How to Make a Rubbermaid Worm Bin
Urban gardening has become popular for people who don't have enough space to maintain a regular garden but still wish to have an indoor garden and make compost. Good soil is an important part of maintaining a healthy garden, and making your own compost using a worm bin is a simple and inexpensive process.
With some simple supplies and a few minutes' work, you can have a worm bin that will provide you with a great deal of compost. In addition to creating an indoor compost bin, you can also reduce the amount of food that you throw away or put into a garbage disposal. Using nonmeat and nondairy table scraps to feed the worms in your worm bin is beneficial to them and to you.
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Things You'll Need
- Two 8 to 10 gallon Rubbermaid bins or tubs
- Newspaper
- Drill
- Brick or plastic supports
- Leaves and dirt
- Cardboard
- Vegetable and fruit scraps
- Bread and grain
- Tea bags
- Coffee filters and coffee grounds
- 1 pound worms
Instructions
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Drill 20 evenly-spaced 1/4-inch holes in the bottom of each of the Rubbermaid bins; these will provide drainage and allow the worms to move. Drill 1/4-inch holes for ventilation 1 inch apart around the top edge of each Rubbermaid bin. Finally, drill 30 evenly spaced 1/4-inch holes in the top of one of the lids.
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2
Rip the newspaper into 1-inch strips and get them wet; squeeze out excess water and place 3 to 4 inches of shredded newspaper in the bottom of each bin. Add and mix dirt and leaves to the newspaper.
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3
Cut a piece of cardboard so that it fits inside one of the Rubbermaid bins and dampen it. Place the worms inside one of the bins and put the cardboard on top of them; it will decompose and the worms will eat it.
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4
Place the unventilated lid underneath the brick or plastic supports to catch any liquid that drains out of the bins. Put the bin with no worms on the supports and stack the bin with the worms on top of it; put the ventilated lid on the top bin. Keep the Rubbermaid worm bins in a well-ventilated room.
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5
Feed the worms with food scraps that contain no meat or dairy, such as vegetable scraps, tea bags, coffee grounds and filters, and breads and grains like cereal. Bury food in different areas of the top bin until it is full.
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6
When there are no food scraps left, start adding food to the bottom bin and, after 1 to 2 months, remove the compost from the top Rubbermaid bin. During that month, the worms will move from the top bin to the bottom in search of food. Switch the bins so the bottom bin is on top.
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