Can-O-Worms
by on 04. 9.05
This ingenious worm "condo" allows thousands of worms to eat their way up through kitchen scraps from level to level, leaving a rich odorless "castings" behind. There’s even a tap at the bottom to dispense "worm tea" — a liquid fertilizer can used for gardening or hydroponics. The picture above is a cutaway view -- the inner workings of the can are not actually on display.
Vermicomposting (using earthworms to compost) is bit different the than using the compost pile in the garden. The red wriggler worms can be kept in small dark spaces, as long as they are constantly above freezing, and they can process quite a bit of organic waste. The worms are able to digest half of their body weight in food matter each day. They actually eat the bacteria, fungi and protozoans which decompose the wastes, sterilizing the compost as they create it.
Worm "castings" are a superior addition to garden and potting soil. Fresh castings will not "burn" young plant roots, making it an ideal starting media for seedlings. Castings are produced in six to eight weeks in the Can-O-Worms system.
:: Found in the brand new Eco-Design Handbook
Can-of-Worms is available from Amazon.
[by Justin Thomas]
It is indeed a nice design. You can make one for yourself by drilling holes in the bottom of some five gallon plastic buckets and nesting them one on top of another. What you use for spacers is up for grabs.
Even better for fishermen.
You can also get these in the UK from WigglyWigglers
http://www.wigglywigglers.co.uk/
That's where I got mine. Works a treat, eats all our kitchent waste, not including meats, and every few months we get a nice tray of compost. Highly recommended.
I had one and it was a bit annoying. It couldn't keep up with the amount of waste from my kitchen and it kept getting yucky little fruit flies so that every time I opened it to put stuff in it a big swarm of them flew at me and sometimes went up my nose which wasn't too nice. The worms seemed to thrive though. Never got much compost from it.