I Made a DIY Worm Compost Tower
Click the image above to watch the video
I think one of the easiest things we can do to not only be sustainable, but to actually give back to and regenerate the earth is to compost.
Vermicomposting, or worm composting is one of my favorite composting methods. I started my first worm compost bin around 10 years ago when I was still living in my condo in California. At the time I was just using a rubbermaid tub with drainage holes in the bottom and holes around the top of the bin for oxygen and airflow. The system was as simple as you can get, but dealing with the worm juice in the bottom tray, and then harvesting the compost when it was finished was a bit of a pain.
The next version I used was a two bucket system, which I have right here. It’s actually much smaller than my first system, but I needed something that would fit under my countertop, because the Colorado mountain cabin I was living in at the time was super tiny and I didn’t have much space. And because it was so cold for most of the year there, I had to keep the worms inside so they wouldn’t freeze and die.
Worms are temperature sensitive and can also be killed from too much heat too, which I unfortunately learned in California, so they need to be kept in a space that stays between 55-80 degrees. Different people on the internet give different temperature ranges, but they all fall around 55-80 degrees.
This new system that I’ve made is something I’m really excited about. It’s composed of three bins—the top two are where the composting magic happens, and the third on the bottom is where the worm juice is collected. It’s still pretty new, so I haven’t yet harvested any compost from it, and I’ve only been working with the top bin so far, so I’ll just explain how it’s supposed to work.
The top two bins are interchangeable. I drilled holes in the bottom of both for drainage (unfortunately, I used the wrong drill bit, but it was what I had on hand). And then I drilled holes along to the top of the bin for oxygen and airflow.
I’ve started filling the top bin only, and once that’s full, I’ll move the middle bin to the top, to start working on that. The concept of this DIY worm compost tower is that as the food is consumed in the lower bin, the worms will crawl up through the drainage holes, into the top bin, to start consuming that food. And this should technically make the harvest much easier—but we’ll see when I get to that stage.
Ideally I would have a drain installed in the bottom bin, to drain out the worm juice, but I’ve been having trouble finding the right drain, so that will be a project for a later date. The worm juice is also very useful, so don’t toss it out. It can be diluted and used as a fertilizer for your plants. I use a five to one ratio, or five cups of water mixed with one cup of worm juice, and my plants love it.
Now I have a question for you: have you ever tried composting before? And if you have, what’s your favorite way to compost? Let me know in the comments below.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this blog post. I appreciate you being here and I look forward to connecting with you in the next one.
-----Camera and Gear Used To Shoot This Video -----
Camera (Canon EOSR): https://amzn.to/44dteQJ
Camera (Canon M50): https://amzn.to/44uEGbb
Gimbal (Zhiyun Crane M2 used for Canon M50): https://amzn.to/44co47G
Telephoto Lens (Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II): https://amzn.to/43evx4T
Wide Angle Lens (Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM Lens): https://amzn.to/3rmZLFs
Drone (DJI Mavic Air 2): https://amzn.to/44fPNoa
Hi, I’m Kristen!
I envision a world where you and I rediscover what it is to be human, through connection with ourselves, each other and the natural world around us.