Roofiecoladas, anyone? Haha

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Excuse me... I have to go to space now.

Ohso, did you build your own worm unit, or buy one pre-made? I've been wanting to do it on the cheap, Martha Stewart has a little guide, but I think it may require more work to get the castings separated from the other stuff due to its design. Having never raised worms, I'm not sure what I should look for or.. anything. Other than worms. I know I need worms.

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Yes, Seamaiden - I built my own using this simple plan (see attachment).
Just one sheet of plywood, a circular saw, a few two by fours & some screws. I got all of the wood, from dumpsters at construction sites. So all I bought was the screws.
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Using wood, prevents the problem that most plastic worm bins experience (too much moisture). Since, the wood will wick out some of the moisture, when things start to get a little too wet. Plus, the wood is a better insulator, preventing big temperature swings. I painted the outside of mine white, to ensure they stay cool. Worms like temps between 55 & 75 degrees (max). Mine live in the garage.
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For bedding, I use newspaper (no color ink or glossy pages), saw dust, a little yard dirt, a hand full of sand (aids in digestion), leaves and grass clippings (after they are a few days old - to prevent composting action). The bedding should be moist, but not wet.
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If you feed them, starting on one end, then every three days move towards the other end a few inches. By the time you hit the other end, you have useable castings. I harvest by hand. I do not use tools & rarely ever lose a worm. I started with about 100 worms & now probably have over a 1000. They double every three months under favorable conditions.
That 1000 makes about 1/3 - 1/2 pound of castings per day, on average.
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Since, we feed them food scraps (non-meat / non-dairy / & no hot or spicy stuff) & yard waste - our food cost for them is zero.
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Attached Images

wormbin.JPG (61.6 KB, 85 views)

Why no hot or spicy stuff? I will have to discuss how we do this with Dave, in the winter it gets far colder than 55, in summer, even underneath the house where it stays cool, it can get well over 75. This explains why Martha was talking about her little vermi-bin being set up on a small scale so it could be kept indoors.

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Seamaiden.. Worms just don't like spicy tasting things. So, avoid foods with curry or chili pepper in them. The reasons for avoiding dairy products & meat - are to avoid attracting pests & having your worm bin turn into a compost bin.
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Yes, if you have to deal with temperature extremes - indoors would be the way to go. If you don't overfeed them, your worm bin will not have any odor. I keep mine in the garage, sitting in the back on the concerte floor. The temperature stays pretty level & my worms seen pretty happy. When I open it, it just smells nice & earthy.
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I have read, worms can survive down to freezing & if frozen very slowly & thawwed out slowly they can actually bounce back. The 55 to 75 degrees is just the optimum temp range - where they are most happy. I have never had my worms freeze, so don't hold me to that - back from the dead thing.
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I thought that dairy and meat products are verboten in the composter, too. Had I chickens or pigs, they'd be getting all the scraps.

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Yes, Meat & Dairy in the compost barrel are a no, no. I just meant, putting them in your worm bin, would start up allot of unwanted bacterial action - generating heat - which could kill your worms. The meat would attract rodents, who will chew throught anything & will also eat worms. I don't want either of these problems in my worm bin.
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Me, either!

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is it bad to have a dairy /meat pile kind of thing, i just hate making more trash so i throw all food outside, i dont seem to get any rodents digging through the piles which is suprising because we have coyotes out here

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SalaDank- its not what you are stealing, i stole a shitty 3 dollar (u.s.) light bulb. Its just doing it.

Brendon420 I have a neighbor, who always buys those high end, high dollar gadgets - from Brookstone. He got this thing called a Pre-Composter, I believe it could be made pretty cheap.
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It is a metal canister, that opens in the middle, its about a foot tall, about 9 inches in diameter on the bottom, and tapers up to about 6 inches in diameter at the top - with a 6 inch magnifying glass at the top. He throws, anything in it, and in a coupe of days - it's dust. It heats up to, like 500 plus degress for several hours each day. On one side is a tiny, one way valve (like a one way valve on an aquarium air pump line), that vents out methane & water. So, the end result - dust. He then throws this dust, into his high dollar, Compost Barrel.
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