5. Worm Farms

Little over a century ago, land was valued by the number of worms per square yard in the top soil. They are amazing soil builders and indicators of fertility.

Worms can be used to convert organic wastes from your garden into near-perfect soil supplements. Just mix some various materials together in a container for a “worm farm,” yielding you worm castings and worm juice.

Worm castings (poop) are a perfectly balanced, nutrient-rich

Little over a century ago, land was valued by the number of worms per square yard in the top soil. They are amazing soil builders and indicators of fertility.

Worms can be used to convert organic wastes from your garden into near-perfect soil supplements. Just mix some various materials together in a container for a “worm farm,” yielding you worm castings and worm juice.

Worm castings (poop) are a perfectly balanced, nutrient-rich soil supplement and can be put directly into soil as compost or dissolved in water to make a nearly perfect liquid fertilizer.

 Make Your Own Worm Farm

1. Collect materials for farm: food wastes, grass clippings, and higher-carbon materials like shredded cardboard or shredded paper.
2. Layer materials on top of a screen or builders’ cloth (to prevent materials clogging the bottom, gravel drainage layer).
3. Add red compost worms (red wigglers).
4. The material is eaten by the worms and more organic materials, and food wastes are added to keep the system topped up.
5. The feed material must be kept moist (not soggy), so intermittent watering is needed. Cover your worm farm to ensure rain water doesn’t water log it.
6. At the bottom of your worm farm should be a gravel layer to aid drainage. A drain tap is needed here, too, to filter out the “worm juice” that collects at the bottom of the farm.
7. When the materials have been fully digested, harvest the worms by placing a pile of food scraps at one corner of the farm, then come back later and dig out the worms that have gathered there.
8. Empty the tub of worm castings to be used as fertilizer.
9. Refill your farm with new material and re-seed it with some of your worms.
10. Feed the excess worms to your chickens or release them into your gardens to help improve the soil there.

soil supplement and can be put directly into soil as compost or dissolved in water to make a nearly perfect liquid fertilizer.