How do you use the worm farm?
• Place the lower composting tray (B1, B2) on the bottom part (D) with the
assembled filter screen assembly (C1, C2, C3).
• On the lower composting tray (B1, B2) make some bedding from the paper
packaging of the worm farm. Tear the packaging into small pieces. You can use
other paper as an alternative.
• Place a hatch of earthworms on the bedding.
• Cover the earthworms with a layer of finely chopped biowaste.
• Close the assembled worm farm with the lid (A).
• After 2 to 3 months, place the upper composting tray (B1, B2) with prepared
bedding onto the full lower composting tray (B1, B2). Create a pile in the middle
of the full lower composting tray (B1, B2) so that the earthworms can move more
easily to the upper composting tray (B1, B2).
Composting step by step, in detail
• Make bedding from damp crumpled paper on the bottom of the lower composting
tray (B1, B2). One layer is enough. The box your Urbalive worm farm came in is
perfect to use for this purpose. But you can also use egg cartons, newspaper,
rolls from toilet paper, grass, leaves, peat, wood shavings or coconut fiber.
• Put your earthworm hatch on the bedding. For start, one pound (0.5 kg) of
earthworms will be sufficient. For those counting, it would be about two hundred
earthworms. We’ll tell you later in these instructions where to get your worms.
• Then cover the earthworms and the entire bottom of the composting tray (B1, B2)
with a 2 to 3 cm thick layer of biowaste cut into small pieces.
• For the first month, feed the earthworms once or twice a week with a handful of
bio-waste. Beware of overfeeding. Otherwise the earthworms won’t manage to
process the bio-waste and it begins to go mouldy. If this happens, simply remove
the mouldy parts from the worm farm.
• As there are more earthworms, you can increase the volume of the bio-waste.
In about three months the worm farm manages to process approximately half
a pound (quarter of a kilo) of bio-waste per day. This is approximately the amount
produced daily by a four-member family.
• Check the moisture level several times a week.
• Once a week carefully rake through the content of the worm farm and see how
the earthworms are doing. This also nicely aerates the compost.
• Keep the worm farm closed, the earthworms like darkness.
• In about two months, the worm farm begins to create the earthworm tea, a liquid
product of composting. It flows into the bottom part (D) with the pouring outlet.
Remove the earthworm tea about once or twice a month, depending how much
is formed. Wash out the bottom tray of the worm farm every time you tap off the
earthworm tea.
• When the lower composting tray (B1, B2) is completely full, add a handful of biowaste
in the middle to create a mound. Press the upper composting tray onto the lower
composting tray (B1, B2) and start putting biowaste into it. The earthworms either
climb to the upper composting tray (B1, B2) by themselves through the holes in
the bottom, or you can help them by moving some earthworms to the upper
composting tray (B1, B2). Leave the lower composting tray (B1, B2) in the worm
farm for one more month. During this time, all the earthworms will climb to the
upper composting tray (B1, B2) and the material in the lower composting tray (B1,
B2) will transform into vermicompost. If you need to use the fertilizer immediately,
you can spread it in a thin layer on an underlay and make a mound in the middle.
The worms will move from the thin layer to the mound.
• Then empty the vermicompost from the lower composting tray (B1, B2), fertilize
your plants and rinse the tray. The lower composting tray (B1, B2) thus becomes
empty. For now add it empty to he composter or set it aside until you fill the trey
in which you are composting at the moment. Then repeat the entire cycle with
moving the earthworms to the upper floor. And so on, over and over.
What goes in a worm farm:
• Peels and leftovers of fruits and vegetables (for example potato peels, apple
cores, green tops, etc.)
• Tea bags (earthworms often like to reproduce in them, so don’t forget them)
• Coffee grounds, coffee filters
• Leftovers of boiled vegetables
• Crushed eggshells
• Paper napkins
• Dampened paper carton
• Dry baked goods
• Leftovers of house or outdoor plants
TIP: Chop large pieces into smaller, the worms will proces them better.
What doesn’t go in a worm farm:
• flavor-intensive foods such as ginger or an excessive amount of citruses
• milk products
• meat products
• bones
• oil, lard and other fats
TIP: In the beginning of composting,
don’t dispose of leftovers of stalk vegetables or potato peels. The initial small
number of worms cannot process them with their enzymes and the leftovers
could smell.
Where to put the worm farm?
• Your worm farm can stand in the kitchen, in the hallway, in the shade on the
balcony, in the garage, in the classroom or in the office. If you maintain a few
simple rules, you don’t need to be afraid that the contents of the worm farm
would smell badly.
• Keep at an adequate temperature.
The earthworms like a temperature around
68 °C (20 °C). In the winter, don’t leave the worm farm outside without insulation,
so that it wouldn’t freeze through. In the summer, don’t put it directly in the sun,
where it would overheat and dry up. The temperature in the worm farm should
not drop below 41 °F (5 °C) and exceed 77 °F (25 °C).
•
Keep the vermicompost at the right humidity level.
Check the correct
moisture level in the worm farm by taking a handful of the
composted material and pressing it in your palm as hard
as possible. If a few droplets of water appear, the moisture
level is ideal. If more water appears, you should dry up the
compost, for example with shredded paper or carton. If
the drops of water fail to appear, moisten the compost
with a water spray or by adding dampened shredded
paper or carton from a box or an egg crate. The number
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