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How about a Wormery?

by Andy Scott, May 2007

Have you ever considered having a wormery to reduce your landfill?

I’ve had mine for about 5 years now and I am still amazed at just how much stuff the worms can compost, including:

• Food scraps – peelings, leftovers, bread, fruit, etc

• Cardboard – especially the brown variety

• Paper – including fish & chip wrappers!

• Envelopes – minus the plastic window bit

• Labels from the tins and jam jars that you recycle

My wormery is the “Can-O-Worms” from Wiggly Wigglers and I can recommend it 100%. There are many other makes available – try Google. (Wiggly Wigglers are a fascinating success story – they have a blog and their weekly podcast is compulsive listening. A tale of real-life (organic) farming folk…….…)

Can-O-Worms from Wiggly WigglersRegulalry drain off the liquid fertiliser

Once the wormery is set up, the worm numbers self-regulate – the more you feed them the more they breed and the faster they eat the food. The idea of the wormery is that you have several layers, each in different stages of decomposition. The top layer is the most recent that the worms are making their way up to. When the bottom layer is full, you just tip it onto your regular compost heap or onto the garden, adding nutrients and organic matter to the garden. Our clay soil has improved significantly, thanks to composting and the wormery.

A lot of liquid is produced and this is drained off into a jug – again, it goes on the garden or the compost heap. It does smell when you draw it off but not for long, once the air gets to it. It’s rich in nutrients – that is why it smells.

The wormery does also provide a home for small flies and ants – all of which helps the biodiversity in your garden. The flies are contained until you take the top off – they are not around it all the time. And they are tiny compost flies – not the larger type that seem to get in the house. You may feel this means wormeries are not for you – but I would encourage you to have a go!

No need to panic – it’s organic!


Top layer of recently added itemsMiddle layer of partially digested stuff
Bottom layer of processed compost with lots of worms visibleThe drainage layer of nutrient-rich liquid fertiliser

 

The pictures above show the different wormery layers. Note the raw material includes: a flour bag, kitchen paper, carrots from the juicer, lemons and baked bean tin labels. On the top is a lime and worm treat mix that you can add to help reduce the acidity if you put lots of fruit in. It also (apparently) encourages the worms up to the top.

You can mix the finished product with coir to produce a useable compost material – though you will struggle to remove the worms from it. The worms have survived quite happily without new food for a month. In the winter, they huddle in the middle to keep warm when it is freezing. During last few seasons I have taken pity and put them in the greenhouse until the spring.

If you would like more information, please contact info@cwag.org.uk


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