If you are thinking of starting a wormery I would advise you not to buy a "ready made wormery" as they tend to be expensive & in many cases do not work very well if at all. They are also too small as a rule.
Here is how to do it:
1.Get a plastic dustbin or a plastic water tank. Drill drainage holes in the bottom & air holes around the rim. (if using a dustbin remember to drill the holes below where the rim of the lid fits)
Remember worms can drown & they need to beathe.
2.Sit your perforated worm tank on some bricks so that any liquid can drain away.
3.Start filling the tank by putting a 6 ins drainage layer of stones etc in the bottom.
3.Next a four inch layer of ripped up newspaper or cardboard.
4.Buy a bag of garden peat & moisten it well.
5.Get hold of a bag of old horse manure or old cow manure .(You do not want fresh stuff especially if the cows or horses have recently been wormed as traces of the wormer will kill your own worms.)
6.Mix the peat & manure in a 50/50 mix & add to the bin.
7.Get hold of approx 1kg of red worms. (these are the worms you find in old horse or cow manure).or you can buy them over the internet!
8.Tip worms onto the surface of your wormery & put a lid on the tank to stop them escaping.
9.Worms eat bacteria not the actual apple core ,vegetable peeling etc.
So ideally you also need a bucket with a lid so you can put all the stuff for the wormery in it & let it go all slimy & mouldy before just putting it into the wormery. Sounds gross but we just had a bucket by the back door & emptied onto the wormery when it was full.
10.Worms slow down when it is cold so good idea in the winter is to keep the tank in a shed or garage where it will be a little warmer.
11.Maintenance: Worms need a moist but not a wet environment. They also like one that is slightly alkaline so its a good idea to get some chalk & sprinkle a handful on every so often . (Tip.Buy a packet of chalks from a stationers & grind or smash them up to a dust.
12.Worms can escape so if you are using a tank just cover the top with a piece of plywood or a polystrene insulation slab weighted down.
We use the wormery for composting everything including dog poo!
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