Episode: Five
Date: 27th September 2008
Story Title: Mitre 10 - Building a Worm Farm
Presenter: Trevor Cochrane

Kitchen scraps are one of the biggest wasted resources in the home, but Trevor discovers the best way to convert this waste into compost for your garden. Worms are one of the greatest garden additives you can have, as they can be used to convert all your kitchen waste.

Trevor heads down to his local Mitre 10 store, to learn how to build his very own worm farm.

How to Build a Worm Farm

Step 1

• You will need to build a long box, with a lid for the compost worms to live in.
• Mitre 10 staff will help you out with what material you will need. They can even help to cut your timber to length.

Step 2

• Screw the timber together to create the box.
• Put a liner on the bottom of the box so the worms don’t try to escape.

Step 3

• You can purchase worms in boxes of about 1000, and they double in population, every 8 weeks or so.
• Place the worms in the box, and cover with newspaper to keep cool and shaded.

Step 4

• Concentrate the food scraps up one end of the worm farm, and dig the casting from the other end.
• Place a wine barrel under the worm farm, to catch the juices. The juices can work as an excellent liquid plant fertilizer.

Where can you get the worms?

Worms on Wheels has been breeding composting worms for over 14 years.  They are situated at 24 Kirby Street, Willagee which is about 7km east of Fremantle.  Their phone number is 08 9337 7933.

• They breed three (3) types of composting worms - "Red Wrigglers", "Indian Blues" and "Tigers".  The reason for this is that they compete in their breeding so they can produce more worms in a shorter period of time.
• Worms will eat anything that once lived but they prefer not to indulge in citrus and the onion family. 
• It is advised not to feed your worms any meat, fish, chicken or dairy as this will attract other vermin which is not desirable for worm farming. 
• Worms like a balanced diet including newspaper, cardboard, tea bags, coffee grounds, the stuff collected in your vacuum cleaner. 
• They can eat your grass clippings but it is advisable to put the grass clippings into a plastic bag in the sun to allow the heat from the clippings to dispel first. 
• Once the clippings have lost their green colour then they can also be used in your worm farm. 
• The thing to remember is that whatever you feed your worms it must be dead - no man made products!
• Worms like a cool moist environment to exist. 
• They do not like the light and they do not like excess water - for fear of drowning.  In the summer it is advisable to keep your worm farm covered in shade cloth for added protection from the heat and on the very hot days to add water to the mix so that it doesn't dry out. 
• Worms also like to feel secure, so putting a cover of wet newspaper or a wet Hessian bag or a piece of carpet which is Hessian backed (not rubber - so the worms can breath) will also add to a happy home for your little mates. 

Worms on Wheels sell worms directly to the public on a one to one basis in lots of approximately 1,000.  This weighs around 250 grams which is about how much one adult produces in waste per day and as worms eat about their weight per day 1,000 worms is approximately what is needed for each adult in the household.  Their price for 1,000 worms is $35.00.  As they do not keep the worms in boxes please give them one hours notice to prepare your worms for you.

Contact
Worms on Wheels
24 Kirby Street, Willagee
(08) 9337 7933.

For more information and for your Mitreplan visit www.mitre10.com.au or visit your local Mitre 10 Store.