Worm Towers

The worm towers creates compost in two 2-gallon towers, which are placed into a garden bed. The bottom third of the towers will be dug into the soil. A lid is attached to prevent exposure to sunlight, exposure to the elements, and rodents from getting in. It is continuous because the system will continuously provide us with vermicompost as long as the worms continue to be fed with greens and the system is maintained.

Assembly

*Building the worm towers requires extensive time and a power drill.

Cut the 4ft PVC pipe in half with a saw, to yield 2 2ft PVC pipes. Use sandpaper to sand down the cut edges of the PVC pipes. Sanding down these edges will make it easier for the lid to be fitted later on.

Drill 3/8 in. holes around the bottom 6 inches of the PVC pipe. This will give the worms access to the feed material in the towers, while still being able to return to the garden bed to deposit worm castings.

To assemble the lid...

Once the lid is complete, test that the lid fits snuggly onto the PVC pipe and is easy to remove. If the lid is too snug and is difficult to remove, use sandpaper to sand down more of the PVC pipe until the fit is right.

Assess your garden bed to find the best spot to place your systems. Dig a hole deep enough so that the holes in the system are below ground, and place your system in the hole. Fill the extra space in the hole with dirt to secure the system in place. (*Ideally, the system is place in a garden bed that doesn't get full sun all day*)

Set Up

The bedding will be made using about a cup of grinded eggshells, 2 old banana peels, shredded newspaper, coffee grounds, and red-wriggler worms. Start by putting in about 2 handfuls of shredded paper and pour in some water to dampen it. Then, put in a handful of coffee grounds and the banana peels. These will be the initial greens in the system. Next, the eggshells are put in, which are grit that helps the worms digest their food. Since worms don't have teeth, they rely on grit to physically break down food particles into smaller pieces. Lastly, about 15 or 20 worms will be put in with some more watered, shredded newspaper on top. The worms are added to help the colony establish itself.

Maintenance, Harvesting, and Use

Using the system is fairly simple. The worms do all the work of turning and processing. The job of the person is to maintain their environment.

The worms and compost are regularly monitored. The compost maintenance crew has been feeding the system an average of 1 handful of veggies scraps and 1 handful of sawdust three times a week. After every feeding, pour in about a liter of water. Water should be poured into the system so that it can flush nutrients out into the rest of the garden bed and provide the moisture the worms need to do their work.

Harvesting

Since this is a continuous system that is embedded into the garden bed, there will never be a point of harvest. Rather, after the initial set-up phase, the worms should be continuously feeding and depositing their worm castings in the garden bed.

System Takeaways

Worm colony

*UPDATE THIS* This system has been continuously productive as the compost maintenance crew never detected a decline in worm population. It appeared as if the colony size did double in size after 90 days as intended.

Maintenance Complexity

The system is very easy to maintain. Little labor is required to maintain the system.

Moisture levels

*UPDATE THIS* Feeding with the 8:1 proportion of greens to browns does not negatively affect the system's moisture levels. Since the system has an abundance of bedding and depth, there is a lot of material to take in and absorb the moisture.

Aeration

The system has airflow due to the lid having a mesh opening in the top.

The maintenance crew believes that the system benefits from the air flow as it helps prevent odors and allows for aerobic decomposition.

Design Flaws

The lid can be difficult to put on and take off if the PVC pipe is not properly sanded.

It is hard to determine how much compost is actually produced over a period of time since the compost is directly deposited into the garden bed. However, overall soil health should improve over time.

The volume is quite small, which is not good for residential use.

Rodent Activity

No evidence of rodents attempting to access the compost system.

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