Make Your Own Worm Bin (vermiculture system)

Cheap and Easy Worm Bin for indoors or out.  Composting with red-worms is great for apartment dwellers or for those who don't have yard space, or even for those who don't want to hike to the backyard during the winter months to the compost with their food scraps, (that is me, plus anything under 55 F slows down worm activity and anything above 84F is harmful to your worms).   

Kids find worms fascinating and will enjoy raising worms with you. Can't wait until my grandson is old enough to enjoy my worm farm. I'm a proud grandma, can you tell?

By letting worms eat your food wastes, you will end up with one of the best soil amendments available and that is worm castings.  

I've looked around and most bins you buy are too expensive (like 110.00). But I found a few great ways to make your own.  Here is the one I picked for myself, and only cost me $10.00 plus the cost of worms.

Hope you will join me on my worm farm adventure.

Materials you will need to make this easy worm bin.

1. Two 8 or 10 gallon plastic storage boxes  ( dark, not see through. Walmart carries a bunch of different colors, so pick one that matches the room you will store you bin in)  You can pick these bins up for $5.00 or less each.
2. A Drill (with 1/4" and 1/16" bits) for making drainage, ventilation holes, and holes that the worm can crawl through to the next bin.

STEP 1

Using the 1/4" drill bill, drill about twenty evenly spaced holes in the bottom of each bin.   

These holes are for drainage and to allow the worms to crawl into the second bin when you are ready to harvest the castings.  Don't worry the worms will not crawl out onto your floor, they will move toward the bin with the food scraps.( I got my son to do this, so no it is not him in this picture. LOL) 

STEP 2

Now switch over to the 1/16" drill bit, drill holes about 1 to 1 1/2 inches apart on each side of the bin near the top edge, drill two rolls of holes. Do this for both bins. When you are done, drill about 25 holes in ONE of the lids. 

These holes are for ventilation, which is important for the worms, they need oxygen to live and they produce carbon dioxide,  and so your compost will not smell (more on no smell compost later)

Materials you will need for BEDDING. (free stuff)

1. Shredded newspaper or shredded computer paper can be used. The papers should be shredded in long lengths of ¼" wide strips. It’s easily moistened, but the strips don’t keep the moisture as well. Strips provide more surface area from which the water can evaporate. They require frequent moistening. The black ink used for printing the newspaper is not toxic to redworms. The main ingredients of black ink are carbon and some oils. Colored ink should be avoided.
2. Cardboard to cover their bedding. In a "wet" environment, it can help to absorb
   some liquid, and will eventually disintegrate.
3. A couple of handfuls of dirt, potting soil, peat moss or sand for "grit" helps the worms digest their food, a handful of soil provides the grit worms need for breaking down food particles within the gizzard. Since worms don’t have teeth, their food must be broken down by muscle action in their gizzards.
4. Old decaying leaves are a good source of bedding. Some leaves are better than others are. For
   example, maple leaves are preferred over oak leaves, because the latter take longer to break down.
5. Food Scraps like breads & grains, coffee ground and filters, tea bags, egg shells-ground, fruits and vegetables .   DON'T add these - dairy products, fats, meat, feces and oils.

Bedding - Step 1 
Prepare bedding for the worms by shredding newspaper into 1 inch strips or less. Worms need bedding that is moist but not soggy. Moisten the newspaper by soaking it in water and then squeezing out the excess water. 

Cover the bottom of the bin with 3 to 4 inches of moist newspaper, fluffed up.  If you have old leaves or leaf litter you can add that also and then toss in you two handfuls of dirt. Mix around.

Then add food scraps, make sure you bury the food scraps so your bin will not start to smell.

Now you can start adding your worms to the top bin
will finish this later today, sorry---

Exfoliation and Other Pleasures

There are basically two ways to exfoliate your skin. Scrubs or Chemical

• Scrubs with small particles, like sand, salt and ground up plant parts, to create friction that rubs off dead skin cells.
• Loofah and brushes work in the same way. Abrasives also increase blood flow to the skin.

Even if you don't care about stuff like exfoliation, I heartily recommend giving yourself a good scrub now and then.  Using a semi-stiff bristled brush on your skin every morning before I shower and it makes a huge difference in how awake you feel.

Chemical scrubs even hundred-dollar ones, generally depend on hydroxide acids, which work by dissolving the inter-cellular glue between bits of dead skin.  Hydroxy acids are present in many fruits, milk, sugar and other plants like birch.  They're seriously everywhere, it's pretty ridiculous that people pay so much money to get them in a jar.

• If you have sensitive skin, avoid really grainy scrubs
• Scrubs and brushes/loofahs work best on dry skin.
• If you're scrubbing your whole body, do your legs first, then your arms, then your torso.  Always rub towards your heart, and be gentle with the skin atop your vital organs

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The directions for use are the same for all the following: Just rub the scrub around on your skin for about 20 seconds, and rinse well.  most can be used for face and body' the exception, would be very coarse, salt based scrubs, which you should keep to below the neck.

FOR OILY SKIN:

• Baking soda, a crushed aspirin, and enough water to make a paste.
• Handful of sea salt and 1 Tablespoon ground sage, moistened with birch or lavender infusion.
• Sugar moistened with lemon juice.
• Equal parts milk powder and honey, plus a little lemon juice and cornmeal.
• Sea Salt with 2 drops tea tree oil.

FOR NORMAL SKIN:

• Equal parts ground oatmeal and plain yogurt. 
• A handful of cornmeal moistened with honey.
• A slushee of sugar and almond oil or aloe vera gel
• Ground dried adzuki beans and a pinch of dried calendula petals, and a little water.
• Rice flour, a tiny bit of liquid soap and water.
• One or two ground aspirins and a dab of honey
• Brown sugar, a pinch of ground rose petals and a wee bit of apple cider vinegar.
• Sea Salt, zest from one lemon, and almond oil.

FOR DRY SKIN:

• Equal parts of honey and finely ground almonds.
• Sea salt and a few drops essential oils enough olive oil to make a thick slush.
• 1/2 avocado with enough oat flour to make a paste
• Ground flax seeds and a little rose water.
• 2 tables ground oats and almonds and 1 tablespoon rose water and 1 tablespoon heavy cream.
• Equial parts plain yogurt and ground almonds
• A little play yogurt mixed with the contents of 1 bag of green tea (about 1 tablespoon).