HOW TO BUILD YOUR VERY FIRST WORM BIN, FOR ONLY THE COST OF A CUP OF WORMS

I begged my husband to let me start a compost. I had done little to no research, but I was confident I could help the planet, if we could just stop throwing all of our trash away. But, where?

We had lived in apartments and condominiums our entire relationship, that was — until my husband got the call. He got the job! Only, it would mean moving over a thousand miles away from our family and friends. But, alas — space! We would move to somewhere more affordable and although my husband would be taking a hefty pay cut, we could still move (& finally, own!) a home. We had owned our last condo but it was so expensive, meaning we both had to have full time jobs & be away from the kids & composting?

Yeah, that would only have ever been an afterthought. A someday thought! Because there is no energy after a long days work and then work again, getting home to littles. So, a bungalow house with a bungalow yard would be the very beginning of a dream come true. A secret garden. A guilt-consuming compost. A space to learn and grow.

My daughter & I had a read a book on waste and an online friend had shared her mini-kitchen compost on social media & said that you needed to add ‘carbon’ and ‘kitchen waste’. I confidently threw, into a storage tub, about a week’s worth of kitchen waste along with some toilet paper rolls and random paper goods.

..and I waited.

The rains came down and filled the storage tub with water and I waited. My confidence dwindled as time went by and there was no sign of anything even resembling compost.

We gathered at our little local library’s story time one day and a few friendly faces to chat with gathered with us. I mentioned to one of the moms there that I had an unsuccessful compost heap, but that I was determined to get it moving in the right direction, I just needed to pick up some books while I was there at the library. She mentioned that her dad was a worm farmer and that he had worms called ‘red wigglers’. Say whaaaaaa? I waited no time at all, called my husband and asked him to pick up some ‘red wigglers’. He said that he was going to stop by Zamzows and that it shouldn’t be a problem. He walked in with a tiny cup of red wiggler worms and said, “That cup costed about 20 bucks!”.

The storage bucket wasn’t working and when we opened it the stench was unbearable. Knowing what I know now, I was creating what happens in trash bins — bacteria that thrive without oxygen are called anaerobic bacteria and it’s a smell that may have bit your nose, if you’ve ever opened up a trash with decomposing matter in it.

I learned my lessons about worm farming, from my mistakes and hope to help new worm farmers on their journeys and share all of the things I’ve experienced!

Download my FREE guide that shares STEP x STEP of how to build your very first worm bin!