Hi, I'm looking for an inexpensive set of plans for building a worm composting bin. The only plans I've seen so far cost $50.00.... I've been getting Countryside Magazine for several years and wonder if there are any in the the back issues or if you know of a good set of plans I can buy for a few dollars.

Thanks... Gary and Yolanda Sergi Wandell

-- Yolanda Sergi (yomama@pond.net), January 25, 2000

Answers

Wow, $50.00, is that a typo? If it isn't, let me know. I've got a drafting table and a pencil, I can draw plans! Seriously, I know of worm beds and compost bins. What exactly is a worm composting bin? A worm bed certainly creates compost-how much depends on the size/ number of worms/inputs. A compost bin can have worms as long as there either isn't a bottom (they'll migrate in) or if it has a bottom but you introduce worms. True compost gets pretty hot, although I'm too lazy to run upstairs and search for the exact temp. That would cause the worms to migrate out of the compost or at least to the edges, where they are at risk for drying out or being taken by predators. Or flat out dying if they can't get away.

Are you trying to grow worms or create compost? Compost bins can be pretty simple. Like whatever you have on hand. Pile cement blocks up to make a 3-sided area; drive some steel fence post into the ground and wrap them with woven or chicken wire on 3 sides. Again steel fence posts with wood pallets slipped over the posts or wired to them. Or my favorite, make a pile on the ground. Been doing it that way for years. I get compost, but I can't say I've ever noticed a lot of worms. But I've got gazillions of worms so I suspect they are under the piles if I bothered to look. Many gardening books and outdoor building project books will have fancier compost bin plans-free to check out at the library.

If you're trying to grow worms or basically want worm castings rather than plain-vanilla compost, you'll have better luck with organic gardening books and fishing books. The fishing books will mostly focus on keeping the worms alive between fishing trips. Just enlarge the "system" to the size you want. Say, I could draw the enlarged plans for you....

Hopefully someone else will be able to answer your question. If not, repost with more of an explanation of what this worm composting bin is all about. I still might not have an answer, but I'll always have an opinion. You'll have to excuse me, I've got to go sharpen my pencil in case that wasn't a typo. Gerbil

-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@hotmail.com), January 25, 2000.

Yes, I agree with Gerbil..I've been doing it his way for years..and if you really want worms, get a horse, pony, donkey, goat or something & pile their manure up...you'll get nice, large, juicy worms!...however if you are looking for something to keep in your kitchen to compost your garbage, you might look up the following book. I purchased it for under $10.00 several years ago...."WORMS EAT MY GARBAGE" by Mary Appelhof..Flower Press in Kalamazoo, Mi or you can contact her at: Flowerfield Enterprises, 10332 Shaver Rd. Kalamazoo, Mi 49002-tel: 616-327-0108 Good luck. Layne

-- Elaine Cosgrove (adirondackwoman@westelcom.com), January 25, 2000.

Hi, Gerbil and all.... No, $50.00 is not a typo. I found that little gem...(must be made of gold foil:-)...on the "Worm Digest" site at http://www.wormdigest.org/ then click on "Corner Market" and then click on "Vermincomposting Bin Design Plans". In our backyard, we want to build a wooden, structure that provides a healthy, inviting place for worms. A place where we can deposit kitchen garbage, grass clippings, leaves, etc. Does anyone know of other printed plans on sale for a realistic price? Yolanda and Gary

-- Yolanda Sergi (yomama@pond.net), January 25, 2000.

Ok, I've been to the worm site. Very interesting. Still not sure what you're looking for. They would have to do a whole lot more convincing before I shelled out for their $50 worm composter bin plans. (convincing not about the value of worms, but of the wonderfulness of their plans)

Did you go through their links and the forum? If I was to buy anything at this point it would probably be the $9.50 book squirmy wormy composters. Might have good starting information. I guess I still don't understand what your final goal is-compost, castings, or worms.

Did you catch this link? http://www.digitalseed.com/composter/vermicomposting.html

It is a small composter, easy to build. I guess if I were you, I'd go through all the links, read everything on their forum, and cobble together the written and drawn information into a smallish composter. Once I felt that I had a workable system, I'd enlarge it or make additional units.

I had a lot of problems with the worm site, slow loading, internal loading errors and problems linking out. However, if you are really up against the wall, email me. I'll ask you a whole lot of questions about what you're trying to do, your building skills, where this is going, etc. Then I'll gird my loins and sally back into that site and any others I can come up with, and create some plans for you. I wouldn't be able to promise you that they'll be perfect, but if we stayed in contact, I could redo the plans as needed. No charge as long as I don't have to photocopy a bunch of stuff (15 cents/page adds up fast). It would take me a bit of time to find, read, and digest the information on the web, and I might need some time to get some books in on inter-library loan, so we're talking in weeks not hours. It will also have to wait until I can get some other commitments dealt with. Gerbil

-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@hotmail.com), January 25, 2000.

I had redworms in a box in my laundry room for years (Leadville was too cold too much of the year for regular composting). I used a box put together from scrap wood--about 2 1/2 X 2 1/2 foot, and approx. 8" deep. Drainage is important so as not to drown the worms--my box leaked along the bottom seams, so I put an old shower curtain with the sides rolled under to make a wall underneath. Air is also important, so I just covered mine with an old piece of window screen (mainly to keep the cats out of it--the worms won't go anywhere). A box this size gave me nine rotating areas to bury about a coffee can amount of compostables. By the time I got back to the first area, the worms had taken care of everything. Use ripped up newsprint and a shovelful of dirt to start, and add a canful of water every couple of weeks. Don't let it freeze. I've also heard of people using an old plastic tub, and punching a good-sized hole in one corner with a can underneath to catch the drainage. Gardens Alive is a source for redworms. Good luck!

-- Jean Bondiett (j_bondiett@hotmail.com), January 25, 2000.

Two suggestions, 1- i made a box out of 2 by 6s no bottom or top and have it under my angora rabbits in a shed, the worms came in on there own, [added loose soil to it when started].Worked great the worms ate the rabbit food i spilled and broke down the manure untill the roof rats found a way into shed [a long with the cutest little opusum] then they had a feast.I know you can also use plastic storage bins with holes drilled in the bottom [screen over holes to keep them in] with a little soil, shreded newspaper,and veggie kitchen scrapes .

-- kathy h (saddlebronc@msn.com), January 25, 2000.

Gerbil

We agree about the price and the plans' value. We ordered the WormWoman's book "Worms Eat My Garbage" today. What we gleaned from her site is that she's primarily interested in getting people to use worms for various purposes and not so bent on selling her bins.

Yes...went to the site and printed out the page of instructions for building that bin. Sounds like a good small scale way to start learning about worm culture.... for composting, for castings and, eventually, for worms... as they multiply. Is it practical to look forward to using worms to keep up with the breaking down into compost all the grass clippings, garden wastes and leaves we generate in the summer in the fall?

It's very generous of you to offer your time and energy and we appreciate it so very much. For starters, we'll try something on a small scale and hope we can all stay in touch.... and see how it goes....and how far we can go with it.

Yolanda and Gary

-- Yolanda Sergi (yomama@pond.net), January 25, 2000.

Jean, Kathy, Elaine, Gerbil... and all of you who've responded.... I just can't describe the elation of having so many wonderful sources of suggestions and advice. Thank you all so much.

As of today,we're subscribing to Worm Digest, have ordered the Worm Woman's book, printed a web page of instructions on making a bin from a purchased plastic sweater box and I'm wallowing happily in the midst of your great responses. Please excuse my enthusiastic approach to thanking you.... it's my Italian blood and upbringing bubbling to the surface...:-) thank you all so much for the succinct reports on your methods. Way to go, gals and guys....:-) You all sound completely confident and that's undoubtedly because these methods worked so well for you.

I have a paper shredder that cuts newsprint into 1/4 inch strips. Would spraying water from a spray bottle be a good way to moisten the shredded newsprint bedding? When one reads that one needs to use 3 or 4 inches of newprint for bedding... does that mean 3 or 4 inches of wet, packed down newsprint or a 3 or 4 inch loose mass of fluffed up moist newsprint that has lots of air circulating through it?

Yolanda

-- Yolanda Sergi (yomama@pond.net), January 25, 2000.

Here's another link for a homade worm bin. http://www.wormman.com/bin.htm

-- Jason (ajakal3@yahoo.com), January 26, 2000.

Try contacting your local Cooperative Extention office, I think I have seen plans there before and if I'm not mistaken they were FREE!

If you don't have animals of your own offer to help clean someones barn that does, in exchange for the mounds of worms you will find. I have a guy who comes every year because he says I have the fattest red worms he's ever seen. He dosen't clean the whole barn but trades me a nice bottle of wine instead. I think I'm getting the better end of the deal.

Good luck, Happy worming Je

-- Jennifer Schwabauer (schwabauer@aol.com), January 27, 2000.

This is probably one of those redneck things, but folks around here do their worm beds in old freezers or refrigerators. Put it somewhere out of site, laying so the doors open up. Punch several holes in the bottom for drainage and cover with screen wire so the worms won't escape. Add soil and worms, feed them your vegetable scraps or dog food or unmedicated lay pellets. Keep the door (now a lid) propped open on a board a few inches to let air in and still not let rain get in. Folks do that here to raise worms for sale as fishing worms, but at least one man uses the soil from the worm beds as soil in his hot frames. He also truck farms and sells started vegetable plants. Stores will usually give you a freezer or refrigerator that doesn't work anymore so they don't have to pay to have it dumped.

-- Carmen (logcabin_now@yahoo.com), February 03, 2000.

There's another thread on here about earthworms you might want to look at where I posted about growing them in old bathtubs -- my next project. I did buy the Gardener's Supply worm bin and it worked great but cost $69. Then I made worm bins out of plastic storage boxes in approximately the same dimensions. You have to be able to have drainage so your worms don't drwon. i would not use a sweater box because they let the light through. I would recommend a dark plastic container as worms don't like light.

I went to the sites recommended here and found them very interesting.

A worm bin I made which I forgot to mention that worked very well was one of stacked tires. I set it on a raised garden bed so the worms could go deep in the earth to avoid being frozen. I put layers of straw and leaves and peat moss and my daily vegetable trimmings and coffee gounds, etc. As each tire filled, I added another on top. Actually, I stared with three tires adjoining each other so i had three towers. I put plastic trash barrel lids on top to protect the worms and keep maurading dogs out of my compost. This worked very well and the price was right, since you can get all the tires you want, free!!!!

In the spring I took out as many worms as i could get to put them in another container, removed the tires, and spread that nice thick worm compost on my garden bed and dug it in.

Now I am trying to figure out how to put my bathtubs under my rabbit hutch to raise worms! I recently bought a secondhand book by Bradford Angier called "One Acre and Independence" in which he says you can make $500 a week raising earthworms. This is an older book, over 24 years old, so I have visions of big bucks based on his advice. He simply builds worm bins out of board. He says they need to be at least three feet deep so the worms don't freeze. The rabbits provide nice feed for them. He doesn't mention problems with moles which I had, or problems with fruit flies or some of the things that other folks have encountered.

-- Elizabeth Petofi (tengri@cstone.net), March 27, 2000.

I ordered my first 500 or so worms from Uncle Jims Worm Farm. (they also have a website) I have them in some cheap plastic storage bins in my basement. We throw in our kitchen wastes every so often. Also a handful or so of laying mash when theres not a lot of scraps. I've divided once in the past couple of months. They seem to multiply pretty quickly. Doubled at least in that time. Next year I'm going to experiment by digging a pit in our garden and putting half the worms there just to see what if anything happens. I used shredded paper and peat moss for bedding. Holes in the bottom provide for drainage. My basement is usually around 60 degrees or so. The optimum temp for breeding is some where betweem 70 and 75 I think. Any way that web site does provide some helpful info. The book mentioned above was good too.

-- Barb (WILDETMR@YAHOO.COM), November 05, 2000.

I think $50.00 is jus fine. Where can I git one. I'd like to git one so's I can rase em to take to the fishin hole. Cat fish love dem red wiglers. --- Billy Bob

-- Billy Bob (BJTB@juno.com), April 05, 2001.

This might be a litle late but, I'd thought I send it in case someone else is still looking. I like the set of plans at http://www.magicworms.com/step_by_step.htm very good and easy to build.

--- Marc

-- Marc Howard (marchoward@cvtv.net), February 16, 2002.