I recently completed a worm compost bin constructed out of recycled kitty litter buckets. My Living Garbage Disposal.
How to Make:
1. I got 3 kitty litter buckets and labeled them 1, 2, 3
because they get treated differently. You can also use plastic storage containers.
2. Bucket #3 is the bottom bucket, where the spigot goes to drain off the precious worm fluid. This can be used to water plants- liquid fertilizer. This bucket only gets side holes for ventilation and the spigot hole.
TO mount the spigot, I used an 1/2" electrical lock nut, 2 pieces of gasket material, 1/2 " piece of threaded pipe and a 1/2" valve. I had a friend help me in Home Depot to find all the hardware. You want the lock nut to spin about half way up the threaded pipe piece and the valve to spin the other half, so they will sit tight against the gaskets and the bucket.
3. Bucket number 1 and 2 get holes drilled in the sides and the bottom. I used 3/16" drill bit. You want the worms to be able to migrate up into the top bucket when the middle bucket is full of compost and empty of food. This makes it easier to clean out your compost and replace it with fresh bedding. To make it easier to drill the side holes I placed all the buckets inside each other and drilled them altogether. I used a 3/16" and a 1/4" drill bits for the vent holes. IF you have a hole saw avail you can even drill bigger vent holes. After all the vent holes are drilled then you need to cover the vent holes with plastic mesh screening. Cut the screening to cover all the holes and glue with a non toxic glue. I used Weldbond.
4. Collect worms. I went into the backyard and searched under the leaf litter and collected my starter worms. I got about 50 or so. I will add more as I add more food. You can also purchase Red Wigglers at some bait shops, and on the web. The worms go into bin #2. To separate the bin when stacked together I used wooden garden stakes cut to size. Eventually they will eat the stakes too. You can also use recycled soda cans or small plastic pots you get your annuals in. I tried to use these but because my bin is a bit on the narrow side I went with the stakes so as not to take up too much room.
5. Add food. Start off slowly especially if your population isn't big yet. The working ratio is 2:1 2 lbs of worms to 1 lbs of food. You want to bury your food in the bedding and not let it sit on top to prevent fruit flies. Actually the tiered system will help with that. Bucket # 1 sits on top empty and the worms are in bucket #2 Until that gets full. Then remove #2 when worms migrate up into #1, clean up #2 and refill with fresh bedding, place #2 on top of #1 so they can migrate up when #1 is full. This way the top bucket is always empty and clean and prevents fruit flies and odor. I in theory anyway. I have to see if this holes true as I use it.
Thats it! Your living garbage disposal is complete. Remember NOT to feed meat, dairy(except egg shells), oils, fats. You can chop up waste or not up to you and how fast you want compost. They do prefer really rotten food, so feed them the green stuff living in the back of the fridge.
