Starting a 'Can o Worms' wormery

I won a 'Can o Worms' wormery on eBay a few weeks ago, a bargain at £20 (£89 new!) Only got round to collecting it this weekend. Have been wanting one for a while because the family produces a lot of waste food, which doesn't compost very well in my slow compost bin. Found some very useful videos on YouTube about how to start it off. The bin itself is in four levels. The base collects the 'juices' which make a rich liquid feed.

The first tray is where the worms start off. If you have a new one of these they come with a block of Coir (coconut husk) that is rehydrated to make the worm bedding. Tried to find some in the local garden centres, but no joy. Had to settle for peat-free compost, which actually has a lot of coir and wood-chip in it already. Bought 500g of Dendra worms from the local fishing tackle shop for £11.00 and chucked them in.

As it was Sunday Roast day there were plenty of food scraps available for the second tray. Added 25% shredded cardboard too, as apparently the worms like a high-fibre diet.

Covered them with a wet cloth and put the lid on. After a day or so only a few of the worms have found their way into the top tray. Maybe they're not hungry yet, and it has been a bit cooler lately. Hopefully they should develop a good appetite soon!

When they've munched their way through the second tray there is a third one that can go on top and used for feeding. The bottom tray should then be mostly free from worms and the trays get rotated round. Can't wait to benefit from the legendary qualities of worm compost...