Info Sheets: Printable Or Downloadable (FREE) – For Putting Compost Worms Into Gardens
SUITS ALL COMPOSTING WORM BIN OR BATCH SYSTEMS
Garden Worm Feeding Station – CLICK HERE – FREE DOWNLOADABLE OR PRINTABLE INSTRUCTIONS
Pocket Feeding Guide – Click Here – FREE DOWNLOADABLE OR PRINTABLE INSTRUCTIONS
Compost Worm Quick Start Instructions – Click Here – FREE DOWNLOADABLE OR PRINTABLE INSTRUCTIONS
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Or if you would rather, read on and watch the video . . .
The Very Best Way Is To Have A Separate Worm Farm . . . (But)
The best way is to have a separate worm farm where the conditions suit the composting worms.
Then you harvest worm castings/vermicompost and put that in the garden (usually spreading worms into the garden by accident, so mulch-mulch-mulch to help them and the native worms prosper.
If for some reason you want or need to miss out this step – read on !
Putting Composting Worms Into Your Garden
To use composting worms in your garden, you have to setup some conditions for them.
The easiest trick I can teach you is to use a garden feeding station.
This is basically a bucket buried in the garden where you feed the worms food and bedding and they use it as a “base” to work out from.
Some people use “worm towers” made from rain water pipe to do the same thing – but as worms work on surface area you wont get many worms into one, nor be able to feed it very much per week – but it’s certainly an option to consider in smaller gardens or even large pots.
Worm Farm – Garden Feeding Station Or Pet Waste Composter
Making A Garden Feeding Station (Bucket)
How To Setup The Feeding Station:
Put some ripped up cardboard in the bottom of the bucket – but moisten it first (cardboard is really the best bedding). The cardboard is best from brown cardboard boxes, ripped into about palm sized pieces. Toilet paper tubes and egg cartons are also great. Make this about 10 cm deep.
Then put some handfuls of ripped newspaper balls in there. Just rip the newspaper from the spine into strips, moisten it and ball it up about as big as a tennis ball. Put about 6 balls in.
Then put another 5 cm deep layer of moistened cardboard in there. Then if you have it 2 or 3 handfuls of old well aged grass or leaves (moistened of course.)
See my other (included) instructions on the care of composting worms re feeding etc.
Harvesting & Restarting A Garden Feeding Station
I made a video for this (please excuse my thumb in the corner, I had already finished when I realised it was there)
Basically, the process is to remove the top “half” and set that aside – this will have most of the worms in it.
Then you remove the VC from the bottom and put that aside – this will have few worms in it and can be used on your garden or potted plants.
Then replace the top half into the bucket, add some bedding and keep going.
Here’s the video:
The Following Things Will HELP Attract Worms To Your Garden & Help Them Prosper:
Whether or not you intend to use a Garden Feeding Station or release compost worms into the garden directly, rather than have them in a separate farm, you need to setup conditions which will benefit them.
Mulch:
Yes, our old friend mulch. Mulch helps retain moisture, insulates the ground from the heat and breaks down to supply food for the worms and the other bugs and organisms that inhabit the soil.
Mulch the garden with something that will break down and feed worms in your garden – both composting worms and soil dwellers.
Great choices are lucerne mulch and sugar cane mulch. But other options are any old cheap hay or straw – you can often find rain damaged stuff quite cheap. You can also use grass clippings from your yard. It needs to be about 5cm thick.
If you wanted to put down wood chips instead for the “look” of them – I would advise mulching with Lucerne or sugar cane FIRST then putting wood chips on top of that. Wood chips ARE good for longer term mulching, but on the first application they wont break down quickly enough to feed the soil food web.
Moisture:
Worms – and all the other microorganisms in the soil food web – need moisture to survive. Just like your plants. So keep the garden nice and moist.
Plant Lots Of Plants
Planting lots of plants in the garden will help keep the garden soil cooler. It makes a better habitat for the worms.
Use “Organic Matter” As Fertilisers
Adding organic matter to your garden as a fertiliser is a great way to help out the worms and other micro organisms. It is MUCH better than using chemical fertilisers which have an impact on the soil micro organisms. Good options are compost and worm castings/vermicompost.
Chemicals
Using less chemicals will help the micro organisms in your soil prosper. Chemicals have been shown to reduce a soils fertility.
Chemical fertilisers also make plants weaker and more dependant on chemical fertilsers and pesticides.
Whereas a good microbially rich compost or worm castings/vermicompost feed the soil food web, strengthen plants and increase their resistance to pests, meaning less pesticides need to be used.
Drawing In Native Earthworms
All of the things mentioned above will also help draw in and nourish native earthworms – and help them to grow and prosper.
Have a read of my other info pieces on my site, about raising composting worms. There’s TONS of info on my website and Youtube channel.
I even have a free Frequently Asked Questions Guide available here on my website – you should see a link to it in the left hand sidebar.
You can also ask me a question through my website:
https://thewormman.com.au/ask-a-worm-question/
Thanks for coming to my website. Good luck and happy gardening !!!
regards,
Brian Donaldson
www.TheWormMan.com.au
0419 419 572
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If you want to get SERIOUS about Worm Farming – OR thinking of starting a worm business?
Do you want to produce a LOT of VC – getting more SERIOUS about worm farming?
Maybe you’ve thought about getting into business with worms?
I REALLY advise you to go check out the Worm Farming Alliance.
There you can get all the mentoring, training and information that you need. Check it out here: