Limited space & limited oomph?

Callatya · **Posted:** Fri Aug 30, 2013 9:17 pm

I'm hoping to get my compost area set up this year, but I'm having a bit of trouble working out the best way to go. I don't have room for bays, and even if I did I have very limited lifting capacity so I wouldn't be able to turn it. I've heard mixed things about rotating drums and I looked at a giant hamster ball thing but that seemed a little lacking in space (and not cheap either)

At the moment I have no chooks or guinea pigs to chomp things into manure, but that will be happening eventually. I have a worm farm (old Cafe model with 4 baskets instead of the standard 2) but they get a bit sluggish sometimes and I've lost them twice now in hot summers. It would be good to diversify a bit.

I am in suburbia near schools so it either needs to be closed or completely open so rats and mice don't try nesting. I'm not too worried if they scavenge a bit, but I don't want to pitch my fork in and skewer a rat family.

Is it worth going with an open/open based solution and growing hungry plants near it? I'm reluctant to put bananas in the ground but would that be a worthwhile option, perhaps?

Simo · **Posted:** Sat Aug 31, 2013 11:18 am

Try in ground composting and worm farming no space needed and worms won't die in the heat. Basically you put the compost worms in your veg beds and bury a 100mm piece of PVC tube about 30cm long vertically in the garden bed so one end breaks the surface and is exposed to the air. The tube should have lots of 10mm holes drilled all along and around the sides for the worms to get in, now just dump your compost material in the open end of the tube and cover it with some sort of lid to keep light and rodents out. The worms will come and go as they please doing their thing and if it gets too hot or dry they will just migrate down into the soil until conditions improve so you will never have a mass worm kill. When the tube is full just pull it out leaving the compost behind and move it to another part of the garden or bed, if you want to compost more than just kitchen scraps swap the PVC pipe for one of those 20L white plastic buckets with a lid.

Pros

- No additional space needed.
- Worms won't die.
- Compost is made in the soil where it is needed so you don't need to move it.
- Small hole so very little physical effort needed.

Cons

- Will require movement when full.
- May need multiple systems depending on needs.

Callatya · **Posted:** Sat Aug 31, 2013 4:57 pm

Perfect! Will that work in fairly shallow wicking beds?

I can easily set up multiple systems and moving a piece of pipe is within my capabilities so that'd be fine :-) I could do with not being the Worminator again this summer, it is really quite disheartening to have all those little corpses on your conscience.

When you say "when the tube is full just pull it out leaving the compost behind " do you mean that the tube itself eventually fills with worm castings or that I should lure the worms in with food and then shift them in the tube to a different system?

Simo · **Posted:** Sat Aug 31, 2013 7:44 pm

This method is perfect for wicking beds as they stop the worms form just tunnelling away and they are generally more stable than a open dirt garden in regards to moisture, so the worms will be happier.

You move the tubes when they are full of food scraps and worm castings leaving all behind to continue being broken down. The tube simply holds the dirt back so you can place the food scraps down deep in the soil where the worms are.

try these links for more ideas:

http://old.permaculturenorth.org.au/doc ... /ME-WT.pdf

http://milkwood.net/2010/10/12/how-to-m ... orm-tower/

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