Worm farms are a very easy and efficient way to avoid filling up your rubbish bin, and create free fertiliser.
They’re available from most hardware stores, or you can make your own.
Get a large, lidded plastic box and drill holes in the bottom for drainage.
You want to set up your worm farm in a location where it stays in the shade, and where it will be easy to hose down in hot weather.
Place another plastic box with a brick inside it to create a gap under the first box, and fix it with a tap to allow collection of ‘worm juice’, that dark liquid that will act like steroids for your garden.
Build up a ‘bedding’ in the first box out of newspaper, mulch, cardboard, paper, leaves and whatever other organic materials you have on hand.
Dampen the bedding and introduce a box of store-bought worms to their new home.
It’s important to place a layer of hessian or felt over the worms, which will stabilize the moisture and temperature inside the box, which you should now close up.
According to Keep Australia Beautiful, half of all household waste is organic and could be recycled through composting, for example, in a worm farm.
Worms can eat most fruit or vegetable scraps, except for citrus and onion varieties.
They also like coffee byproducts, tea bags, egg shells, leaves and shredded paper.
Avoid feeding worms oily foods, and any meat or dairy products.
Over the next few months, gradually build the farm up with scraps, placing the waste flat under the felt or hessian so the worms can get to it.
Try not to overload your worms, and avoid getting them too wet or they might drown.
It’s also suggested you add a handful of lime or crushed eggshells once a month, to reduce acidity.
Drain the ‘worm juice’ into a watering can or plastic bottle regularly, to pour diluted onto the garden, and to harvest the castings, shovel the farm’s contents onto a tarp in the sun.
Once the worms have hidden, you can collect the top layer of compost and apply it over your garden, returning the worms to their box, give them some more food, and repeat the process.
Do you have a gardening question for Jess? Email jess.cockerill@fairfaxmedia.com.au or call 9550 2409.
