We are looking at ways to reduce the amount of rubbish we send to landfill. If you are not familiar with the blog my partner and I both have disabilities, don’t drive and live in an apartment block. These factors do impact the ways or amounts we can reduce, reuse and recycle. A worm farm suited our situation, so we decided to get one.
What is a worm farm?
A worm farm is a way of composting but on a smaller scale. Instead of using a large bin or section of the garden to breakdown the contents you put in, you put it in a small contained unit filled with worms. The worms feed off the good bacteria that grows on the decomposing items and produce worm tea (liquid fertiliser) and worm casings that you can use on your garden.
What can go in a worm farm?
- Eggshells
- Tea bags
- Fruit scraps
- Veggie scraps
- Paper
- Tissues
- Cotton
- Hair
- Bread
- Vacuum cleaner dust
- Cooked food
- Garden waste
When I was first researching on what you could add in I was surprised by some of the items such as cooked food, vacuum cleaner dust and hair. Once it is established a worm farm can process at least 2kg scraps per week. I initially thought that we wouldn’t have enough to put in it but with all the different items you can add I think we will be ok. You don’t realise how much you are actually sending to landfill, particularly if you have multiple rubbish bins around the house.
In Australia there are many places that sell worm farms. We did some research and discovered a company in Melbourne Compost Revolution had a program with various local councils across the country offering residents composting products at a reduced price. Our council was involved in the program and we saved about $100 which included free delivery. Thanks to pre-Christmas Saturday postal deliveries it arrived on day when I was home. The worm farm is made in Australia by Maze from recycled materials and is designed for smaller spaces like balconies or patios. It is really great option for multi-storey apartment living.
The farm came in a box weighing 8kg. There was very minimal packaging which shows how much excess packaging is put on items when ordering online. The Compost Revolution site has a lot of useful tutorials which we read and watched prior to it arriving. Assembling the farm took only a minute or 2, the longest wait was soaking the peat block in water for 15 mins before adding it to the trays and tipping the worms in. It takes up no space at all in the corner of the balcony.
After you set up the worm farm you need to wait about a week before you can start adding in small amounts of veggie scraps. You want the worms to settle in, over time you start to increase the quantity and types of items you can add in. We’ve decided to name all 1000 worms “Will Burrows” We are excited by our new pets.
Cassiy
stitchnsewcreates 
Awesome contribution on your part to the environment! Love the name of your worms – ha!
Thanks 😀