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--- wormfarm [2012-11-05 18:56] – imogen
+++ wormfarm [2012-11-05 19:37] – imogen
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 Drill some very small holes (about 1/16") around the top of the containers to help with ventilation. Drill larger holes (about 1/4") on the bottom of 2 tubs. Space about 5cm apart. These 2 tubs are the interchangeable top layers of the worm farm. Both will drain liquid down to the 3rd level (and also letting the worms move up and down).
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 **Step 4**
-Place the wooden blocks in 4 corners of the 2nd tub. These blocks create space between the food layer and the composting layer. Stack the tubs on top of one another. Voila, your worm farm is ready!
+Place the wooden blocks in 4 corners of the 2nd tub. These blocks create space between the top food layer and the second composting layer. Stack the tubs on top of one another. There is only a small gap between the 2nd and 3rd layers. The worm tea won't collect in the 3rd layer because the tap will always be open, so this gap can be minimal as the liquid should drain straight out.
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-Out on the balcony, the old worm farm is full and overflowing. It was time to dig in, harvest out worm castings that were ready and put the rest of the compost in the new worm farm.
+Out on the balcony, the old worm farm is full and overflowing. It was time to dig in, harvest out worm castings that were ready and put the rest of the compost in the new worm farm. The second level is in 'composting' mode (see notes below about how it works), and the top level is ready to add food.
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+See that I added some shredded wet newspaper to the existing compost. Carbon helps balance out the rich nitrogen as the food breaks down. Worms love newspaper. I was told this via my permaculture teacher who spoke to a worm farming expert in Australia. It gives the worms a balanced diet and makes the compost stable. Imagine composting worms in nature, they would be eating lots of dead leaves along with the smelly and yummy animal poo. Same thing really.
-NOTE: If you were starting out a brand new worm farm, you would put food scraps on the top level, and once it was filling up and the food breaking down you would move that section to the lower level. This would allow the worms to finish composting the food scraps below, and allow you to start a new food layer on top which they will climb to when they are hungry. After a few weeks, the layer below is ready for harvest (more on harvesting soon).
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+One final step before it's ready to go. These plastic tubs have been designed to fit snugly when stacked on top of each other. So by creating the space between the tops 2 layers with the wooden blocks, there is a small gap for worms to escape. A metre of mosquito netting, some elastic, a needle and thread... and it was time to make, the **Escapee Worm Preventer**...
+{{:img_1262.jpg?direct&300|}}{{:img_1265.jpg?direct&300|}}{{:img_1266.jpg?direct&300|}}
+I knew that my sewing classes in primary school would come in handy one day.
+{{ :img_1275.jpg?direct&700 |}}
+VOILA!
+[[How the worm farm works]]\\ [[How to harvest castings]]
-But we were moving existing worms and food compost at various stages of decomposition. I placed the ready castings in a separate container, I moved the food at a latter stage of decomposition to the bottom layer and added some shredded wet newspaper (as carbon helps balance out the high nitrogen content of the food, and this farm was getting a bit smelly - a sign to add newspaper!), AND I put the most recent food on the top level and found some cardboard to place on top. This keeps it moist and dark for the worms. They like it under cardboard or old hessian bags.