Do I remember that you mentioned making a wormery out of a tub? Only
there's a person on my seedy group[1] looking to make or buy one for
her school or young folks' project and any info would be gratefully
received. :-)

[1] That's 'seedy' as in plant seeds, by the by. <g>


-- 
First they came for the verbs, and I said nothing because verbing weirds 
language.
Then they arrival for the nouns, and I speech nothing because I no verbs.

"Halla"  wrote in message
news:07hm44h2to9v82vs30a4vkrqt3arqsvtqc@4ax.com...
> Do I remember that you mentioned making a wormery out of a tub? Only
> there's a person on my seedy group[1] looking to make or buy one for
> her school or young folks' project and any info would be gratefully
> received. :-)

*Pong*

Yup, I was making a wormery out of plastic stacking storage boxes. Alas
'twas the price of worms that halted me in my tracks.
The theory and construction is as follows......

I got three black stacking boxes from Tesco and a Sankey water butt tap from
teh local garden centre. I cut a hole in the side of one tub about and inch
from the bottom for the tap and fitted it. I drilled (or you can melt with a
screwdriver and a gas ring but its smelly and icky) evenly spaced (about an
inch apart and about 4mm diameter) holes all over the bottom of the other
two boxes so the worms can migrate from one tub to the next - they travel
upwards to reach fresher material.

Support the bottom box - the one with the tap but without perforations on a
few bricks so you can get at the worm wee via the tap (good liquid
fertiliser, plus it needs draining periodically so the compost doesn't get
waterlogged). Put some gravel, or better still those lightweight
ceramic/pumice balls you get for greenhouse staging in the bottom of the
first box to about three inches depth - the idea is to have a draining area
but a means for the worms to wriggle back upwards if they fall through (they
are worms after all and not known for their cognitive abilities)

Slot the second box (one of the perforated ones) into the sump so that it
rests on the gravel/ceramic balls and put in a layer of coir or non-peat
based compost to act as worm bedding - this will give them a good start. You
can begin putting in veggie peelings etc straight away. The amount the
wormery can handle is limited by its size and by its worm population. Keep
it covered to retain moisture and help keep a moderate temperature. Wiggly
Wigglers sell hemp mats for the purpose but a bit of wool felt or similar
will be just as good. Natural fibres will break down and become part of the
compost in time. When the first box is filled up to about two thirds put the
next box on top so it slots down and rests on the bottom composting layer -
the worms should migrate upwards to get at the new food once the last lot
has been digested. Worms can be obtained from existing compost heaps - free
but messy and icky and smelly - or via many sellers on t'internet - really
quite pricey but convenient and less icky.

Keep the lot covered in very wet weather or the worms will drown (my mistake
in sunny Manchester!)

If you can't be arsed with all that theres an ebay seller doing something
similar which looks pretty good and gives you an idea of what it looks like
if you make it by my method but for the price I might be inclined to just
buy the thing.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/WormCity-Wormery-128-Litre-Full-Worm-Composting-Package_W0QQitemZ120268752274QQihZ002QQcategoryZ75665QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
>
> [1] That's 'seedy' as in plant seeds, by the by. <g>

I sort of got that :-P
Hope that helps anyhoo. Oh and I was so chuffed today - ate salad made with
own lettuce for lunch and tea :-D

Jo


>
>
> -- 
> First they came for the verbs, and I said nothing because verbing weirds
> language.
> Then they arrival for the nouns, and I speech nothing because I no verbs.

On Mon, 9 Jun 2008 00:14:27 +0100, "Jo B..."
<spirit_craft(antispam)@hotmail.com> blethered:

>
>"Halla"  wrote in message
>news:07hm44h2to9v82vs30a4vkrqt3arqsvtqc@4ax.com...
>> Do I remember that you mentioned making a wormery out of a tub? Only
>> there's a person on my seedy group[1] looking to make or buy one for
>> her school or young folks' project and any info would be gratefully
>> received. :-)
>
>*Pong*
>
>Yup, I was making a wormery out of plastic stacking storage boxes. Alas
>'twas the price of worms that halted me in my tracks.
>The theory and construction is as follows......
>
<Sniplet> 

Ta muchly, saved for later and passed on to a small school from my
seed swappy group. :-)


-- 
"...responsibility and delight can co-exist..."
 -Philip Pullman