Simple Garbage Can Worm Bins

by Connie Morehead
(Washington State)

History:

In March of 2001, I first started my worm bin in a 5 gallon bucket, but I quickly out grew the bucket in less than a month. Someone gave me a 60 gallon barrel, and I used that for almost a year. But cleaning that thing out was a challenge. I did not know anything about worms and worm farming, just that I wanted to do it.

Everything I searched on line at the time, led to worm farms that did not give out information, unless you bought worms from them. I could see from my own set up I had success, even though it looked rather erratic.

As I cleaned it out, I would pick out gobs of food, and the next scoop full would be a big gob of black dense heavy material, then a gob of dense heavy grassy looking compost. But as I got closer and closer to the bottom, it was all heavy dense and dark, pure worm cast.

Anyway, as I learned more about bins, I found some places were selling the migration style worm bins, that started out for a hundred dollars. Right about that time a friend gave me a big pile of very thin hay twine. I couldn't refuse it, as I figured I could make something from it.

Then someone mentioned about using mesh bag to extract worms from their bins to start new bins.

I thought, I could make super size bags to set up my own migration system, using garbage cans and my bags, with out having to spend a lot of money. Took a lot of time to make the bags though. But the twine was free, and I had free time.

But after my bins are going for several months, I would add the bag, add some bedding material, and just continue to feed. After about a month, the bag is emptied into a new ready bin, and be put back into the old bin, and I continue to use it to collect worms until, I no longer see them.

Then I clean out the bottom part, that is mostly worm cast, and remove chunks of paper and food, and sift it through 1/2 screen and store. It is in the storage bins, that I fill the very small mesh bags, like the ones that come off a turkey, or a small bag of oranges, and still continue to extract worms out of the processed worm cast. But the cast can be used any time as needed.

The barrels are used for the storing of worm cast, and garbage cans, and plastic storage bins are my worms bins now, easier to manage the smaller bins.

Connie Morehead

Social Media Corner

2024's Largest, (in-color) Worm Farming Book to-date.
More

My Garden Tower
The Multi-Planter