Few of you know that I am a farmer. I'm not just any farmer. I don't need big expensive equipment. I don't need to get up early in the morning to milk cows or goats. I don't need to feed chickens or collect eggs. I am a worm farmer. I have a worm farm and all they eat are kitchen scraps and shredded paper. Once a year, in the spring, I take out the worms and set them up with a new home. Then I use the worm castings and worm tea for my plants. Worm tea is the excess liquid that drains out from the worms processing the food and making the castings or it is some castings mixed with molasses and water. It provides plants with many of the nutrients they need to grow well. I purchased a plastic worm farm set up, but my good friend uses a plastic tote. I didn't know about this less expensive and very effective system when I started my farm.
You can read more about the tote method at her website.
http://larksperennials.com/. She will tell you everything about gardening from composting to growing wonderful produce. She is very knowledgeable and her gardens were also published in Better Homes and Gardens magazine.
This is my farm. It consists of 4 trays and a base unit. I started with some red worms that I purchased. Yes, they sell red worms by the pound. Then I just add left over peelings, coffee grounds and scraps. No meat, dairy or citrus. I shred all my junk mail and that goes in too. I made the mistake when I first started to shred the envelopes with the clear plastic windows. When the worm dirt was all done there were unprocessed pieces of plastic throughout the dirt. I learned that I couldn't put them in.
I also have a compost pile outside because I have more than this can handle. Don't ask me why I started this, but because of my worm farm/factory and my outside compost pile, I have very little trash going to the landfill.
