-470-5187; PO Box 2334, Grants Pass, OR 97528; www.vermico.com.
VermiTechnology Unlimited offers redworms, worm bins; 352-591-1111; fax 352-591-4550; PO Box 130, Orange Lake, FL 32681; vermi@vermitechnology. com; www.vermitechnology.com.
Worm Digest sends quarterly issues for $12: Box 544, Eugene, OR 97440-9998; zorba@wormdigest.org; www.wormdigest.org.
“Worms for Composting” by ATTRA’s Alice Beetz; www.attra.org/attra-pub/vermicom.html.