Worm farming hacks

Since beginning my composting journey some seven years ago, my systems and processes have evolved over time as my understanding has grown. I now have several systems in operation in my home garden to ensure that I get the most from my (and from time to time that of others') kitchen and garden waste. I have had chooks, we have one remaining, a three bin composting system, two bokashi bins, a bathtub worm farm and worm harvesting buckets. As a gardener keeping up with compost/vermicompost production is a challenge. I have found that using a bathtub worm farm generates approximately five barrow loads of rich vermicompost per quarter, with which to top up my garden beds and make my own seed raising mix. My technique now requires very little input. When refiling my bathtub I use the basic principles of small scale worm farming and layer browns, greens, food scraps etc and add a bucket of worms into the mix. I then leave the worms to it.

Instead of trying to harvest the worms from the finished compost, I simply add them to the garden beds. In each garden bed then I add a compost worm harvesting bucket. This is simply a lidded bucket with holes drilled in the bottom. I layer compost materials in the bucket, as I would a worm farm. Over time the worms access the organic matter in the bucket through the holes and turn it into vermicompost very quickly. We have done this in the six weeks school holiday. This system gives me a regular supply of vermicompost and saves me the time and effort of trying to harvest the worms from the finished compost by hand.

I picked up the compost worms harvesting tip from Millie Ross's book 'Thrifty Gardening' and the instructions for bathtub worm farming from 'Grown & Gathered' by Matt and Lentil, two awesome books for gardening folk.