abbie jury and chris sorensen make a simple worm farm

8/8/2019 Abbie Jury and Chris Sorensen make a simple worm farm.

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nakidailynews.co.nz Friday, September 17, 2010 T ARANAKI D AILY N EWS 13

G ARDENINGwww.taranakidailynews.co.nz

Worms canconvert greenwaste toa nutrient-richfertiliser ina short space of time.Abbie Jury and Chris Sorensenmakea simplewormfarm.

Photos:ABBIE JURY

1While you can buy wormfarms, Chris finds a home-made construction using

tyres works better and costsnothing. If you want wormtea (the nutritious fluid thatis used as a liquidfertiliser) you need toplace your tyres on abase shaped to drain thefluid into a jar, as shownin this homemade farm.However, Chris doesnot want the liquidfrom this new farm soshe is constructing it

on a simple boardplatform, which keeps

it tidily contained.

2 The bed is built inlayers to provideboth food and

warmth for theworms. First linewith a plastic sack or similar, havingcut drainage holesso that thecontents cannotgo stagnant.Scrunch up wetnewspaperand pack it

fairly firmlyin the rims of

the tyres.Pack in hay or

straw to get afirm base but

layer in twigs tostop it from

compacting.

3 Add some manure,compost or even dirt. Weare using fresh cow

manure. Horse manure isalso good but when usingfresh manure, make surethat the donor animalshave not been dosedrecently for intestinalworms – the medicationresidue will be enoughto kill your worms. Wetthe mix down ifnecessary.

4 Add the tigerworms. Theseare the striped

compost worms thatthrive on digestinggreen waste. Youcan buy them ifyou need to oryou may havesome in existingwet compostheaps ordecomposingrubbish. Theyare not rareor unusual.

If you need tobuy them, go

towonderworms

.co.nz, which isa local source.

5 Pack the rim of a second tyre with scrunchednewspaper and lay it on top. Add green waste. Theworms do not like onions, garlic, egg shells or

citrus peel but will handle most other green matter.Don’t put weed seeds in because they will survive thecomposting process. You can add yet another tyre tothe top if you wish but it is essential that it all be coveredwith a lid to keep light and rain out. Lay a piece of oldcarpet under the lid to keep the mix warm and insulated.

6 Some worm farms work on a three-tier system so that theworms inhabit the middle, the castings fall to the bottomand the food goes in the top but Chris finds it more efficient

to work from the top. When she wants to use some of thecompost, she takes the lid off for a while because the worms willburrow down away from the light. She can then scoop out thefine tilth, leaving most of the worms behind, although her hensare always pleased to find any that are on the loose.

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