Worm Farm in a Bath

I wanted a worm farm that would be cheap, easy to look after & give me lots of the good stuff - worm tea plus vermicasts.

I looked around on the internet and decided to put one in an old bath.

Here's what I used:

• An old Bath
• Scraps of wood to make a frame. You could use concrete blocks for this. It's important to have it high enough to be able to put a container underneath the plug hole to collect the tea.
• stones for drainage
• A lid. Corrugated iron or an old piece of ply will do.
• A liner. I used permeable weed mat, non-woven kind
• Straw
• Compost
• Food - vegetable scraps
• Old sacks or newspapers torn into strips for a top layer
• Worms - about 1 litre of them

•  Build a basic frame for the bath. I wanted to be able to work at it without bending over & putting my back out, and use it as a potting bench as well, so made it reasonably high. 
• Put it in a spot which is not going to fry in summer or freeze in winter. Mine is on the south (non-sunny) side of a garage. It's in a courtyard with white gravel which keeps the temperature quite even.
• It will become quite heavy so you don't want to have to move it around after it's set up.
• In winter I will cover it with an old blanket as extra insulation.

 I had a collection of stones from out of the vegie garden so this was a great way to use them.They are for drainage and will allow all the worm tea to percolate down to the plug hole.

Next weed mat to stop the worms & composting material from clogging up the stones

Straw goes in next, as a base material for aeration & bedding for the worms. You could also use torn up newspapers. Wet this layer thoroughly.

2 wheelbarrows full of not-quite-ready compost went in next (that's all I had, you could use finished compost as well) with some fresh food scraps mixed in to the top layer.

The essential ingredient, worms! You can buy these online. Make sure they are actual compost worms.

A protective layer, to keep the contents damp. You could use hemp sacks, I used damp, shredded newspapers.

And there it is! I've got an old piece of ply on top. We drilled holes in it to allow air to circulate. You could also use corrugated iron, which would repel the  rain better, which I will keep an eye out for, but don't want to go and buy some especially. I have to put another piece on top when it rains, as too much water goes into the bath. You also need some sort of container under the plug hole to catch the tea.

To use the tea, mix it 1 part tea to 10 parts water, or it will be too strong for your plants. They will absolutely love it, it's a real tonic for them, especially potted plants.

Notes:

• Feed the worms a 2 litre container of scraps every week or so. Note that it may take a couple of weeks for the worms to start work. They need to get acclimatised first. 
• Keep an eye on how fast they eat the food, you may need to feed more or less. Remove any food that goes mouldy and put it in the compost.
• Concentrate on feeding one end of the bath at a time, and when it's full (up to a year), feed at the other end. The worms will move down there, and you will be able to harvest the casts (worm poo) from the original end after a week or so. Take it out carefully with your hands so you don't take any worms as well, and refill that end with compost. 
• Use the vermicasts as a component of home-made potting mix (1:1:1 Vermicasts : Sand : Mature compost) or sprinkle it around plants as plant food.

There it is. If you have a go, & please let me know how yours turns out & anything you did differently!