NOTE: The Plastics Warehouse at the Hillfox Power Centre, Hendrick Potgieter Dr, Roodepoort sells ready made wormeries for R679 (including the worms and instructions). If you haven't the time, then contact them on 011-675-0796 / hillfox@theplasticwarehouse.co.za / www.theplasticwarehouse.co.za

Materials Needed

- Plastic tote box with tight fitting lid ("roughtote" box purchased from the Greenside Mica Hardware for around R100: size 40cm wide, 55cm long, 45cm high).

- Wire mosquito mesh (purchased from Parkhurst Hardware for around R40 - purchase the smallest you can buy, you only need about 30cm2).

- Roll of duct tape (every good household should have a roll of this at home).

- Marker pen.

- Scissors.

- Electric power drill and 8mm wood drill bit

Making the Airholes

1) Drill 3 evenly spaced holes about 40mm from the top on each long side of the box and 2 more holes on each of the shorter sides (10 holes in total). Clean the edges of the holes and remove the little plastic pieces from inside the bin.

2) Cut out small square pieces of the mosquito mesh so that each one will overlap the holes.

3) Cut narrow strips of duct tape and use 4 of the strips to fasten the mesh over each hole.

Making the Worms' Home

I used the following:

- 3 x washing up basins purchased from Pick n Pay for around R60 each. I drilled loads of drainage holes in the bottom with the drill and 8mm drill bit.

-  An old cat litter tray.

- Broken piece of tile.

- Some old cardboard.

Buying the Worms

The worms needed are NOT the earthworms found in the ground. The ones you need are those that are used as fishing bait, hate the light and come out of the ground to feed on plant waste.

I purchased 2 packets of Red Wrigglers/Kariba Worms from Mia's Angling at 48 Malebongwe Drive, Fontainebleu, Randburg (next to the Builders Express Warehouse) for around R70. Or you can ask a friend who has some to give you a 1 litre container full from their wormery.

Setting up Your Wormery

- The worms like a nice bed of soil which you can make from compost (from your garden or purchased from a nursery), old leaves and ripped up newspaper. Mix it all together in one of the washing up basins.

- Carefully open your bags of worms and mix them in with the bedding you have made (I use a pronged hand fork - or my hands). The mixture should be moist - if you squeeze some in your hand, a little bit of water should be squeezed out. Add water if it is too dry. Don't worry if it is too wet as the extra water will drain through the holes in the bowl. Ialso usually cover the worms with some leaf litter, straw or mulch.

- Place the cat litter tray in the bottom of the rough tote box and place the broken roof tile (or old piece of brick) in the litter tray. 

- Place the washing up bowl with the worms onto the tile in the litter tray. The aim is to raise the bottom of the bowl off the bottom of the litter tray.

- Place the second washing up bowl on top of the first bowl. I usually angle it a little bit so that it rests on the sides of the bottom bowl so the worms are not squashed.

- Place some cardboard on top of the 2nd bowl.

- Close up the lid.

 
Where to place the Wormeries

They like being in a quiet shady part of the garden. Direct sun is not good. Barking dogs are not good. Kids interfeing with them is not good. In winter, keep them under a carport to avoid them getting too cold. I keep mine in the car port - they get about 1 hour of late evening sun and the boxes sit there being ignored for most of the week.

Feeding the Worms

- The worms will need to get used to their new home for a week or so and won't want to eat anything.

- Once they have settled, you can place cut up tea bags, coffee grounds, vegetables, fruit, tissues, toilet roll carboard tubes, etc in the top bowl. At first they will be slo to eat, but gradually increase the amount and they will respond and start chomping everything.  I usually feed them about 1 x week.

- DON'T feed them the following: onions, garlic, leeks; citrus fruit; chillies. None of these will kill them if you only give them small quantities. Basically they don't like food that is too acid or spicy or smelly. Also don't put in cooked food and meat of any kind - they will attract other bugs and animals and may smell.

Harvesting

They produce 2 things - pee and poop (called tea and castings). Both are fantastic for the garden and indoor plants love the pee.

- Pee:

Open the top and place it bottom side up next to the tote box. Lift out the two bowls and place them on the lid. Lift out the cat litter tray and empty the liquid in the bottom into a cleaned out cooldrink bottle or milk carton. You can use a funnel to help reduce spillage. Watch out for swimming worms - I usually leave a bit of pee along with the worms in the tray.

- Pooh:

After a while (about 3-6 months) the bottom bowl will be filled with worm poo. This is where the 3rd bowl comes into use. Make another paper, leaf, compost worm bed like you did in the beginning. The place this tray between the filled up one on the bottom and the one with the veg and other food on top.

The worms will eventually migrate into the the middle bowl from the bottom bowl over the next 2-4 weeks. Keep checking until most have moved.

Once most of the worms have moved, it is time to harvest the poop. On a plastic sheet (or one of those large illegal plastic street pole signs; or old floor tiles) make about 10 tennis ball size pyramid shaped blobs. Leave them for about an hour - it is a good thing to do while at home and doing other tasks. The worms will retreat from the light to the bottom and middle of the pyramid.

Remove the top and sides until you start seeing worms in the soil you are removing. Place this soil in a container. Compact the remaining pyramid bits into more pyramids and add some more from the basin. Continue this process until you have about 3 pyramids that are full of worms. You can then place the wormy soil back into your wormery or give them to friends to start their own wormeries. The poop is great in the garden.