Tink

Worm Composting Bin – a GGWTV Giveaway! Ends May 28

We are currently reviewing the Worm Factory 360, a vermicomposting bin system for home gardeners from Nature’s Footprint, in which the worms do all the work. So far we have set up the worm bin and added worms. We are also going to give away one Worm Factory 360 system on May 28 (scroll to the bottom of this post for details). In future posts we’ll check in on the worms’ progress over time and add new posts and video.

As you may know, we at Growing a Greener World love our worms. We love what they do for our soil, we love their poo, and goodness knows our plants and gardens do too! The world of specialized worm farming for castings and teas called vermiculture and vermicomposting. There are commercial worm farms, but with a few tips and the right worms, you can have a worm bin at home.

There are tips online to make your own bin out of storage containers, or you can purchase a commercial bin made expressly for the purpose. The system we’re reviewing today is a standalone unit made for small spaces, like a patio or balcony, or even a corner of the kitchen.

Starting right when we opened the box, we were pleased to see that there was minimal packaging, a big deal for sustainable practices! Everything in the box was nested together or tucked inside the trays. There is no extraneous cardboard, no plastic shrink wrap, no pressed foam. The product is also made in the USA.

All together the box contains a base with legs and a spigot for drainage, several stacking trays with holes for the worms to make their way up through the contents, a lid with instructions printed on it, and various accessories including a soil thermometer, hand rake, a brick of coir, dvd with videos, instruction book and shredded paper and pumice for your first bin.

The unit was extremely easy to set up, literally NO assembly required except for looking at the diagram and stacking the trays properly. Put the worm ladder onto the base. Add one stacking tray. Add the lid. Easy peasy.

The booklet and video contains instructions for producing your first tray’s worth of bedding material, after that it’s largely a matter of adding shredded paper and kitchen scraps and monitoring the moisture levels. It’s important to be sure the first bin is set up and ready before your worms arrive. Lots of additional info on worms and worm care in the booklet and on the website.

You can order worms online or seek a local source at findworms.com.

That’s Great – Now How Do I Get One For Myself?

There are two ways to get the Worm Factory 360 for yourself!

1. Giveaway: leave a comment below telling us WHY you would like a Worm Factory 360, and also WHAT you will name your worms! (Ours are named Milton. All of them.) We will randomly select one winner from all entries at 10pm on Monday, May 28.
2. Purchase with coupon code: if you can’t wait 2 weeks to see if you’ve won (or if in 2 weeks you don’t win), Nature’s Footprint is offering a special to Growing a Greener World viewers for  10% off the purchase of a Worm Factory 360 with the special code GGW10. Give it a try, and let us know what you think!

Meanwhile, stay tuned. We will be adding videos and future posts, checking in several times in the coming weeks as our worms progress. If you are raising worms too, we’d love to compare notes and hear your tips and advice!

{ 166 comments }