VermicultureMake your own Worm Farm
Author Lindy B
http://www.green-news.co
Why use Worm Castings? �.
Also known as worm poo, worm castings are the gold nuggets added to your garden nutrient-rich fertilizer not only FREE but also wonderfully environmentally friendly�so let�s get started on making our �gold nugget� fertilizer
Setting up your Worm Farm
You have many choices when it comes to choosing your � worms� home� An old bath or box, a fruit and veg styrene container or you can purchase one of the commercial �Worm Farms� from your local hardware store or garden centre. Worms can also be purchased from the garden centre or certain hardware stores too. The types of worms to use are the �Red or Tiger Worms� as these are rarely found in earth but adapt well to the conditions of rotting manure, food scraps, compost and in fact anything that has lived and died. I suggest that you start off with 1000 which will quickly increase so as you are able to make more worm homes, sell or give them away.
If you aremaking your own �home� make sure that you have drainage holes in the bottom for drainage. Lay a layer of ripped up newspaper over the bottom, followed by some straw if you have it or dead leaves, then hydrate compressed coir or peat brick (also found at your garden or hardware store) in a bucket of water, wet down the newspaper and straw in the �worm home� so that it has a chance to drain and become damp (not soggy). Finally put the decompressed brick over the top (you may need 2 bricks depending on the size of your container but all you need is enough for the worms to bury into. Finally stand your container on a couple of bricks to keep off the ground and find a nice shady spot in the garden to put it.
Introducing your New Pets
If you have purchased your worms from a shop you they probably came in a container with some bedding in it and if you have got them from a friend then ask to have a couple of cups of the bedding with your worms as they adapt better to new surroundingswhen put in with their surrounding bedding. Just add the worms and you�re ready to go! For the first couple of days put a few vegetable scraps in then (approx. � their body weight) add more as you see them settling in to their new environment ending up with lb. of scraps for each lb. of worms each day. As I mentioned earlier worms will eat anything that has lived and died e.g. paper ,cardboard, tealeaves, vegetable scraps coffee granules (avoid animal products unless you have a commercial bin as they attract vermin). Make sure you keep your worms damp and cover the top with old soaked newspapers or a hessian sack or old carpet piece. Worms need to breath.
Now you can enjoy all the benefits of worm farming knowing that you are helping the environment.
Author Lindy B
http://www.green-news.co
vermiculture
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