Worm Condo Design Concept

The basic concept is to build, in effect, a huge "chest-of-drawers" where each "drawer" contains the appropriate material to support healthy growth and reproduction of "earth worms."

REQUIREMENTS:

• There shall be a total of 16 "beds"
• The beds shall be arranged in groups of 4 horizontally and 4 vertically
• The beds shall be 2 feet wide and 4 feet long
• The beds shall slope from a depth of 9 inches at the rear to 12 inches at the front
• The beds shall be constructed of sturdy material adequate to hold water saturated soil/compost
• The beds shall be constructed so that they can be "pulled out" for watering or other activities
• The beds shall be removable so that the contents can be slowly emptied and "strained" to remove and count the earth worm population and also remove any undesirable material
• The beds shall be constructed so that they can be watered heavily and the water running through the soil collected for it's nutrient value
• The support structure holding the 16 beds shall be strong enough to hold 16 soil and water laden beds
• The system shall be designed such that it need not be fully completed (16 beds) before use and experimentation can begin.

CURRENT STATUS:

This is the overall view of the first four beds and the frame that holds them.  Stacked on top is all the pre-cut components to construct the next 12 beds. Note that each bed is identified by a letter and a number.   The letter represents the column (A through D) while the number represents the row (1 through 4) Also note that each bed has it's own Log, where anything affecting that bed is recorded.
Here we see more detail of the pre-cut components of the beds. Note the two additional notebooks.  The one mounted on the center is for recording anything that affects all beds equally, such as ambient temperature and relative humidity.  The notebook on the next support is for recording everything relating to the hydroponics setup.
Here is a close-up of the front of a single bed including it's individual Log.
Here, we see the inside of bed C4, where an experiment is taking place by mixing the grass clippings into the soil. A4 and B4 are the baseline where an inch of grass clippings is simply placed on top of the soil. Comparing the productivity of this bed to the control group should give us a better idea of the best way to feed the worms.
This photo shows the design for bracing each end of the frame.
The purpose of this photo is to show how the top slide brace allows the bed to be pulled out to within about 6 inches from the back without falling out.
This photo shows the design of the plumbing to catch the nutrient rich water after draining through the beds. Note the flexible rubber joints required because of extreme irregularities in the floor.

This page was produced by Ron Darby.