One of the garden heroes besides ladybugs, lacewings, and bumble bees is also the red wiggler compost worm!

Thanks to my cousin, who was so kind to give us some red wigglers, we decided to build them a home. A Worm Compost Tower this weekend.

This was such a fun project, as we had some spare untreated wood that needed to be used up. For this project, we used:

Materials
– 4’x16″ Untreated Board cut into five 16″x8″ pieces (we used pine)
– A lid (once the four sides are assembled, you can cut a lid to fit the top with fifth piece)
– 1/2″ drill bit for holes
– Hinge for an open and closed lid
– 6 screws for the sides + 2 extra if adding a hinge
– Sand Paper to sand holes (to keep worms from cutting themselves going through)
– Latch Hook (optional)
– Stain for the lid

(Wood was older)

After assembly and stained lid (outside only), we then buried the tower in the garden where holes are covered.

Compost Material We Used to Feed Worms:
– Onion scraps
– Potato peels
– A few coffee grounds
– Small amount of horse manure
– Dirt
– Kiwi Peels
– Water

Indoor Vermicomposting Bin

As the weather became cooler we needed a home for our red wigglers for over the winter. We made this overwinter bin out of two five-gallon buckets. First, we drilled 1/8″ holes in the bottom of the blue bucket. Next, we put some 1/8″ holes in the lid for air ventilation and cut insect screen to lay on top. We then cut out a circle of insect screen (from a screen door) that is the same diameter in the bottom of the bucket. This is to prevent worms from escaping by placing it in the bottom of the blue bucket. Finally, we took the blue bucket and placed it on our other white bucket to catch concentrated worm tea! Our maintenance consists of a weekly feeding (usually apples and banana leftovers) and the addition of dry bedding (worm blankets as my mother-in-law calls them ;). You can use shredded newspaper/paper, ripped up egg cartons, etc. just avoid using any glossy or foam material.

A special thank you to one of the Growing Kindness members, Shannon Newby, for inspiring this idea!

Make this Worm Tower, or Order Yours like in the image belowToday!

This post contains Amazon Affiliate Links. This means when you make a purchase using one of our links, we will receive a small commission after your order has been placed and shipped through Amazon. Thank you for your support!