About 35 years ago, when we went fishing we'd stop by an older lady's house to get worms. She grew them in a shed in an old claw foot tub. I was fascinated.
Agree! Truly one of the best YT channels. Family, music, comedy, nature, and gardening. What's not to love? Due to time constraints, kinda adopted the Bill Mollison do it easier. Since it is just me, and a buncha critters and a 6000ft garden in development, composting and worming done in situ.
@@davidthegood My set up is almost exactly like yours, except I’m using a 100+ gallon stock tank. Since you mentioned you weren’t sure about what food worms like, they love melons! They can really tear some up quick. I got that tip from from Greg Allison over at Green Greg’s Worm Farm. He sold me my worms a few years ago and they did amazing up until our deep freeze here in Central Texas back in February when they died. Anyway, thank you for the video! I’ve learned so much from all of them over the past five years, including a couple of your books. Be blessed!
I flipped my compost for the first time in 5 years. I was really surprised at the amount of things yet to break down at the bottom, but that thing is FULL of worms. They specifically liked the egg shells! Now I need to figure out how to acquire an old tub and put it on blocks in my backyard without my husband noticing 😂🤷🏼♀️😉
Keep your eye open for laundry sinks on Craigslist or FB Marketplace. Not quite as big as a tub but you can get 2 of them for cheap and they’re much easier to move around. Btw…planting flowers, shrubs or whatever around the tubs hides them very well!
Eggshells absorb acids. They like alkaline and woody, leafy soil. Mix ground to dust eggshells with coffee grounds to help them enjoy the coffee more😉👍🏻🙏
Okay, now Rachel is officially a saint. Just imagine how many women would give up not only their refrigerator but BATHTUB!! for one of their husband's crazy projects. If you've ever peeled off one of your fingernails picking up a paver stone go ahead and slap that like button!
Your songwriting makes this channel work for me. Imagination energy, This set up might be vulnerable to a rainstorm. I lost thousands doing this when a 2 day Kona storm hit and 4 inches fell. Crawled right out or drowned on a leafy lifeboat. If you've got an old piece of tin roofing around consider throwing that on top. Tarp. Even a double layered tin foil panel roof with a regular pitch to it.
we have had worms for a few years, and I was thrilled when a cattleman offered his 100 gallon horse trough...it had a crack and wouldn't hold water. So....yeah, we've raised it on concrete blocks so it's easy to maintain, we empty it 2x a year and the dirt goes in the garden. Feed them on one side for 2 weeks, clear out that other side. Feed them on the new side for 2 weeks, clean out that old side. Super easy. Ours is under a carport turned potting shed. We use hay for the cover, in the winter we add a layer of cardboard. Some of the best fertilizer around.
Awesome! I like to plant my annuals in raised beds using Sterilite bins/totes on cinder blocks. I fill the bins with sticks/ leaves at the bottom third, my topsoil in the 2nd third (try to include worms), top third with potting soil. I compost in place with a pot on top of all that, which drains into the bin. I create holes in the bin near the bottom so that it drains into another bucket which is covered by a plate with holes to collect my compost tea. This idea is from Robbie and Gary Gardening channel.
Jeanne Chin, before your last line about your gardening style in totes I was thinking, "that's Robbie's method! 😆. I hope David gets his worms to cooperate. I had a compost bin that I stuck red wigglers in years ago but maybe it wasn't kept moist enough as they left ...
The only sun around my house is in a narrow side next to the neighbor's fence, but I can put totes on chairs and on the "wall" of cinderblocks left by the foundation crew to get up high enough to have a mini-garden using Robbie's method. Ground level is too shaded.
Just want to tell you my worm story… Last fall I got the bright idea to scoop all the gazillion fallen leaves into black garbage bags and let them compost in the bags. I wet them down and then had another bright idea to pile them up between my garage and my little cattle panel greenhouse. There’s maybe a 2foot space between the two. I piled them 2deep…all along the greenhouse. The unexpected benefit was insulation for the greenhouse. And now it’s June and I want to use the bagged sloppy leaves for mulch. I started wrestling the bags out from that small area and the whole 2foot area all along the greenhouse has had the bags of rotting wet leaves, snow and ice build up…mole activity, lizards, skinks, and best of all, lots of worm activity. It honestly looks to me like the whole area is deep dark worm castings! I was so excited to see that! Like the benefit of having a worm bin but not. Of course wrestling with those soggy bags that were starting to deteriorate and leak goo had me looking like I’d rolled in a worm bin. Best of luck with the bathtub bin! We’re all really jealous, of course!😀
I’m setting up a new worm farm in a cast iron, claw foot tub we got for free ages ago. It was so heavy to move I can’t tell which hurts more, my back or my wrist. So far the tub has been a koi pond, flower bed, a toy chest for the dogs’ outdoor toys, a fishing pond for the local raccoons, an herb garden and an eyesore. Now I’m moving the worms from their big, plastic tub into the claw foot tub under a big magnolia tree. I hope the worms like their new environment because I don’t think we can move this tub again. Well, that and I think this is going to be a wonderful, happy place to be a compost worm. Thanks for all the info. Its good to have it BEFORE I make a bunch of mistakes.
David thanks for such GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREAT content. Love what you do adapting to all the different circumstances. You and your family truly are blessed,, thanks for helping us all!
My worm bin is a converted fridge, set up like a sub-irrigated planter. This video has encouraged me to remove the lids and replace them with something porous. I will revert to the insulated lids come winter time, but right now I'm missing out on worm leachate enhanced rainwater!
Hello from Qld Australia im about 200kms north of Geoff Lawton, in the sub tropics. Your intro song was absolute gold! I just scored a free cast iron bath tub and will be setting it up today. I have 2 worm factory bins but they just aren't enough for our farm. Looking forward to seeing all their happy little wormy faces!
I used to make worm bins when I was a kid. I didn't do it for the worm casting compost or the nutrient rich runoff. I grew worms for the local bate shop. I never knew I was making something great to use in the garden. Years later I realized I wasted all that awesome resource.
Thank you so much! I have an old bathtub in the garden and wanted to set up a wormfarm for a long time, just didn't knew how 😮 Much much love from Ukraine)❤
Great idea. I filled a space with grass clippings, twigs, leaves, horse manure, shredded paper, loads of kitchen scraps, rain water and sawdust.. my tomatoes grew well in this pile in 2018. 2019 I continued adding kitchen scraps and leaves to the pile. 2020 to the pile is the best in my yard to grow in. I now see worms as I mix the upper 4-6 inches . I have a bad back and I can’t stir the pile too much but the pile has turned into great worm castings and great compost. I love this free and great fertilizer .
I've been worm composting for years now... but that is not the point of my comment! I just wanted to say I can across your page recently and followed you instantly and I have to say, not only have I not regretted it for a moment, but your songs get stuck in my head soooo much I have to go back and watch your videos just to listen to them!!!
I haven't built a worm bin in about 38yrs. Will be building one this year and like your setup better than the one I had back then. Thank you for sharing!
Mr Dave good thank you very much for your all your your knowledge experience and sharing it all with us I can't even learn this in school or books nothing will teach you the way you teach us thank you so much God bless
It did not dawn on me to check a bait shop, I facepalmed when you mentioned that. Making my own compost hasn't produced the scale that I need but this seems like a better use of the materials I am able to generate. I think rain catchment is also a worthy use of my time, I hate using tap water.
+1 on setting out city water for a day or 2 to off gas. My new place has a well! I now have all new worries. But I don't have to offgas water anymore!!!
I too was inspired by Geoff Lawton. I looked around at my local tip and picked up a laundry sink which makes an excellent worm farm. I then mentioned to a friend I'd been looking for a bathtub for a worm farm and he gave me one. So now I have two worm farms. I used the Geoff Lawton method with just bricks around the drainage point. I used shredded newspaper and compost as bedding. I have a lid on top of worm farm - a piece of corrugated iron. The worms are doing fine. I will soon have to clean out worm castings from the laundry sink worm farm. I've had red wigglers for a number of years and before going 'big time' with the sink and bathtub I had the worms in hard plastic tubs which also worked well. The worms had a change of address into more a luxurious abode. It will take time for the worms in your bathtub to multiply and get through all the food. I wouldn't feed them for a while - wait until you see not much trace of the collards which means the worms are getting through the food.
I built a worm bin from an old chest type freezer that stopped working (it's pretty old). I've been using it for about 4 years now and I not only harvest worm castings and leachate, I also sell my overflow of worms through a local bait shop every Spring/Summer. Anyway, two green thumbs-up for the video (and the "Weird Part of RU-vid Again" song).
I TOtally miss my worms i had so many in california moved them up northern california and relleased them in my bigo garden then now moved to North carolina about to start a New one for my food forest i am exited about it it for sure thanks for your encouragment SHALOM
I am a word nerd, so please don't be offended by my enjoyment of your swapping out "aesthetic" with "as·cet·ic adjective characterized by or suggesting the practice of severe self-discipline and abstention from all forms of indulgence, typically for religious reasons. "an ascetic life of prayer, fasting, and manual labor" Happy aesthetic (concerned with beauty or the appreciation of beauty) worm farming!!!❤❤❤
Our old tub (which is a clone to the one in the vid!) is on our back patio. We built a frame with scrap wood and discarded fence boards, so now it looks like a fancy cedar planter. Free except for the screws!
I am starting my survival garden and bought several of your books. I am so excited that you have a RU-vid channel!!!! I am working on my “cardboard garden” for the spring. Wish me luck……😜
I tried worm bins in the past, and they were ok. I really wanted to work more with them, but, I think it is too hot here for them. This is a great idea for those who can do this. Also, years ago when I had worm bins going, I had these strange maggot things but they were big. I think you could actually hear them as they were sucking on the dirt and compost! I bet they were soldier flies, now that you mentioned it. Worm compost is valuable and if anyone can do this, go for it. I would like to try this again one day, if I can find a place in the yard that isn't so hot.
I have never made a worm bin. I just bought several bags of worm castings and they weren’t cheap. Would this work outside in Zone 6 and do you have a video showing us how you get worm castings out of your bathtub????? I have to actually see how something is doing visually in order to learn how to do it if that makes sense. I’m so glad that I found your channel. I’m so enjoying learning from you. Thank you 🙏 and God bless you and your family God bless you
Another handy way to use the machete. Collecting cowpies. You reminded me that I had to throw DE around the outside of my wormbins for the ants. I used to raise crickets too. That was fun.
@@tommarsh4602 yes find some ants and sprinkle some DE. Watch them. But I'd keep it away from the worms. They can slim up and wiggle down into the ground but I don't know what happens to them next.
Grow family network just put out an interesting video. He threw a shovel full of ants from 2 different mounds together. Within 24 hrs they killed each other. What was left moved off.
I've got loads of millipedes in my area. Not so many worms (SE Asia near the sea). Built a 40 gallon millipede bin about a month ago and it's nearly half full of castings and they're already having offspring. There's not a ton of research on it yet but supposedly it's really high in microfungi and bacteria that's good for plants. Looking forward to trying it out in a couple of weeks. I'm gana try build a worm bin this week. Enough excuses. Might need to travel to a few fishing shops here, they don't carry worms as much as they do in the US. Nice vid David.
Love it looks simple enough to create ...will shoot to recreate this soon for our garden...the sooner the better....love the humor you add to every day life...stay blessed!
RAM PUMP DAVID! This is a great way for you to transport water. No power needed. NICE WORM FARM! You may want to add a cage / lid to the farm to keep out the unwanted pests. You could wrap the landscape cloth around some wire mesh if you have some. Cheers!
Hello DtG! 🤗 San Diego checking in 🌱👩🌾 🌻 @2:04 ... inhaling bugs and using tools not suitable for the job sounds very much like my M.O. over here in grow zone 10b!! *LOVE* the way you manhandled that bathtub!! 💪🙌👍Keep on keeping on! 🙂🙃🙂
Unbelievably blessed to have clean local cow manure to benefit from what about the rest of us? What should we do instead for that layer DTG? Collerdine /Collardeen is what turns me away from Collards I guess..
From Mantiqueira mountains in Brazil. Congrat on your worm's new home! I've seen some in Brazil which are more elaborated for selling the worms and the soil they produce, which are separated.
One of my biochar inoculation drums has 20lt of worm tea in the mix. I have one of those worm farms with the layered boxes, but have still yet to set it up, I purchased the 20lt and are given 3lt containers from a friend. I really do need to get it going. Even just for the ongoing endeavors of learning.
Ram pump. It’s the most magic type of pump I’ve heard about. It uses most of the volume of water (80-90%?) to pump a small volume of water (10-20%?) uphill. It’s worth a gander.
Missed the Goodstream David but COOL to see ya being your usual hardworking, thrifty and humorous self, as for a comment of yours I was lucky to glimpse you mention your first worm bin was a double rubbermaid bin you made,.....a friend had told me my intention of composting leaves and kitchen scraps in shouldn't be of plastic material and when you mention you'd used an ol' washer and now this ol' bathtub, should I repurpose this ol' plastic(probably rubbermaid or its competition)trashcan into something else? Thanks for sharing, liked and loved the Miss Rachel Cameo! :)
Awesome job! I have a small property and a few small gardens but would love to make a small worm bed. I started one out back with cardboard and clippings from the gardens and compost from the house.
Looks awesome. I’d like to make one. I’ve got a couple of Bath tub sitting around. Only problem is they are the really heavy iron ones but if I could get them situated it’ll be great. I really love the large size. Those plastic ones are so puny. Good job, David the Good!
Invite a couple of young strong neighbors or friends or relatives to come over and help you and then cook them a really great meal. It worked for me!!! Stay Green
i bought maybe 20 worms 15 years ago at a bait shop.. now I have millions.. I've tested straw and hay putting it to soak in water a few days then watering some peas or tomatoes in pots to see if they live or die so far I guess it has worked
I integrated my worms with the ground and if I fed them something they didn't like they just left and came back when I fed them something they liked. in 13 years of having worms my entire property became a worm bin and every thing grew great. Trying to recreate that now at my new place. I have more worms than my neighbors right now but they aren't making their way into my containers like I am accustomed to. I learned that containing worms limited what they can do.
ALSO I AM TAKING YOUR ADVISE AND TRYING TO GROW MERINGA TREES AND SO FAR I'VE GOTTEN SEED TO SPROUT SO I HOPE THEY WILL MAKE IT IN MY ROCKPILE AND CLAY SOIL .LOL
Looks good . I just started raising worms this year. One directly in the garden in buckets. One in a really big cooler. Amazing how fast they grow. They seem to love anything paper. I've fed them a multitude of scraps from the kitchen and garden. The earwigs sure like getting in there. I keep killing the larva. Are they detrimental? Post some more videos of the progress.
