There are many different kinds of worm bin. In warmer climates, worm bins can even be a dug out, tilled hole under a shady tree. In colder climates, like Baltimore’s worm bins need to stay indoors. This means that you’ll want your bin to fit comfortably in a kitchen, bathroom or basement. While using a plastic bin is perfectly acceptable. In these pages you will find on how to build your own bin out of untreated wood. These boxes will break down after a few years, detailed instructionsbut as they eventually break down entirely, I thought of them as a more sustainable alternative to the plastic bins.* It is essential to use untreated lumber, because the chemicals used to treat wood is harmful to worms and isn’t something that should be in garden soil.
To build these bins, I used re-cycled wood. Whether pallets outside of drug stores, wood scavenged from dumpsters or even just the wood shop scrap bin at MICA, I wanted to show that these bins can be inexpensive to make. My one purchase was 1.25 inch do-it best drywall screws from Belle Hardware on McMechen Ave in Baltimore.
All bins must
-have a way for the worms to breathe
-be tight enough that dirt and water will not spill out over your floor.
-provide shade for the worms.
-if made of wood, be made of untreated wood.
-be at least a foot deep, about 5 inches of bedding (dirt and newsprint), and enough surface area on the bottom for your worm amount. (Most of these bins have 1000 worms and a surface area of 1.5- 2 feet squared.
I should admit to you that my knowledge of construction, even simple construction is pretty low. So much so that I made a few not impossible to live with- mistakes. I documented these, and they are included in the tutorials. Hopefully you won’t make my mistakes, but if you do, it’s ok. These bins can be great for learning to use tools, but they don’t have to be anything more than a box with holes.
Good luck!
*To build a plastic bin, simply buy one with a lid, drill tons and tons of holes in the top (the plastic breathes a lot less than the wood, and has a tendency to be more wet). Fill with bedding and you are ready to go.
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