Worm Farming

Creating your own worm habitat can be an easy project producing healthy, natural food for your plants while diverting food waste out of your home trash bins and keeping it out of the landfill. The most common type of worm for worm farming is the Red Wiggler (Eisenia fetida). These worms are horizontally migrating and usually only stay in the first 18 inches of the soil. Because of this they work great at moving through the top of a bin and breaking down all the material as they go in search of food.   Red Wiggler Worms used in the DIY Worm Farm The most common type of worm for worm farming is the Red Wiggler (Eisenia fetida). Why Do I Need a Worm Bin? One of the main goals of having a worm bin is to make vermicompost, also known as worm castings.  Worm castings have shown to have an increase in plant root growth, decrease in transplant stress, improvement in soil porosity and structure, and will never burn plants with their application compared to some traditional fertilizers.  Worm castings can be added as a side dressing to your existing plants to help give them a boost. Castings add a rich amount of beneficial biology to your plants. When planting add your worm castings up to 40% concentration with another growth media. However, adding vermicast to soil in concentrations as low as 10% has also been shown to be beneficial.  Creating your own worm bin is a simple and easy way to have access to worm castings year round. Ozark Worm Farms has a passion for helping the average person to connect with nature and to create a more sustainable lifestyle. By following the steps shown below anyone can create their own worm bin that can be used to harvest castings and utilize food waste.  How To Make a DIY Worm Bin: Supplies 2 plastic tubs (27 gallon, or whatever you can find) Scissors Newspaper Crushed leaves Drill (or something to poke air holes with) Peat moss or some loose soil Kitchen scraps (collection bucket) (Optional) spigot Preparing the Worm Bins: Step 1: Get two plastic tubs so that one fits into the other.  Step 2: Prepare the top tub:  Cut rectangular strips approximately 1 ½ in wide all along the bottom of the tub (creating a simple slatted bottom that will allow water to drain from the worm habitat.) Step 3: Drill evenly spaced air holes into the upper side walls of the bin. (These holes allow more air to reach your worms so they are healthier and happier)  step 4: Prepare the bottom tub:  The bottom tub can be mostly left alone since its primary function is to catch leachate, worm water runoff, from the worm bin above.   Water can be later diluted with leachate at a 2:1 ratio and applied as a foliar feeding to your plants.  Place a brick or other flat object in the bottom of the lower tub so that the top tub is slightly elevated from the bottom tub.  This prevents the tubs from forming a suction when trying to separate them to harvest worm castings. (Without this, the tubs create a suction and are REALLY stuck together, especially when full.  Trust me!  You’ll like with this simple little addition.) It also allows even more air to reach your worm habitat.  *Optional Step: Drill a hole in the side of the bottom tub as close as possible to the bottom.  Install a spigot that can be used to drain the liquid without having to separate the tubs. Feeding Your Worms & Preparing the Bin Step 1: Place the top tub inside the bottom and begin filling your worm farm with tasty goodies.   Step 2: Line the top tub with several sheets of newspaper (cardboard can also be used).  This prevents material from falling through the slats until the worms have had time to process the contents and allows castings to compact enough so it doesn’t fall through on its own.  Moisten this layer with water.  Step 3: Place a 2 inch layer of pre-soaked peat moss in your bin. This should be about as damp as a wrung-out sponge. Step 4: Place a small amount of kitchen scraps in your bin. Our worms eat about half their weight in food each day.  At first they may eat less, but as they settle into their new home you should notice them processing material at a much faster rate. (What worms like and dont like visit our link). If all else fails air on the side of too little application of kitchen scraps and observe.  If they process through it in a matter of days, you can try and increase how much you put in and observe.  Less is more in this at first. If you add too much, you may attract flies and other critters.  This bin does not attract pests at all when done properly. Vermicomposting should never be a smelly hobby and should always smell like fresh soil in your bin. Additionally covering up the kitchen waste with a bit of the other bedding in the bin helps to eliminate odors.  Step 5: Add a layer of crushed leaves and cardboard to the bin. The total of layers should be about 4 – 5 inches deep. Water lightly. Now you are ready to introduce your worms to their new worm farm. They will almost immediately begin moving deeper into the bin.   Tuck ‘Em In: Finally place a cloth or other type of cover over your worm habitat (feed bags, plastic sacks, or even just one solid piece of cardboard works).  This helps maintain the humidity level within your worm bin and also makes the little critters happy because red wigglers don’t like light.  With the bin covered they will work throughout all the layers rather than staying in the lower regions to escape the light.  Monitor your bins every few days for moisture content.  Worms aren’t too finicky, but do prefer damp rather than saturated or dry conditions.  If you have any trouble, feel free to give us a call. Order some worms from us and we’ll help you succeed Repeat the Process: As the material in the tub is processed and settles down, continue to add leaves, kitchen scraps, and peat moss mixture to the top as needed.  The worms will continue to make their way up from below to eat their new meal.  You tend to get a better processing of waste if each time you feed you alternate sides where you place the food, so that the worms can move back and forth, processing material as they go.  Harvesting Castings: When castings have accumulated on the bottom of the top tub, separate the two bins.  Scrape your fingers along the slats that you’ve made in the bottom of the top bin.  This is a small scale continuous flow through worm bin.  You can harvest the castings while leaving your worms totally undisturbed! When you’ve harvested a sufficient amount of finished castings from the bottom of the first tub, put the tubs back together and start the process over.  For more information feel free to give us a call at (501) 500-3153. We’d love to help you out any way we can. 

Creating your own worm habitat can be an easy project producing healthy, natural food for your plants while diverting food waste out of your home trash bins and keeping it out of the landfill. The most common type of worm for worm farming is the Red Wiggler (Eisenia fetida). These worms are horizontally migrating and usually only stay in the first 18 inches of the soil. Because of this they work great at moving through the top of a bin and breaking down all the material as they go in search of food.   Red Wiggler Worms used in the DIY Worm Farm The most common type of worm for worm farming is the Red Wiggler (Eisenia fetida). Why Do I Need a Worm Bin? One of the main goals of having a worm bin is to make vermicompost, also known as worm castings.  Worm castings have shown to have an increase in plant root growth, decrease in transplant stress, improvement in soil porosity and structure, and will never burn plants with their application compared to some traditional fertilizers.  Worm castings can be added as a side dressing to your existing plants to help give them a boost. Castings add a rich amount of beneficial biology to your plants. When planting add your worm castings up to 40% concentration with another growth media. However, adding vermicast to soil in concentrations as low as 10% has also been shown to be beneficial.  Creating your own worm bin is a simple and easy way to have access to worm castings year round. Ozark Worm Farms has a passion for helping the average person to connect with nature and to create a more sustainable lifestyle. By following the steps shown below anyone can create their own worm bin that can be used to harvest castings and utilize food waste.  How To Make a DIY Worm Bin: Supplies 2 plastic tubs (27 gallon, or whatever you can find) Scissors Newspaper Crushed leaves Drill (or something to poke air holes with) Peat moss or some loose soil Kitchen scraps (collection bucket) (Optional) spigot Preparing the Worm Bins: Step 1: Get two plastic tubs so that one fits into the other.  Step 2: Prepare the top tub:  Cut rectangular strips approximately 1 ½ in wide all along the bottom of the tub (creating a simple slatted bottom that will allow water to drain from the worm habitat.) Step 3: Drill evenly spaced air holes into the upper side walls of the bin. (These holes allow more air to reach your worms so they are healthier and happier)  step 4: Prepare the bottom tub:  The bottom tub can be mostly left alone since its primary function is to catch leachate, worm water runoff, from the worm bin above.   Water can be later diluted with leachate at a 2:1 ratio and applied as a foliar feeding to your plants.  Place a brick or other flat object in the bottom of the lower tub so that the top tub is slightly elevated from the bottom tub.  This prevents the tubs from forming a suction when trying to separate them to harvest worm castings. (Without this, the tubs create a suction and are REALLY stuck together, especially when full.  Trust me!  You’ll like with this simple little addition.) It also allows even more air to reach your worm habitat.  *Optional Step: Drill a hole in the side of the bottom tub as close as possible to the bottom.  Install a spigot that can be used to drain the liquid without having to separate the tubs. Feeding Your Worms & Preparing the Bin Step 1: Place the top tub inside the bottom and begin filling your worm farm with tasty goodies.   Step 2: Line the top tub with several sheets of newspaper (cardboard can also be used).  This prevents material from falling through the slats until the worms have had time to process the contents and allows castings to compact enough so it doesn’t fall through on its own.  Moisten this layer with water.  Step 3: Place a 2 inch layer of pre-soaked peat moss in your bin. This should be about as damp as a wrung-out sponge. Step 4: Place a small amount of kitchen scraps in your bin. Our worms eat about half their weight in food each day.  At first they may eat less, but as they settle into their new home you should notice them processing material at a much faster rate. (What worms like and dont like visit our link). If all else fails air on the side of too little application of kitchen scraps and observe.  If they process through it in a matter of days, you can try and increase how much you put in and observe.  Less is more in this at first. If you add too much, you may attract flies and other critters.  This bin does not attract pests at all when done properly. Vermicomposting should never be a smelly hobby and should always smell like fresh soil in your bin. Additionally covering up the kitchen waste with a bit of the other bedding in the bin helps to eliminate odors.  Step 5: Add a layer of crushed leaves and cardboard to the bin. The total of layers should be about 4 – 5 inches deep. Water lightly. Now you are ready to introduce your worms to their new worm farm. They will almost immediately begin moving deeper into the bin.   Tuck ‘Em In: Finally place a cloth or other type of cover over your worm habitat (feed bags, plastic sacks, or even just one solid piece of cardboard works).  This helps maintain the humidity level within your worm bin and also makes the little critters happy because red wigglers don’t like light.  With the bin covered they will work throughout all the layers rather than staying in the lower regions to escape the light.  Monitor your bins every few days for moisture content.  Worms aren’t too finicky, but do prefer damp rather than saturated or dry conditions.  If you have any trouble, feel free to give us a call. Order some worms from us and we’ll help you succeed Repeat the Process: As the material in the tub is processed and settles down, continue to add leaves, kitchen scraps, and peat moss mixture to the top as needed.  The worms will continue to make their way up from below to eat their new meal.  You tend to get a better processing of waste if each time you feed you alternate sides where you place the food, so that the worms can move back and forth, processing material as they go.  Harvesting Castings: When castings have accumulated on the bottom of the top tub, separate the two bins.  Scrape your fingers along the slats that you’ve made in the bottom of the top bin.  This is a small scale continuous flow through worm bin.  You can harvest the castings while leaving your worms totally undisturbed! When you’ve harvested a sufficient amount of finished castings from the bottom of the first tub, put the tubs back together and start the process over.  For more information feel free to give us a call at (501) 500-3153. We’d love to help you out any way we can. 

What Should You Feed Worms, You Ask? Worms like a diet that consists of many organic materials that you find locally. Many times you can feed worms for free without purchasing expensive materials. Some of our free favorites are cow manure, rabbit manure, and horse manure (especially horse manure).  There are studies that have been done comparing types of manure and what worms prefer. We are currently conducting our own studies with this. More on that later. If the manure is not composted well beforehand, the worms can get too hot and may die.  An important note: It is important to pre-compost manure first to kill known pathogens. Always wear gloves. If you are immunocompromised, wearing a mask is also important. Check out all our worm bin safety tips here.  Worms need a bedding source so they are free to move around to get their food.  If you do not have access to manure you can always start with something like peat moss. You can find peat moss at your local gardening store fairly easily. Many people consider this more sanitary and easier to control the worms’ environment.  What To Feed Worms Kitchen scraps of unseasoned fruits and vegetables (Little to no citrus, no onions, no garlic, no dairy, no spicy foods or salt) Avocados (We’ve found feeding worms avocados in small quantities they go crazy for! Many sites say no to this but our worms love them) Lettuce Cucumbers Spinach Kale Cardboard (finely shredded) Paper (shredded) Straw (if finely chopped up) Leaves (they really like these as part of a light airy bedding)  Pumpkins (also go crazy for these) Watermelon Cantaloupe Banana peels (they love these) Egg Shells (really helps balance the soil pH) Oats (throw your oatmeal leftovers straight in the bin) Coffee grounds and tea bags Hair and nail clippings Sawdust (no treated wood) How To Introduce A New Food Into Your Worm Bin: One way to learn a lot is to sprinkle a bit of the material on top of a test portion of the bed and observe your worms. Red wigglers eat best when the food is sprinkled onto the bed and lightly watered in. If you have something that the worms absolutely hate they will move away from the substance. It is important not to spread something to feed your worms that you are unsure about all over the top of the worm bin or they will decide to leave. Also if the worms have some “wiggle room” in the test portion it can help. If they are in a small container then there is little room for error. The more space the worms have the more forgiving they are with your mistakes. Don't have a worm bin yet? Learn how to make a DIY worm bin. One way we learned at Ozark Worm Farms here in Searcy, Arkansas what our worms like was by observing. Many people have moisture sensors and other fancy devices to measure the pH of their worm bins. These are good if they work for you, but one rule of thumb if you don’t have these is to simply observe everything while you get the hang of worm farming. Things to Watch For Your Worm Bin:  Is the worm bin too wet or too dry? Where are the worms (crawling on the sides of the bin or relaxed in their bedding?) Do they favor one area of the bin more? Why? Are there certain types of foods they like? How do your worms look? Do the adult worms have a vibrant color or are they pale and small? Do you smell something? (too much food on the bin rotting?, anaerobic conditions that the worms don’t like?) Worm bins should not have an offensive odor. If they do you’ve got some troubleshooting to do.  The only way you are going to learn is by getting a feel for what the worms like in your worm bin. Many people will feed and then minimally disturb the worms, but for us learning early on is more important. It is important to note that there are many different species of worms and their care needs vary by type. The worms we farm here at our worm farm in Searcy, Arkansas are Eisenia fetida (or the red wiggler). These are hardy worms great for fishing and improving your soil.  Think about your purpose in raising the worms. Are you trying to produce vermicast (or worm compost) quickly for use in your garden? If so then you may not want to have large sticks in your bin. It is a good rule of thumb to keep the feeding materials in the worm bed a fine consistency if possible.  Once you have fed your worms for a number of weeks they make a rich material that many people use in their gardens. There are many other resources for how to use worm compost in your garden: link here.  We here at Ozark Worm Farms hope this brief introduction to what do worms eat has been helpful. If you’ve got a question about what to feed your worms you can always reach out to us on our contact page or follow us on all our social media platforms. Or just send us an email at contact@ozarkwormfarms.com. If you would like to purchase your own red wiggler worms, please visit our store to get your very own from some Arkansas worm farmers today.