Frugal Friday #5 How To Build Your Own Worm Bin Cheap #FixThePlus #FollowFridays

Good morning, welcome to Frugal Friday where I make you sit and read all about what I think about the state of affairs of our Planet Earth not to mention ways to use some of what we throw away into something useful which brings to when I made my own Worm Bin years ago.

Back when I lived in Maine of 2010 I had the summer off when I normally had two jobs going leaving me with all kinds of time on my hands so I started a garden so I wouldn't go bonkers. I loved the idea of making my own fertilizer sitting down one day to google HomeMade Worm Bins.

After hours of research, I found what I wanted on the internet having the stuff I needed around my duplex to start my worm bin. These are great for smaller gardens or if you live in a small apartment or if you don't have a big backyard.

Materials

• One 8-10 gallon rubber storage boxes (dark, not see through) as shown in pictures Cost: about $5 each
• 1 lb. of Red Worms
• Shredded moist newspaper
• 1or two cup of dirt, dry leaves
• Canadian peat moss, sawdust, (rinsed) horse manure are also great for composting.

Drill (with 1/4″ and 1/16″ bits) for making drainage and ventilation holes. If you don't have a drill try using a hammer and big nail but be careful. You can use the lid to let water drain down into after you have put all the materials in plus the worms. On the sides drill 6-8 holes. On the bottom drill around 20 holes for drainage.

Using about 50 pages, tear newspaper into 1/2" to 1" strips. Fill up to about 3/4 of the tub. A newspaper is biodegradable but don't use the colored pages. Before adding newspaper wring out the water. It's better to shred the newspaper first. I found that out the hard way. After adding the shredded damp newspaper, fluff it up throwing the cup of dirt (grit) on top so the worms can digest their food.

It makes quite the mess so make sure you cover whatever you are working on with newspaper getting to use in the bin when done. The white bucket I got from the pizza place right down the street, leaving it outside to catch rainwater. Make sure when you have added the materials and the worms you have a cover for the top that will come off easily in case the compost gets too wet. My favorite is place a burlap bag over the top fastened in place with a bungee cord. You might need two.

Adding The Worms
Estimate 1 pound of worms for every square foot of surface area
I went outside and placed an old blanket I wasn't using overnight making it easy to lift up the blanket for the worms were right on top of the soil. The kids loved that part. In fact, I woke up one day being in my kitchen I opened up my door and on the steps was a bowl of worms waiting for me from the kids. Now that was a first for me!

Now for table scraps of foods, NO Bones, Meats, Oils Or Dairy Products. Just fruits and veggie scraps cut up real small after all these worms are small. Bury the scraps under the bedding so the bin doesn't stink. Move the food around so the worms follow. Put a sheet of dry newspaper on top to soak up any excess moisture and/or fruit flies. If the top newspaper gets wet change over to a dry sheet.

Now you are ready to choose a place for your brand new homemade worm bin. Get 4 bricks to put in each corner of the bin's lid placing the bin on top leaving space for drainage. Keep away from windows and heaters finding a well- ventilated spot so the bin can breathe.

Feed, Water and Fluff to keep worms happy. Feed them about once a week. If bedding dries up, spray with water. (If bedding gets too wet, add dry newspaper strips.) Fluff up bedding once a week so the worms get enough air. There you are done and good luck!

The perks are the kids interest in what you are doing. One child made a worm bin for her school project and got an A+

How would you like a worm bin in your home?