Worm farms are a great way to turn your leftover kitchen scraps into a rich fertiliser, especially if you live in a small block or a flat. They can even be placed on a balcony - all you need is a small, cool, well-shaded spot.   Worm farms like the RELN Worm Factory can be bought through the Council or gardening shops. Its also easy to make your own worm farm out of pystyrene boxes. The best ones to use are the broccoli boxes from fruit and vegetable shops. These don't come with holes so you can punch your own where they are required.

	Build your own Worm Farm
1.	Choose a nice spot for your worms to live. Make sure the spot is not too hot or cold.
2.	If you choose to use polystyrene boxes, you will need two of them. At least one box needs to have a lid. Poke about twenty holes in the bottom of one box. Put the lid on the box with hole and place this box on the box without the holes. The bottom box will catch the liquid produced by the worms (worm tea).
3.	In the box with the holes or one of the trays in the worm farm, place about 10cm of bedding. Use a combination of shredded paper, leaves and finished compost as a bedding layer, around 10-15cm deep. To this you should add about 1000 worms (check the Yellow Pages under Worm Farms, or the Australian Worm Growers Website to buy them). The worms used for worm farms are called compost worms, tiger worms or red wrigglers. They are different than the ususal earthworm. You should not put earthworms into your wormfarm.
4.	Cover the bedding with a layer of hessian, newspaper, carpet etc. This will keep the worm beedding dark and moist.
5.	Once the worms have burrowed into the bedding (2-3 days) you can start adding small amounts of kitchen scraps. Worms love to eat vegetable and fruit peelings, tea bags, coffee grounds, as well as some paper, but make sure to shred scraps first to make sure they can easily digest them. Avoid feeding your worms meat and oily foods such as dairy products, or acidic foods such as citrus or onion. At first only add small amounts, once the worms have finished most of their previous meal.
6.	Your worms should produce a rich, soil-like substance called "castings" or "vermicompost", which makes a great fertiliser for potted plants, a potting mix for seedlings or top-dressing for your yard. To harvest your castings, move them to one side of the farm and add new food to the other side. Soon your worms will migrate into the food pile, and it will be safe to remove your castings. In addition, the liquid which is called 'worm tea' that collects in the bottom box can be used as a liquid fertiliser, once it has been diluted. It should be diluted at about 1 part worm tea to 9 parts water. As your plants get used to the solution the strength can be increased.

Trouble Shooting (Adaped from Reln Plastics)
How much will my worms eat? This depends on how many worms you have. Mature worms (which can be identified by the ring shaped swelling around their body), can eat up to half their own body weight every day (approx. 250 grams of scraps). How can I help the worms eat more? Mash, blend, or food process scraps Maintain temperature to around 24 degrees Celsius Avoid acidic foods What shouldn't I feed my worms? Manures Acidic foods (onions, citrus, garlic, shallots) Garden waste Dairy products Meat

Should I add water to my system?

Watering will enhance the production of liquid fertiliser. Food wastes are about 80% water, which is released as the worms break them down. If you pour some water over the system every couple of weeks you will have a constant supply of liquid fertiliser.

Will I get to many worms?

No, you can never have to many worms. Worms self regulate their population according to available space and the amount of  food you give them.

Can I put compost worms in the garden?

Compost worms, (those used in worm farms) require moist conditions all year round, and do not tunnel deep to find moisture.   They can only be useful in the garden if you have a thick layer of mulch in your garden.

It's raining and the worms seem to be gathering in the lid? What do I do?

This is a response to the change in the weather. Worms move up into the lid before it rains to avoid drowning. Move the system out of the rain and replace the worms in the bedding.

Why aren't the worms moving up from the lower levels into the top-working tray?

You may have added new food before the worms have eaten the previous food. This leaves uneaten food through the system and causes a reluctance by the worms to migrate upwards whilst they can still access food in the lower layers. Before adding new trays stop feeding the worms for at least a week to ensure all existing food has been eaten.

The level of castings in the working tray needs to be high enough for the worms to pass easily up to the next tray.

What about severe temperature?

Worms will tolerate a wide temperature range from approximately 10-30 degrees Celsius. If it gets much hotter than this, move  the system into a shady, cool position. Take the lid off and hose down the system (making sure the tap is turned on to allow the liquid to drain out).  In very cold temperatures, cover the system with some old carpet, underfelt, blankets, and hessian to keep warmth in. Feed the worms more food, which will create some warmth as they decompose.

How do I keep ants out of the system?

Ants will enter the system if it is too dry or acidic. Add water to raise the moisture levels and add some garden lime to where the    ants are gathering. To stop them from getting into the system, place the legs of the system in a container of water or rub    Vaseline on the legs.

   Will the worm farm attract flies?
   Sometimes small vinegar flies get into the system, however they will not do any harm.
   If larger flies are present slow your rate of feeding.

   What about maggots?
   Maggots appear due to decomposing meat being present in the worm farm. Avoid meat in your worm farm. To remove maggots
   place bread soaked in milk on the surface. The maggots will be attracted to it and you can remove them after a couple of days.

   Will the worm farm smell?
   Your worm farm should only smell if there is a lot of uneaten food built up in the system. Stop feeding the worms, add some
   garden lime and stir the top tray lightly to aerate the mixture. This will allow the worms to move through it more easily. Start
   feeding again when all smells are gone.

   Hints
   Keep the worm farm damp but not wet. Water every so often or as required.

   If your worm farm smells: you're probably just feeding them too much, or giving them too much water. Only feed the worms small
   amounts at first, when they have almost run out of food, and gradually build up to larger portions.

   If cockroaches and ants invade your worm farm: keep a lid on the farm or cover it with hessian. If your farm sits on legs you can
   also place each leg inside a bowl of water to keep ants out.

   If your worms won't breed: you may need to keep the farm in a shadier or cooler (around 18-25 degrees centigrade) location or
   keep it more moist (although not too wet).

   Acidity: can be caused by too much sugary food, such as fruits, and grains. Sprinkling some dolomite, wood ash or lime on the
   farm can help solve this problem.

   Worm Farm Creatures
   Your worm farm will become a complex ecosystem of decomposition. Worms are the main decomposers but many other
   creatures will move in as well to enrich the process. There is no need to fear these creatures, or try to get rid of them. They too 
   have an important role to play.

   Some of the creatures you may find in the worm farm include:

• Moulds and Fungi
• Mites
• Spring tails
• Pot worms
• Sow or pill bugs
• Fruit Flies
• Soldier fly larvae

   If you absolutely have to get rid of the fruit flies and maggots have a look in the trouble shootings section of this page.

   Amazing Worm facts
   An earthworm breathes through its skin, has 5 hearts and a circulatory system, calciferous glands for neutralising food, a crop
   and a gizzard with stones for grinding food, a digestive system, a brain and nervous system, several hundred kidney type organs,
   both male and female organs and abilities, and a saddle which secretes mucus for egg capsules.

   Worm wee (tea) and poo (castings) are a superb source of fertiliser for your garden. Vegetables will taste better and flowers will
   flower earlier.

   Without the help of worms, every plant and animal that died and fell to the ground would stay right where it fell. Trees, leaves,
   fruit, nuts, dead animals and food would just keep piling up.

   The largest earthworm ever found was in South Africa and measured 22 feet from its nose to the tip of its tail.

   Worms can grow a new tail, but not grow a new head if they are cut off.

   Worms can eat their weight each day.

   The scientist Charles Darwin studied worms for 39 years in the last century! Do you know why? Darwin said, "It may be doubted
   whether there are many other animals in the world which have played so important a part in the history of the world...."

   Worms have been around for 120 million years. In the time of the Egyptian Pharaohs, Cleopatra said worms were sacred.

   Worms are so finely coordinated that they can feel vibrations on the ground as a bird lands and will disappear down their burrows
   quickly enough to survive.

   An earthworm is made up of 90 to 150 muscular doughnut shaped segments lying side by side.

   There are 4,400 species of worms - 2,700 different kinds of earthworms to be exact.

   In just one acre there can be a million or more of us, eating 10 tons of leaves, stems, and dead roots a year and turning over 40
   tons of soil.

   FREE WORM FARM AND COMPOSTING DEMONSTRATION:
   These information sessions are a fun and informative way to learn how to recycle food and garden waste by composting and  
   worm farming. Each training information session will be presented by a specialist in worm farming and composting techniques.

   Contact the City of Ryde Waste Education Officer for more details (02) 9952 8222.