Garden Worm Farms

Box

• Worm farms must include a "home" to provide protection and boundaries for the worms, and to contain your harvest of worm compost. Use a wooden or plastic bin that holds 20 to 40 gallons of soil for your worm farm. Make sure that any box has holes for drainage and air circulation, and use only untreated wood to avoid poisoning the worms.

Bedding

• Use a mixture of half garden soil and half shredded paper as your worm bedding to fill the box three-quarters full. The soil adds grit for worm digestion, while the paper loosens the soil and retains moisture for the worms. Worms need consistently moist environments to breathe, and should never live in dry soil.

Placement

• Keep the worm farm in a spot that gets protection from wind, rain and direct sunlight. Worms drown when exposed to rain, and bake and die in full sun. Washington State University suggests keeping the farm in a garage or basement and maintaining box temperatures between 55 and 77 degrees F. Worms stop working at 50 degrees F and may die in temperatures over 84 degrees F.

Feeding and Maintenance

• A worm farm requires consistent care for worm activity and well-being. Fold kitchen scraps like fruit and vegetable leftovers, pasta, bread and cake into the bedding at least once a week to feed the worms, and water the worms weekly to maintain good soil moisture. Water the bedding until it's moist, but not soupy. Mix the bedding daily to keep it aerated for worm respiration. Don't feed the worms meat, poultry or fish products, as those may draw pests and give the box an unpleasant odor.

Compost

• Use worm compost every three to four months when it turns dark and crumbly. Dump out the box to harvest your compost and move it to the garden. Move the worms with the compost to continue their work in the garden, or take them out of the compost and transfer them to new bedding in the box to continue composting.