Try worm composting this winter
Create your own natural, nutrient-rich fertiliser!
Fancy an easy winter garden project that will benefit your plants next year? Then treat yourself to a late Christmas present and fix up your own worm composter which, with the help of every gardener’s best friends, will provide you with a fantastically rich compost and feed – and all for free! Put your scraps to good use now with this low maintenance experiment…
HOW TO MAKE YOUR WORMERY
1A ach your composter parts together – add the legs to the two units, then add a piece of paper/material (often included) into the bo om. Soak your coir worm bedding in water so it expands, which acts as an initial warm burrowing layer for the worms to start them off.
2Break up the expanded coir bedding so it crumbles and add it on top of the piece of paper in the top of the wormery. Make sure it’s light and crumbles in an even layer. There’s no need to pat it down.
3
When you order your worms, they’ll come in the post in a co on bag in a box. It costs about £16 for around 250 worms. Wormeries can be expensive to buy, but you can also try making your own out of an old plastic box! Just make sure it’s airy and elevated so you can harvest the liquid from underneath. Add the worms straight away, as soon as you receive them, on top of the coir bedding. They’ll start to burrow immediately.
4
Add a 10cm (4in) layer of cut up small pieces of vegetable peelings or other kitchen waste to feed the worms. Raw and cooked veg, fruit except citrus peel, teabags, cardboard, ma paper, soft, green grass clippings and light greenery such as leaves are all acceptable. Always keep the amounts added even.
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Cover the top with the material ‘mat’ provided, or use a piece of newspaper over the top of the veg peelings. This maintains the moisture inside. Add the lid to your compost bin and away you go! Keep it situated in a warm, sheltered spot out of the way, and move to a warm greenhouse in winter if you want to keep productivity up – above 18C (64F) will keep it all going.