How to Make a Worm Farm

Grow your own red wigglers and enormous earthworms for your next fishing trip. Making and maintaining a worm farm is easy. Your worm farm will provide you with mounds of rich, black, fertile garden soil to add to your organic garden. Use coffee grounds, tea bags, shredded newspaper and vegetable peelings to make your worm bed and feed your wigglers, eliminating pounds of kitchen waste and keeping it out of local landfills.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• 2-by-2-by-8 foot open-topped wooden box 3 sheets, 1 1/2 feet by 1 1/2 feet by 7 1/2 feet Styrofoam 2-inch-by-4-inch-by-8-foot long post 10 lbs. shredded newspaper 20 lbs. sand 50 lbs. garden soil Used coffee grounds, tea bags and kitchen peelings 2 dozen live worms 1 lb. cornmeal 8 carriage bolts, with washer, lock washer and acorn nut Power drill

1. Cut a 2-inch-by-4 inch post into four 2-foot-long sections.

2. Build a wooden box from plywood, 2 feet wide by 2 feet deep by 8 feet long. Line it with Styrofoam sheets.

3. Drill 2 holes 1 1/2 inches from one end of each of the four posts you cut in Step 1. Drill matching holes 1 1/2 inches from the bottom of all four sides of your worm box.

4. Use carriage bolts with a washer, lock washer and acorn nut to attach legs to the worm box.

5. Fill the worm box with sand, garden soil and shredded paper. Dump 2 dozen worms into the box. Place more shredded paper on top of the soil in the box. Sprinkle 1 lb. cornmeal on top of the soil in the entire worm box.

6. Apply coffee grounds, kitchen peelings and cornmeal once each week. Harvest worms once a month. Be sure to leave at least 2 dozen worms in the box at all times. Renew soil, sand and shredded paper every 6 months. Use old soil from the worm box as compost in your garden.

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• Winter Worm Composting
• Vermicomposting