How to Use an Old Freezer As a Worm Farm
Creating a worm farm can be an interesting endeavor. Whether you are trying to raise worms for a gardening project or looking to sell them to a bait shop, you can create a worm farm with minimal investment and a few tools. One of the primary items you can use to make a very decent worm farm is an old but still functioning freezer. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- 3 flat plastic storage bins (See Tip)
- Large nail
- Chest freezer
- Newspaper
- Food scraps (See Tip)
- 2 bags of topsoil
- Worms (See Tip)
Instructions
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Creating the Worm Farm
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1
Poke numerous holes into the bottom of two of three plastic bins and into the lids of all three bins with the nail. The lids and holes should be thoroughly perforated. Place the third, unperforated bin with lid into the bottom of the freezer.
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2
In one perforated bin, place a thick layer of shredded newspaper. Cover this with a two inch layer of topsoil and two handfuls of food scraps. Spread your worms evenly over the top of the soil. This should come very close to the top of the bin. Moisten the entire mixture with one cup of water and place a few more sheets of newspaper on top. Place this on top of the first bin.
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3
Place the third bin on top of the second bin. Allow the farm to mature for about three weeks, checking it once a week.
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4
After the third week and once the worms have begun to multiply, place a two-inch layer of soil into the third, top bin and add two handfuls of food scraps. Cover with a thin layer of soil and place back on top of the second bin.
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5
Wait for one week to allow the worms from the second bin to move up into the third bin.
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6
Harvest the worm castings (or "vermicompost" -- worm manure) from the second bin and remove some of the worms from the top bin (as many as needed for whatever purposes you have farmed them for). Drain the wastewater that has collected in the third bin.
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7
Continue the process of rotating bins and harvesting worms and castings as described in steps 4 through 6.
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1
Tips & Warnings
The three storage bins should be wide and flat enough so that they can all fit into the freezer snugly. The food scraps can be anything from eggshells, vegetable matter, bread, or coffee grounds to non-food items such as hair or animal waste. Redworms are the best for this project and can be purchased at bait shops or vermiculture websites. If the freezer is functional and you are performing this project in the heat of summer, turn the freezer on to its lowest setting. This is not necessary if you are farming in winter months. Worm castings make excellent fertilizer for gardens, as does wastewater from the bottom bin. This should be diluted with clean water, however.
Do not use onions or citrus in your food scraps, as these contains chemicals that worms find unpleasant. Garden earthworms are not recommended for this project.
