Worm Tower Hotel Composter
Gardening... composting... sustainability...
What to do with left-over food-scraps... garbage-can? compost-pile? Worm-tower?
Worm-tower? So what's a worm-tower?
In a nutshell, it's like a worm-bin, except buried in the ground, or in an elevated-bed. There seems to be heated discussions on whether or not these work. Since they're cheap and easy, to make; I figured I'd test it out for myself.
How to build em?
No magic here:
Take a length of pvc-pipe.
Drill some 3/4" holes, near the bottom-half, in order to to allow worms to get in and out.
Dig a hole and "plant" the pipe; makeing sure the drilled-holes are covered.
Have a cap on it; and periodically add scraps, water, and brown-matter; like newspaper.
In-ground approach:
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Around one side of our property, we've got a wall of cheyenne-privets, as a privacy hedge. I figured adding one of these might help provide more nutrients to the root-system. Pretty much dug a hole, and planted this unit in there. We've been adding scraps through-out 2022; no-smell, or insects.
Raised-Bed approach:
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In this example, our raised-bed is used for growing potatoes. I've made the tube a bit longer, since I want to be able to add scraps, as the potatoe plants are growing. Right now, it's end of season, hence no potato-plants. We'll see how this goes next season.
Modifying (read: loosening) the cap
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I used a pvc-threaded cap as the top, of said tower. The cap should be easy to remove, when you want to add food-scraps. These caps are designed to go on rather tight; I trimmed off a bit from the inside, using my lathe. If you don't have a lathe, you can probably get away with some sandpaper and a bit of elbow-grease.
Tool Tip!!!
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This is such an awesome tool! I really recommend having one in your toolbox.
It allows you to round-over and sharp-edges, works with most materials. I used it to soften the edges, of the holes, so the worms can get in and out without being abraded.
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