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The Tumbleweed Worm Farm

The Tumbleweed Worm Farm consists of two sturdy, nesting boxes with a hinged lid. It is a neat, compact, portable unit.

The worms eat and breed in the top box and this is where their food is placed. This box has a perforated base so that any liquid waste can drain through into the bottom box. Solid waste or "worm poo" which is often called castings remains in the top box. This makes a good soil conditioner and can be harvested as required.

Extra boxes are NOT required. Worms produce more liquid waste than solid as their diet has a high percentage of water. Consequently the build up of solid castings is slow and it will take well over a year to fill the top box with castings.

The bottom box or "catcher box" collects all the valuable liquid waste which is a by product of the worms. This can be used as a fertilizer on your garden by diluting it with equal amounts of water. There is a drain hole so that this can be poured off and used as required.

No maintenance costs No chemicals Safe to operate Produces valuable by-products

Compost Worms
Your Tumbleweed Worm Farm requires about 2,000 worms to kick it off. The worms must be COMPOST WORMS as these worms have big appetities and reproduce quickly. This is vital to make your worm farm work efficiently.
If you start off with less than this, your farm will take longer to reach maximum capacity. You can always start with more worms and this will help get your farm to full capacity much quicker. However cost is usually a factor in purchasing more than 2,000.

Purchasing your Worms
Always purchase your worms from a reliable supplier. They should come with approximately 10 litres of castings which form their bedding mix. This ensures that they have adequate food and comfortable living conditions. Look in the Yellow Pages under "Worm Farms" for suppliers.

NEVER buy worms that are sold in small plastic take-away food containers as the worms have little food, are stressed and are very likely to die. Happy worms make productive worm farms!

How much is too much?
The number of worms in a fully operational worm farm will vary. As the amount of food is increased the worm population will increase to cope with the quantity. If the food is reduced, such as when you go away on holiday, then the population will decrease accordingly.

The worms population will never keep increasing ad infinitum. They are surface eaters and each surface area has a maximum number of worms that can live in that space. Ultimately the surface area of the box will determine the maximum population of worms in your worm farm.

Worms
Your compost worms will not survive if you throw them onto the garden, unless you have a very thick layer of mulch or you put them in the compost heap. The average garden does not provide enough protection from the heat or enough food for the worms.