Grow Your Own Magazine

Today I spent a happy afternoon sifting through my compost bins and finding all my Tigerworms to install them in their new home.
I have built my own wormery and am slowly building up my worm stocks.
I took the basic plan for my wormery from a site called "trouble at mill" where a guy called Graham Dixon made his own and took photographs to show how to make it. worm composting
Basics of worm composting seem quite easy to follow and the end resulting "Black Gold seems to pay real dividends.
Does anyone else here keep a wormery?
Jax

Here are a few sites for those of you who would like to start vermicomposting
Cathy's Crawly Composters
GREEN GARDENER
Vermicomposting
Hope you enjoy as vermicomposting is so much fun I am sure the kids would love to join in.
Jax

I have a plastic compost bin from the council but have a bad back so I find it hard to turn as it only has a top opening and door at the bottom.

Does anyone have any suggestions for composting without the need to turn, would I be better with a wormery?

Want my black gold but don't have the back for it anymore.

Andrewo

Hi

Andrew if you want to make a wormery in your plastic compost bin (if I understand correctly) you will need to do something to separate the worms and compost from the liquid that is produced in the process - or they'll drown.

I have compost bins and also a wormery bin, though I confess it's a bought one. I got it cheap from my local council years ago but have only just started to use it over the last year or two. The compost seems very slow to make but is of excellent quality, and the liquid is also useful as a feed. I add lots of paper shreddings as the worms seem to appreciate that.

I have a wiggly wigglers wormery, given to me as a b-day present and it's brilliant. I use any spare worms for my garden composters of which I have 5

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Andrewo, you don't need to turn your compost to get your black gold. Turning does speed things up, but you still get good compost without turning if you're patient. I have a black dalek bin from the council, and I harvest the compost every 6 months or so without ever turning. Here's how I do it:

1. Forget that useless little hatch at the bottom. Just wiggle the whole bin up and off.
2. Take the top and side bits off as they won't be as well composted as the rest, and put them aside in a barrow or something.
3. Harvest the middle, nice mature compost.
4. Put the bin back where you want it. Doesn't have to be in the same spot as before, obviously.
5. Put your half-composted stuff (that you had put aside in the barrow) back in the bin.

I do the same as Esther Greentree, it's too much like hard work trying to turn it so I just leave it all to rot down then check through the bottom hatch and when it looks like there is enough good stuff in the bottom I pull the whole bin up (not as easy as it sounds), wheellbarrow off the good stuff put the bin back and start again

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Thanks Esther/PC

I have one of these and was a bit put off from using it as it looked difficult. Do you peg your bins down in anyway? I have the large (350ltr?) bin and I think it may blow over on my exposed site if left as is.

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Hi

By the time it's got a base of compost in it it should get more stable - it tends to stick to the edges. I didn't use to peg mine down except for putting a brick on the lid - this depends on the model of course and whether it's got a flat lid!

I have the large ones too but never had a problem with the wind but then again I have always had something to go back in once the good stuff is out, I always put a bit of the 'good stuff' back in to help speed up the next lot

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Thanks for this, can't lift the bin due to back problems but at least I know my dalek bin (nice analigy that and true of mine!) is composting away or is that exterminating away?

Andrewo