What is a wormery?
This is simply a contained system for turning kitchen waste into a fine and very fertile growing medium that is called vermicompost. It is formed by the worms munching their way through the waste material and producing worm casts. These are very fertile and are a wonderful potting compost or alternatively a tp dressing for the garden. They provide a slow release source of nitrogen for your plants - a natural organic fertiliser and it's free!
A wormery does not rely on microbes to heat it up, the worms do all the processsing and the system is compact and clean and can be fed just a little at a time as you produce kitchen waste.
It is easiest to have them near the kitchen, just outside the door, on the patio nearby or even under the kitchen sink.
In addition to the vermicompost, the wormery often collects a liquid at the bottom which is full of nutrients. This liquid is often referred to as worm wee and you can dilute it and use it is a special tonic for any plants that are looking a little under the weather.
The amount of worm wee produced depends on how wet the incoming material is and also how absorbent the layers are between the new material at the top and the liquid collection point at the bottom.
Getting started
You can buy a wormery kit. These are usually made from recycled plastic and come complete with a pack of worms, some initial bedding for them and a set of instructions.
There are two main types available. One is a single unit much like a dustbin and the other is a modular stackable system. The stackable systems are usually a little more expensive but they make it easier to get at the vermicompost.
Buying a kit is obviously the easiest and quickest way to start out but they can cost anything from 40 to 100. However you can save yourself some money and make your own, you can even use recycled materials to make it! It can be made out of wood or tightly fitting plastic tubs or boxes.
The inside should have a perforated platform or some mesh a couple of inches up from the bottom. This then allows the worm wee to escape under the platform so that the lowest material does not get too wet nor the worms drown. Ideally you should add a tap to the base container so that the worm wee can be drawn off when you need it. Ideal taps would be like those used on a water butt or in home brewing.
If possible, it is ideal to have the layers separated just as stackable wormeries you buy are. In this way you will be able to remove the lowest layer, empty it uot and then add it to the top and start filling it again.
Two or more polystyrene boxes stacked on top of one another and with worm sized holes punched into the bottoms of them, can work quite well
The worms usually work their way up the layers as they consume the food supply so the lower layer should be the finished vermicompost ready for you to use.
If you cannot make a stackable unit, it is possible to manage by using an old bin with a mesh placed a few inches from the bottom. The tap needs to be installed under the mesh and some shredded paper needs to be put on top of the mesh. You would put the worms on the paper and then add the vegetable scraps. Some have also been made from old dustbins.
After that you just keep adding the material as it comes available until it is full. At that point you can take off the top few inches of unprocessed material which will contain the worms and put it to one side. You then remove the rest of the vermicompost to use and then replace the previous top layer and worms in the bin that is now empty. This method is a little more messy than the stackable method but it does work and the costs of starting up are minimal.
What type of worms to use
Most of the worms that you find are earthworms, long, plump and pink. They are called lob worms and they are a deep burrowing species. They work really well in your garden because they get a lot of air into your soil and they help your plants to grow. However they are not the best for use in a wormery.
There are other varieties, dendra, tiger, brandling or redworms.
These all live much closer to the surface and they eat the decaying organic matter. These are ideal for your wormery. You can buy them quite easily from companies selling wormeries or from fishing tackle shops. However if you or a friend have a compost bin, you will probably be able to find some in there. The ones you need are usually 1 or 2 inches long and a dark red colour
If you buy a wormery, you will probably be supplied with 500g to 1kg of worms but they breed quickly in the right conditions so you could easily start with less than this. Ideally if you don't have many worms to start with you should build up the amount of waste you add slowly.
What to use in a wormery
Add this............
Raw chopped vegetable peelings
Fruit skins - not acidic ones like orange and lemon
Tea bags
Small amounts of plant materials such as green prunings and annual weeds
Crushed eggshells
Don't add this.......
Cooked food
Diseased plant material
Large amounts of grass clippings
Weed seeds
Dog or cat excrement
Large amounts of acidic material
If you were to add cooked food, it could attract vermin
The wormery will not kill off any disease in plant material and this disease could be passed on to your precious plants when the vermicompost is used.
Weed seeds can appear in the vermicompost - I've often had this problem with bought compost and it is infuriating.
Too many grass clippings will make the wormery slimy and smelly and could even kill your worms.
Dog and cat excrement can contain harmful pathogens that humans could catch from the compost.
Acidic material is onion skins and citrus fruit peelings, worms don't like their environment to be too acidic. A few of these items mixed with a larger amount of other material will be fine.
Crushed eggshells help to reduce the acidity in the wormery.
Maintaining the wormery
You should not have many problems with your wormery and they often last for years.
You need to remember to empty the worm wee so that you don't drown your worms and you need to remove the vermicompost every few months.
If you keep it outside, your wormery needs a waterproof lid so that it doesn't flood when it rains. In cold conditions the worms will slow down and if the temperature drops below 5C the worms will stop work altogether. You can prevent this by insulating the wormery.
Making Vermicompost with a Wormery
