Worms and Stuff

DIY Natural 18 Gallon Tote Worm Bin

This fall my best friend and prepping buddy and I took our local Master Gardener composting class. Included in the class was vermicomposting - better known as worm bin composting. Wow, I was amazed. Not only did they explain the whole process, and all the advantages to us as gardeners, they demonstrated the Worm Factory. They also showed us how to construct a DIY Rubbermaid 18 gallon tote worm bin. The Worm Factory looked amazing, but it was a bit pricey for my budget - okay significantly pricey for my budget, especially after purchasing the worms. The DIY bin seemed more in line with my budget, and honestly I'm just a DIY gal anyway! One problem, the bin they showed us was pretty big at 18 gallons, and I couldn't think where on earth I would put it. It's winter, I'm thinking I want it indoors in my laundry room, and that bin is just too stinkin' big.

Update 1-18-13 - Check out my 13Skills page to keep tabs on my worm bin progress. I also have a Worms Board at Pinterest that I add to as I find information you many want to follow. Feel free to leave a comment here with any information that you think might be helpful to me, too!

Update 2-19-13 - I completed the construction of my Worm Bin and have a Bin Tutorial that walks you through the whole process if you are interested in making one of your own! 


Youtube is an amazing concept for those who want to pass on information, and those of us looking for new ideas. I spent quite a bit of time, (oh, and how quickly it goes), looking at numerous and I mean numerous videos. Two users are worth mentioning. The first is Liz with her channel Big Tex Worms. Liz is a very common sense Texas gal. She sells bins and worms at her website, Worm Bin Composting, and she is also very free with her information. I recommend spending some quality time with Liz on youtube as well as at her website. She demonstrates a unique way of feeding her worms, one that doesn't produce liquid residue like other methods do.  The first time I saw the "flow through bin" system was in her video. However, her bins were 50 gallon garbage cans. That wasn't going to solve my problem, but the system intrigued me. It made much more sense than the Worm Factory or the Rubbermaid tote bin system.

Sandy's Worm Bin

So I typed "flow through worm bin" in the search box at youtube and came up with a new user, Sandy, and her channel is Worms And Stuff. Sandy is in Alaska and has come up with a flow through bin that utilizes a standard 13 gallon tall kitchen waste bin. Now, that is the perfect size for my space and in my opinion the concept is so much better than the other ones for indoor use. Sandy sells these bins and also worms at her website, Worms and Stuff.

These waste bins are very easy to come by. Sandy suggests getting a very sturdy one for years of use. She recently has found them in black, which would be even better for the worms. I'll be shopping for my bin and putting it together in the next week, as I've asked Santa for worms for Christmas. (That sounds so strange!)