Vermiculture, alternatively known as producing compost with earthworms is a great way to make eco-friendly compost and to give these useful little creatures a home at the same time. It neatly avoids the need to use artificial chemical fertilizers that aren't good for the environment while delivering a rich mulch that helps plants to thrive and gardens to appear more luxuriant.
Earthworms must be 'cultivated' or prompted to mature and feed in worm bins which you can easily build yourself. The bin itself can be a storage container composed of plastic, galvanized tin or timber and purchased from a house or building supplies store. Untreated wooden bins tend to be the most environmentally friendly choice and lots of people prefer making use of wood as it soaks up surplus moisture which might be detrimental to the worms. On the other hand, wood rots readily, and plastic can get fragile from exposure to the weather and split, so steel bins are the best. You can even make a worm bin from a pile of a few old car tyres.
The bins need to be well-ventilated which means you must drill holes in yours and fill them with shredded newspapers. The paper provides additional air-flow and much-needed fibre for the worms' digestive system. The bins should be raised off the floor on bricks with holes drilled in the bottom of plastic or metal bins to help the worms with fresh air. You need your worm bin to remain hydrated but with enough ventilation so worms don't drown. Your bins ought to have lids to stop the contents from becoming dry and they should be simple to remove so that you can water the bins on a regular basis. Lids for tyre-bins can be created out of a piece of wooden board weighed down by several bricks.
The goal is to develop a totally hospitable habitat for your worms, and, if you do so, they will continue to inhabit your worms bins and not wriggle out through the holes you have drilled. Keep all of your worn bins wet by sprinkling with water on alternate days and feed the worms weekly with vegetable scrapings. And finally, remember that the larger an individual bin is, the more compost you will be able to produce from your worm bin.
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