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What you will need;
The picture below is my latest bath worm farm, the rolls royce of worm farms i am calling it, a light tin bath mounted on a welded tube frame(recycled from an old trampoline- guess who finally got a welder)
What you will need;
- Bath: a standard domestic bath (at least 6 foot long)
- A stand (this can range from blocks of wood to a built stand - see photo examples of my three later)
- Bucket: 10-20 litre
- Shredded paper: couple of big bags (start only)
- Pebbles: approx 25 litre bag about 20-30mm size)
- Insect screen: approx 200mm x200mm
- Broken bricks: half bucket
- Roof material(sheet of iron, packing case lid...)
- Carpet: cut to fit bath out line inner.
The picture below is my latest bath worm farm, the rolls royce of worm farms i am calling it, a light tin bath mounted on a welded tube frame(recycled from an old trampoline- guess who finally got a welder)
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Signing UpStep 1Whats a worm Farm
There are three parts to a worm farm,
(Picture 1)
1.) The basement Sewer -yellow- (were the wonderful plant nutrient "worm pee" collects)
2.) The middle floor Bedroom -Dark Green-(who wants to sleep in basement?)
3.) The bottom floor - Basement drains -Lime Green-(we want to collect the worm wee)
The majority of commercially produced worm farms have separate containers for each of these function areas.
This has two distinct advantages in that;
- The basement can be used as a worm pee tank and access via a tap is easy
- House keeping is easy in that you just lift off a box and access the room you wish
The disadvantages of the separate containers includes;
- The size or volume of the farm is constrained by your access to the individual containers (ie you need to be able to lift them)
- The bedding material must be topped up to the bottom of the food container.
In the bath farm, the rooms are are present in layers and thus care must be taken in to ensure the farm is always free draining so the "basement" doesn't flood the "bedrooms!"
(Picture 1)
1.) The basement Sewer -yellow- (were the wonderful plant nutrient "worm pee" collects)
2.) The middle floor Bedroom -Dark Green-(who wants to sleep in basement?)
3.) The bottom floor - Basement drains -Lime Green-(we want to collect the worm wee)
The majority of commercially produced worm farms have separate containers for each of these function areas.
This has two distinct advantages in that;
- The basement can be used as a worm pee tank and access via a tap is easy
- House keeping is easy in that you just lift off a box and access the room you wish
The disadvantages of the separate containers includes;
- The size or volume of the farm is constrained by your access to the individual containers (ie you need to be able to lift them)
- The bedding material must be topped up to the bottom of the food container.
In the bath farm, the rooms are are present in layers and thus care must be taken in to ensure the farm is always free draining so the "basement" doesn't flood the "bedrooms!"
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Now...... If only I knew someone who lives nearby who could help me set it up............. lol
I know this Instructable is 2 years old as of this writing, but I have to point out that old cast iron washware was made with as much as 88% Lead Oxide in the glaze. There are even examples of people going through the same problems the Romans experienced by soaking foods in these tubs.
As for what our boomer generation has experieced due to these affronts, I can't tell. However raising worms for their ability to create soil we would then grow food plants in seems at the least, risky.
Google seach, keywords: bathtub, Lead Glaze
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soy_ink
dont know bout where you live but in Newzealand if you handle to much newspaper - ie tearing it up you end up with a smudge of black ink on your hands that is pretty hard to get off... doesnt seem all that botanic to me.. and makes every thing associated with it black...
This is because grass cuttings are a wonderful activator for a compost heap, the process by which they decompose (i guess) means they generate heat among other things - equally a big mass of grass clippings you will notice often gets slimy - air is excluded and the decomposition goes anerobic... ( with out air) both of these factors are not all that inviting to worms.
if you were to mix those grass clippings with carbon material like leaves and food scraps in a compost heap *(recommend the rotary ones) then good compost comes ...
In this instance I would insulate the outside of the worm farm/ tub by putting some insulation materials around it, such as straw bales for example. You could also put a specially designed soil-warming electrical cord designed for cold frames in the bin to help keep them warm in the winter. A regular 25 watt light bulb will also keep it warm enough for the worms in the winter.
Additionally, adding some fresh Horse manure will help keep them warm all winter. Red wigglers are actually manure worms, so horse manure is their favorite food (which is also bedding). You just have to make sure that the horses haven't been given and de-worming medicine for parasitic worms, since this will also kill your worms. Also, you have to be careful that the manure doesn't contain any Horse urine. The nitric acid in the urine will kill the worms too.
In freezing cold temps, you DO close down the outdoor worm farm in that you no longer feed them scraps until the temps go above freezing. If you open the lid, you will expose the worms to freezing temps and this will instantly kill all of them.
Red Wigglers are natives of warm places like California. They tolerate temperatures between 5 Celsius and 40 Celsius. When the temperature gets cold they huddle into a ball and remain dormant. If it goes below 5c they die.