The lid has been designed to act as a stand for your trays when you are harvesting the worm castings.Though it can be expanded to 8 trays, in reality, 4 will be more than enough for most users. In many cases, even the fourth tray will rarely be used unless you have a large supply of material coming in.
If you are new to worm farms, you will appreciate the instructional DVD which comes as a bonus with the Worm Factory 360. Also making this one of the best “worm farm” offers available is the accessory kit. The kit includes some of the basic tools you will need. These will help you to get the maximum benefit and productivity from the worm factory in the shortest time.
Of course, there is a built-in worm tea collector tray with an easy draining spigot at the bottom. I recommend you also read about my experience of composting with worms, for hints on keeping your worms out of the Worm Tea Collector.
What this worm farm is designed to do is help you to recycle your kitchen scraps. This includes cardboard and paper waste. It creates castings that are rich in nutrients. Plants require nutrients in order to grow and stay healthy. Using a composter gives you access to the kind of soil your garden and flowers crave without having to buy expensive additives. Composting worms consuming and break down the waste you are producing at home. In other words, this is a green solution to some of your garbage problems.
Composting worms consuming and break down the waste you are producing at home. In other words, this is a green solution to some of your garbage problems.
How does Worm Factory 360 work?
There is some science involved. Basically, Compost worms live of the bacteria present in the decaying foods. They consume the foods at the same time. Certain things are a challenge for these little guys. For example, if the cardboard you add is too tightly packed together, the worms may struggle to ingest it. It will take a long time to break it down. The best approach is to tear your cardboard into small pieces. Similarly, the smaller the food scraps going into your Worm Factory, the faster the conversion. Many people combine the use of a small Kitchen Compost Shredder with a Worm Farm to help the process along.
The temperature has to be right.
Composting Worms cannot deal with direct sunlight or heat. Position your Worm Factory 360 in a shaded area. Use heavy cardboard or an old piece of Carpet as a barrier at the top of your top tray for their protection.
Unlike regular compost bins, the mixture of material going into your Worm Farm does not need to follow a recipe. A steady flow of chopped up or shredded kitchen scraps (excluding meat and bones), and some cardboard or paper will do nicely. If it gets too damp and more torn up or shredded paper.
Aside from those sort of details, composting with worms is great. It will produce top quality soil conditioner for you to use in your yard and garden. And does it without having a messy pile of smelly things rotting in the corner out back by the shed. It also means you won’t have to spend time ‘seasoning’ it either.
You do have to buy the worms, separately though.
Because worms are living things, they cannot be packed and stored indefinitely. For this reason, they are not included with even the best worm farms.But they are readily available and can be shipped with the worm factory when ordered as a separate item. Once introduced to the smorgasbord of treats you’ve loaded into the worm factory, they will do their best to burrow in and go to work.
Unlike some of our Compost Tumblers, most people will not consider the Worm Factory 360 a visual feature in the Garden. No problem, your worms will prefer to be tucked away in a sheltered spot where they can get on with the job.
The Worm Farm 360 is easy to assemble and operate. The real trick is the ‘science’ that makes it work. Along with the included DVD, you can find information on farming with worms here, and plenty more online or at your local library.
Harvesting Worm Castings
There is a process to learn for harvesting the worm castings, so your worms are not accidentally removed at the same time. My first crop of castings was fine, and I lost no worms. That done, you will be left with a batch of moist, black castings. These can be sparingly added throughout your Garden. They will certainly enhance your soil. More importantly, they will attract more garden worms into your garden, which improves your entire garden immensely.
Using a worm farm is different from traditional composting. It’s a convenient way to convert household scraps and it’s a talking point with friends. Because it is odor free you can safely locate your Worm Factory 360 close by, just remember the Worms do not like heat or direct sunlight.
Your plants will look better, and the food you harvest will be more nutritious thanks to these industrious little worms.
