The Enviromentals. How to Build a Worm Composting Bin

Hi mybuddy17 ,
A smelly, mildewy worm bin is almost always a result of being too wet inside the bin.
There are a couple ways to correct this. In the long term you need more air flow in the top and better drainage in the bottom (more holes for both). In the short term, to dry it out, you can add more shredded newspaper and keep the lid off it for a while in a dark dry place (garage should be fine.) As for the temperature, yes, your worms will freeze in freezing temperatures!

My wormbin SMELLS like mildew. I can smell it when I walk into the house, so I put it in the garage. Now I’m worried that its going to get too cold in there so I am going to have to bring it inside at night.

We should definitely tax people that fart too much.

Awesome! Enjoyed your video, thanks.

Great video, men — thank you for you all your energy and work!
I’m very grateful for the bit about the ratios of bin area to compost volume. I’m hesitant to buy a commercially produced vermiculture bin because my partner & I, both basically vegan, produce more food scraps in a week than I reckon they can handle. Now I just have to find a way to make a larger vertical migration bin that meets my snooty aesthetics. I want worm furniture! In the meantime I haul my stuff to the NYC greenmarket.

No, you don’t have to cover the holes at all. But it can help slow the movement of flies in or out of the bin. If you do attach screen, use a hot glue gun.
thanks for watching!
-hal

This was a great video! Questions: do you have to cover all the holes with screen? And what should you use to glue the screen on? Does it matter? Thanks!

This was a great video! Questions: do you have to cover all the holes with screen? And what should you use to glue the screen on? Does it matter? Thanks!

HAHAHAHA oh god look at those swords. Hilarious.

@benefield07
Hi Bene,
Thanks for watching! Don’t worry about the plastic shavings. It shouldn’t harm the worms. But we cleaned ours out with a knife blade (as you see leigh doing when he flips his knife open)
You CAN give them scraps every day but if you want to be sensitive to your worms happiness, they don’t really enjoy being disturbed and exposed. So every few days is a good. You can either store your scraps in a bowl in the fridge or in an open jar on the counter (like i do!) Thanks! Hal

Great Vid fellas,
Hi,

I have just watched your video on creating a worm farm, it was very clear. I have a couple of quick questions.

1. When I drilled my drainage holes in the bin they didn’t come out has nice clean holes, plastic was still hanging around and was quite rough. Will this affect the worms negatively when they migrate ?

2. Can you add scraps every night or should you build them up and do it at the end of the week ?

Thanks for your help.

Regards

Bene

i use my worm for fishing but i dont use it for the environment

glad it was helpful! hope your worms live long and prosper! -hal

Very helpful! My wife & I tried to make one on our own and now I know what we were doing wrong because it stinks so bad that we have it outside and we were about to give up. I was missing drainage holes and everything that goes into drainage. Also it was missing shredded newspaper. Basically it is just a bin with mud, worms, and compost. Thanks! Keep them coming!

Thanks for the great info and entertaining video. I’m going to make one this weekend.

u people deserve more veiws

Thanks guys, this was helpful and very entertaining! I hope you make more videos!

Hi Danielle,
If your bin is too stinky then there is probably something a little out of whack (generally too wet). I’m staying at Leigh’s house and he keeps two worm bins in the spare bed room. (One of them is the one we built in this video, still going strong!) I’ve been sleeping in this room for over a week and haven’t smelled a thing!

altho her compost doesn’t smell I don’t recommend doing a large compost inside (I mean she looks like she has a bin thats meant to be inside) but they do smell, BUT YOU SHOULD STILL HAVE ONE CUZ THEY’RE AWESOME

Love it! Very informative and entertaining too!

it must be working cause now we are globally cooling

“Harold.” Hah!

“I love my micro-organisms!” Hee hee!

Cardboard is supposed to work better than paper, but you can get shredded paper from an attorney’s office.

Just too too good! Keep em’ coming. Then invite me for a nice organic dinner.

Great video! Informative and entertaining!

I solve this by adding another bin. The first is the “working bin” (where the food and the worms are) the second is the “Composting bin” (I usually leave it there until there are no worms or food there) and the bottom one is where the tea is. Hope this is helpful.