Composting and worm farming
Processing your own food and garden waste at home through composting or worm farming can supercharge your garden and potted plants!
Composting improves soil structure and adds valuable nutrients. Compost and mulch help retain moisture in the soil, saving you water. Compost bins can be a great complimentary solution to using your FOGO bin and using a worm farm.
Worm farming is another way to break down food scraps and organic material using worms. Worm poo (known as worm castings or vermicompost) produced in worm farms is a natural, nutrient-rich fertiliser. Worm castings significantly improve soil health and plant growth, acting as a "superfood" for plants by enhancing nutrient availability, water retention, and microbial activity. Worm farms can be a great complimentary solution to using your FOGO bin and using a compost bin.
How to compost:
Add in materials
- Wet/green nitrogen rich material (e.g. fruit and vegetable waste, green grass clippings, tea leaves, coffee grounds, farm manure, fresh plant cuttings and flowers)
- Dry/brown layers carbon rich material (e.g. dry leaves, dry grass, egg cartons, shredded paper, wood ash, saw dust).
For best results, chop and grind coarse material into smaller pieces to speed up breakdown.
Layering
- Add the material in layers – like a lasagne (with a ratio of three-parts brown materials to one-part green materials).
Aerate
- Aerate regularly with a compost stirrer or pitchfork to help oxygen get. This keeps the compost healthy.
Temperature and Moisture
- Add water but only enough to keep lightly moist – do not overwater.
- Put your compost in the bin to keep hot and processing faster
REMEMBER! Do not compost these items
- Citrus and acidic foods such as lemons, oranges, onions and garlic
- Meat, seafood and dairy products
- Weeds and bulbs
- Dog and cat poo (note: you can buy specific pet poo composters - but it's best to have a separate system for pet poo that you don't use on your veggie patch or fruit trees)
Buying a compost bin
You can buy compost bins from many different hardware suppliers, plant nurseries and wholesalers. There are bins, tumblers etc. Think about your household size and what capacity you need.
Useful composting resources
How to worm farm:
Worms that make compost are different to earthworms. Creating a worm farm at home and using the products produced by the compost worms will be one of the most beneficial things you can do for your garden. Both the solid and liquid products can be used as soil improvers and fertilisers. Worm farms can be large or small. They can be made of recycled material like an old bathtub or polystyrene box or they can be purpose built and bought.
Worm farms bought off the shelf usually come with three layers. The bottom layer is where the liquid generated from the worms collects, and this can be tapped off for use in the garden. The other two layers are where the worms live. Begin with the worms in one layer and when that is filled with worm castings the worms (with a bit of help from you) will move into a new box. The castings that remain in the bottom layer can then be used on the garden.
Setting up a worm farm
Whether you're using a purpose-built worm farm or a DIY farm, the set up procedure is the same:
- Importantly - always set up the worm farm in a cool place out of the sun - because they really need a constant temperature. They also like low-light/dark conditions if possible.
- Put a couple of sheets of newspaper in the layer where the worms will live to prevent them from falling through.
- Add bedding material such as cow manure, sawdust or coconut fibre, so the worms feel comfy in their new home.
- Add the worms! You could buy a box of worms from your local hardware store or perhaps start off with just a handful from a friend's worm farm. Spread them out over the bedding and cover with moistened newspaper or moistened hessian.
- Let them settle in for a week or so before you begin feeding them.
Feeding worms
- Most kitchen scraps are fine for the worm farm, including fruit and vegies, eggshells, coffee grounds, etc. Limit the amount of citrus and onion you add, and chop everything into small pieces.
- A small amount of leaves, weeds and grass cuttings.
- Paper and cardboard - unwaxed and slightly wet.
- Vacuum cleaner debris.
The worms will work their way through everything you feed them and their poo will pile up in the tray until eventually you'll need the worms to move to the next tray. Put their next layer box on top of the farm and encourage them to move by adding some food. Once all the worms have moved - this will take a few days - you can remove the bottom layer box and use the contents in the garden. Then wash it out and keep it aside until the new layer box is full.
Keeping your worms happy
Once your worm farm is established, there are a few strategies that will keep your worms happy:
- One sign that they're not happy will be if they try to escape! The problem could be that the mix is too acidic. Adding a couple of handfuls of dolomite lime every two months will rectify this problem.
- If you're going on holidays and can't feed the worms, pack the top tray with plenty of straw or shredded newspaper and that will keep them going while you're away.
- If the forecasted temperature is over 30 degrees you'll need to protect your worm farm from the heat. Place some moistened hessian or carpet underfelt over the whole farm to keep them cool.
Using castings and liquid
- The worm liquid falls to the very bottom tray. Open the tap and collect it at any time. Dilute it to a ratio of one part worm liquid to ten parts water. Apply this to pot plants or to your vegetable garden and it will really get the plants moving.
- Use the worm solids to make slurry. Put a couple of handfuls of slurry in a bucket and fill it with water. Use the slurry mixture anywhere on garden beds and lawns. This will help increase your plants' drought tolerance and will also make more nutrients available to them. Your worm farm really will turn garbage into gold!
Useful worm farming resources: