Worm Wigwams
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The worm wigwam is a Sustainable Technology’s company CFT bin. A CFT, continuous flow thru, bin is a type of worm composter that you top feed and castings fall out the bottom. If setup and done properly the worm castings coming out the bottom are free of worms and cocoons because the worms migrate upward to eat the new food and the cocoons will hatch and migrate before the castings make it to the bottom. I have three of these wigwams that I use.
Their are a lot of style worm bins on the market but besides the worm bag style CFT bins like the Urban Worm Bag most are very expensive. The Worm Wigwam is the lower end and smallest size CFT on the market I have come across at 3ft by 3ft and 3 ft high it is advertised at producing around 50 lbs of finished castings a week. This will depend on a lot of things like temperature and the amount of worms stocked in the bin. In ideal conditions these bins will produce the advertised amount but I usually will get anywhere from 100 - 125 lbs from my three bins which is still a decent amount of castings production considering the space needed.
These bins have a grate half way down the bin that the castings will sit on and a handle to rotate that will move the cutter bar across the grate breaking loose the bottom inch of castings to fall threw to the bottom. Usually when starting a bin like this you would cover the grate with a layer of cardboard to keep everything from falling threw until it is ready. The cardboard will break down over time but it should take around 10 months maybe longer of feeding the bin to work your way to the top and the bin be ready to harvest. You should not harvest CFT bins until they are full or you will find not only worms but also cocoons and unfinished product in your castings.
There are also plans on the internet and all kinds of creative ways that people build their own CFT bins besides buying one but depending on what your looking for, how much work space you have and if you have the ability to pick up and store things like lumber will decide if you would be better off building or buying. The new higher price of lumber and supplies since Covid also will play a factor and if you have to buy tools to use to build with then it won’t really save you much money. The initial cost is not the only thing to consider but also how long before the lumber will need to be replaced. One thing I will say about the wigwam is either you want to put it up on a pallet to make it easier to use and put a tarp or something under it or just be sure to not over feed your bin because they will leak out the bottom so be aware of where you put it before filling it. Not to much worse then needing to move a full CFT bin.
