A vermicomposting bin needs to house your worms comfortably. It doesn't need to be fancy, but it can be if you want. There are so many different potential worm bins out there that it would be impossible to get them all down and detailed here. One of my favorites, the easiest and cheapest I've come across is the worm trench. The 5 gallon bucket buried in the garden works well and is not too difficult to get going productively. The last method I'll discuss here is the plastic 18 gallon storage container bin. They are all easy DIY vermicomposting bin ideas and really inexpensive.
My favorite method is the trench. Vermicomposting in a trench is easy. You dig a trench at least 18 inches deep but not more than 3 feet. Those are numbers that I have found online during my research and they just kind of make sense. If you go too deep you'll get pretty worn out first of all and it may cause aeration issues. You can make it as wide as you want. I keep mine at about 1 and a half times the shovel blade width apart. Add some bedding. Next is time to add the food. Let all that "marinate" til it cools down then add the worms. Depending what you've added as food, you may have to wait a long time. I like to fill my trench a little at a time. That way the worms can stay in there old food and bedding until the new food has "cooked" enough for them. The windrow concept is similar in idea except instead of burying the food you pile it up and then keep adding the food as it is available and create a row as you go. I prefer the trench because it allows me to create small garden beds that benefit immediately from the vermi- activity. This type of vermicomposting bin gets rid of food scraps and turns it into gardening fertilizer. You can also grow worms this way. Take them out to start new bins or to sell/give away. This is not the best way to generate excess vermicompost. With the windrow you will be able to harvest the vermicompost to use in your garden or to sell.
Along the same lines as the trench is the more portable Bucket System. I have a 5 gallon bucket with 1/2 inch holes drilled all over its sides and bottom. I then buried in a small 4' X 4' garden bed. I add food and bedding for the worms and they come in and eat when there is food for them and take their castings out into the garden to fertilize for me. I would almost be willing to bet that worms would naturally compost for you if you put food in the ground for them. You probably don't need to buy worms if you have enough space for all of your organic wastes to be stored until the worm population catches up with your organic waste supply. But if you need it to be gone quick just get a pound or two of red wigglers.
Another cheap DIY vermicompost bin is the 18 gallon plastic storage bin. This one requires a bit more TLC to operate successfully. I'm not saying it is too difficult but it does require more attention than the other techniques I mentioned already. The idea is to put bedding into the box and moisten it. Add some food and let it decay a little then add the worms. You must have ventilation to allow for air to flow but it must also retain enough moisture to allow the microbes and the worms to stay hydrated and run optimally. The more airflow the more you have to add moisture, the less could lead to anaerobic conditions and disease. Its a balance that experience will show you how to accomplish. This system can generate either castings or worms. Actually it will do both. Your worms must be harvested if you can't keep ahead of their population when it comes to food. They self regulate their population.
Those are a few easy DIY vermicompost bin ides that you can implement right away. They don't cost very much to build and they don't require high skill level to create either. You need to decide what you are expecting to do with your worms, grow more or just maintain a colony and feed your plants with their nutrient packed poop. I like the trench and bucket to help me with my garden, it streamlines the fertilizing program for my gardens. The bins work good for people with cold winters who need to keep the bin indoors somewhere hospitable. The design is super simple and can be done in just a few minutes. The worms do really well as long as their needs are met. It is easy to produce both worms and castings in them which makes them very versatile. For those who need something from the store there are plenty of options available that do the same thing as these DIY bins do. Some may look nicer and that may be the deciding factor. Keep your worms happy and they'll do as expected.
My favorite method is the trench. Vermicomposting in a trench is easy. You dig a trench at least 18 inches deep but not more than 3 feet. Those are numbers that I have found online during my research and they just kind of make sense. If you go too deep you'll get pretty worn out first of all and it may cause aeration issues. You can make it as wide as you want. I keep mine at about 1 and a half times the shovel blade width apart. Add some bedding. Next is time to add the food. Let all that "marinate" til it cools down then add the worms. Depending what you've added as food, you may have to wait a long time. I like to fill my trench a little at a time. That way the worms can stay in there old food and bedding until the new food has "cooked" enough for them. The windrow concept is similar in idea except instead of burying the food you pile it up and then keep adding the food as it is available and create a row as you go. I prefer the trench because it allows me to create small garden beds that benefit immediately from the vermi- activity. This type of vermicomposting bin gets rid of food scraps and turns it into gardening fertilizer. You can also grow worms this way. Take them out to start new bins or to sell/give away. This is not the best way to generate excess vermicompost. With the windrow you will be able to harvest the vermicompost to use in your garden or to sell.
Along the same lines as the trench is the more portable Bucket System. I have a 5 gallon bucket with 1/2 inch holes drilled all over its sides and bottom. I then buried in a small 4' X 4' garden bed. I add food and bedding for the worms and they come in and eat when there is food for them and take their castings out into the garden to fertilize for me. I would almost be willing to bet that worms would naturally compost for you if you put food in the ground for them. You probably don't need to buy worms if you have enough space for all of your organic wastes to be stored until the worm population catches up with your organic waste supply. But if you need it to be gone quick just get a pound or two of red wigglers.
Another cheap DIY vermicompost bin is the 18 gallon plastic storage bin. This one requires a bit more TLC to operate successfully. I'm not saying it is too difficult but it does require more attention than the other techniques I mentioned already. The idea is to put bedding into the box and moisten it. Add some food and let it decay a little then add the worms. You must have ventilation to allow for air to flow but it must also retain enough moisture to allow the microbes and the worms to stay hydrated and run optimally. The more airflow the more you have to add moisture, the less could lead to anaerobic conditions and disease. Its a balance that experience will show you how to accomplish. This system can generate either castings or worms. Actually it will do both. Your worms must be harvested if you can't keep ahead of their population when it comes to food. They self regulate their population.
Those are a few easy DIY vermicompost bin ides that you can implement right away. They don't cost very much to build and they don't require high skill level to create either. You need to decide what you are expecting to do with your worms, grow more or just maintain a colony and feed your plants with their nutrient packed poop. I like the trench and bucket to help me with my garden, it streamlines the fertilizing program for my gardens. The bins work good for people with cold winters who need to keep the bin indoors somewhere hospitable. The design is super simple and can be done in just a few minutes. The worms do really well as long as their needs are met. It is easy to produce both worms and castings in them which makes them very versatile. For those who need something from the store there are plenty of options available that do the same thing as these DIY bins do. Some may look nicer and that may be the deciding factor. Keep your worms happy and they'll do as expected.
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