Worms are spectacular.
If you are reading this then you will most likely have an inkling of how good they are. We use “worm wee” and castings to improve plant health and build nutrient density in the soil and therefore our food. Between our chickens and our worms they take care of all our household food waste (except bones) and most of out garden “waste”
Wonderful
Tiger worms are the ones you want. If you want to get some worms going you have three options. Talk to someone who has some, buy some (they post well) or steal some. The latter is usually a bit tricky as worm farms tend to be in peoples back yards. I recommend one of the first two options.
Before you find yourself proudly holding a container of worms it is good to consider their housing. There are many great systems to house your worms. Personally I am trying to reduce the amount of plastic we use so this cuts out many of the commercial models. I am not saying don’t use a plastic one, just do so with an educated mind. (If you want an opinionated rant on crappy plastic see here.)
For those who have some time to create their own, there are a lot of ideas ranging from throwing tiger worms into a compost heap to re-purposing an old bathtub.
I happen to have a love of old concrete tanks. They are chemically stable (concrete is basically stone) beautiful and allow us to harvest worm wee that runs out the bottom.
One is an old coal bin. This came with a concrete base that I have adapted to collect the liquid that drains off. It also has an opening at the bottom that is the right size to shovel out the castings every now and then.
The other is an old header tank. I have drilled a drain hole in the bottom and just keep throwing food scraps on top. I flush the system with the hose now and again to wash out the castings. After a good flush I let the system drain well to allow for aerobic composting to occur and to give the worms a bit of a chance to breathe. The only fault with the system as it stands is that the lid I made is too heavy for the rest of the family. As such I normally find it thrown on the ground and mutter to myself about making a lighter one. Ha.
The only other issue with concrete tanks is that it makes moving house difficult. Having said that moving is always difficult for a gardener.