where to put the bin- newbie questions

17 years ago

Okay- I've been poking around the site for a few weeks (found it by accident) and thinking I might like to get some worm friends. Then I saw it on Martha Stewart today and now I know I want some.

1. Where to you put your bins?

Basement? I don't have lights on down there so they need light?

garage- it's hot in the summer, cold in the winter but it is sheltered and gets some light?

anywhere else in the house will freak out the kids....

BIG question- when you all say travel do you mean- escape through the holes? where do they go? how far do they get?

I know they are harmless but my kids freak out about lady bugs in the house--city kids!

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Comments (8)

trancegemini_wa
17 years ago
oh no they dont need light elf, exactly the opposite, they like dark conditions, they must be kept somewhere cool over the summer, I dont know what cold temps they can tolerate as it barely reaches frost where I am. worms like moist, dark, cool conditions with ventilation. I keep my worm bin under a tree in a very shady part of the garden, but an outside bin might not be possible in your zone.

maybe you could explain to your kids just what makes these guys good, get them involved and they will get over their fear of the creepy crawlies :)
green_jen
17 years ago
Here is a great site to introduce kids to the world of worms. Not bad a bad site for learning the basics of worm care either. My son loves this site and the worms.

http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/worms/neighborhood/index.html (link also below)

I keep mine in the basement and they seem to be doing quite well.

Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Come live with me
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I have had red wigglers in a bin in the basement for a LONG time (maybe fifteen or sixteen years?). For me, they have been a great way to compost my kitchen waste because my yard was too small for a regular compost bin, and besides I live in New England where it is too dark and icy for much of the year to really have a flourishing compost bin--at least not a small one. Anyway, that was long before I had access to the internet and wonderful resources like this forum, and even before Mary Appelhof's book (which later became my bible!) All I knew was that these red wigglers could consume my peelings, eggshells, corncobs, and leftovers, and that I should tear some newspapers into strips and throw the strips in too. And it worked! Over the years I have set quite a few people up with their own Rubbermaid tubs and a starter set of worms, and once when I did lose my worms (I moved during the winter and they ended up freezing) I was able to start up again with a cottage cheese container full of worm-filled compost from an old friend whose worms were the progeny of my original ones! So I am an old-timer at this, and despite that fact, I have only recently joined this forum and am absolutely amazed at how much I have learned. I love it! And I just love the fact that so many people are getting worms. I think they are terrific, and I don't understand why everybody doesn't have them! (Well, maybe the fruit flies might explain a lot.) To those of you new to vermiculture, I say welcome! Thank you for your enthusiasm, and for contributing to making our world a better one. And please don't worry too much about what to give your worms or not to give them. They are sturdy and forgiving little creatures, and even if you have a set-back, you (and they) can recover. And I know from personal experience that not everything people warn you about is that much of an issue. My worms have always had to contend with the fact that I view them as responsible for taking care of ALL my kitchen waste and turning it into lovely castings. I had no idea that oatmeal was verboten! And neither did they, apparently. And I think vermicomposterchild is very wise to have two bins, because that way of one of them has a melt-down, she will still have plenty to reintroduce to the process. Probably that won't happen, but it's comforting to know. (To me, anyway!) Worms are great, and so is this forum. When I have a problem or a question, I know just where to come. Keep up the good work, everybody! Betts
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It might be a good idea to line the sides with corrugated cardboard to block the light and it will help absorb excess moisture. It is easier to mist water on the surface of the bin rather than extracting water from a too wet bin. You may keep the bottom bin w/o cardboard lining to discourage worms coming/staying down. Don't panic if you find worms on the underside of the lid because of condensation. Just wait and see before youstart drilling or cutting the lid. Whenever I converted a bucket or tote into a worms bin, I find it easier to make 1 big hole and attach weed cloth to it. One problem with the container material is however to find adhesive that will stick. I used double sided tape on some and on others when I only kept the rim of the lid, I cut a bigger piece of weed cloth so it get over the entire top of the bin and just jammed the lid on it. Hope this gives you some ideas. Welcome and good luck.
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Because you have done so much research on your own you were able to ask excellent questions. I feel I should really try to give you the best answers I can. Due to vacation maybe don't buy your worms until after June. But that is a very long time to ask someone to put off getting worms. Plus by then the July heat will do them no good in a mail box. Look around to see if you can find any for free locally in maybe even your own yard or a damp, composty area. You may need a two prong approach as far as indoors or outdoors. You may need to keep a small population indoors all year round. This will allow you to replace if summer heat does in the outdoor ones. Put it somewhere not on a carpet. When playing with the worms with the little one make sour lemon faces so at least the worms will be on the floor and not in the mouth. Egg carton cardboard or similar and corrigated cardboard are water absorbant and create air space. Not bleached white office paper, although some find sucess with it so I am almost afraid to dis it. To solve your distance from the bottom of the container do it yourself I expect a poster who smartly used 5 gallon buckets and trimmed them for various depths as spacers to chime in. Being in hot Texas I can not recommend various cloth vermicomposting methods. Find some massive double shade (a huge tree next to a house) where maybe an air conditioner drips onto to locate your bin outdoors. Maybe start out the first week on a north side porch? and open the cover every day and let the two year old dig in 24/7 for a week or so? After a while it will not be so interesting. If BSFL do well then maybe they will do your composting for you. People seem to love them just as much as we love our worms. In Texas I do not think you can just throw them in a box and forget them. I'm only very rude when a first time poster is in no way legit and their first, second, third, and fourth post tries to spam the board and sell us something giving zero in useful information in return. :-) I was also very mean to the two? doctoral students? who wanted us to write their papers for them. Or the student who wanted to kill all the evil worms that infested his perfectly built for worms water purification system. Oh and to the guy who thought it was evil to add $$$biochar to make castings blacker. Luckily, the other posters on the board are very, very nice and make up for me :-)
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dustyartist
17 years ago
I keep my bin right in my kitchen under a built in desk. (Lots of others keep them right under the kitchen sink.) It's not a very big bin, so it sits under there very inconspicuously next to my dog food bin. There is no unpleasent odor in a healthy bin, so nobody would ever know it's a box filled with garbage and worms if I wasn't so excited to show them! ;o)

OH, PLEASE introduce your kids to wonderful worm composting! It's fun and it's one great way to teach kids about the environment and recycling!

In addition to books there are some websites for kids too. I'm sure there are more, but here are three.

http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/ce/eek/earth/recycle/wormcomp.htm

http://www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/worms.htm

http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/Vermi/
socks
17 years ago
I keep my bins on the north side of the house all year 'round. It gets into the low hundreds occasionally in the summer, and we had quite a few nights of frost this winter. Everyone survived.

Kids are natural scientists, so maybe in time they will get curious about what you are doing. If nothing else, you are setting a wonderful example for them by participating in a great hobby.

I've never had a problem with "traveling." I wonder if this takes place when the bin is too wet. I very rarely add water to the bin; the liquid from the kitchen scraps seems adequate.

Have fun.
newgardenelf
Original Author
17 years ago
the kids are actually into it. we found a bunch in the garden and one of the boys gathered about 50 so I created a bin according to the directions I read on the threads---do you think they'll make it??? the kids threw in a lot of soil in with the worms so they seem to still me living in their holes? so far they haven't touched the food???
marshall2000
17 years ago
Worms you find in the garden will not survive in a bin. They will die. Put them back in the garden and let them do their job.

You can only use compost worms in a bin. You don't need to add soil (dirt) to a worm bin, they live in bedding which is made up of several different types of material.

If you take the time to read through the forum you will find out a lot of these things for yourself.

Marshall
dustyartist
17 years ago
Marshall is right, all worms are not the same and the ones in your garden are a different type than the ones you need for a worm compost bin. Garden worms live down in the soil, compost worms live at the surface just under the rotting materials they eat. You need Eisenia fetida also known as "red worms" or "red wigglers" for composting. There are lots of websites that you can order them from if you can't buy them locally. Search for Eisenia fetida, red wigglers, vermicomposting, or worm bin, etc. and you'll find quite a few sites that will sell and ship the worms to you. Read up on vermicomposting before the worms come so you and the kids can get off to a great start. It's fun!
bobbi_socal
17 years ago
We kept our worm bin in the kitchen.....yep, under a counter on the floor....never stinky, no escapee's or any type of worm type drama!!! Once you get bin friendly worms and a worm friendly habitat ( newspaper, leaf mold etc,) they will be fine. You can pick where you want to keep them!!! I finally gave in and moved mine outside to my Earth Machine....they are still alive and seem to be breeding, so I'm breathing easy...but I felt guilty for some time....still trying to manipulate my way into having my indoor worm farm again!!!

What I loved most about keeping them inside, in our living space, was showing people how food waste could be disposed of with worms and never got stinky like trash.....I LOVE my wormies....!!!!

where to put the bin- newbie questions

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trancegemini_wa

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where to put the bin- newbie questions

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