SMALL ECOSYSTEMS. EXTRAORDINARY POSSIBILITIES.
The next big thing
is beneath
your feet.
A handful of worms. A little curiosity. A whole new way to grow. Step inside your own living world.
Worm farming, reimagined.
Starts with a red wiggler.
Good things
grow from scraps.
Your kitchen leftovers have another life in them. Let’s help you find it.
You don’t need a perfect garden or fancy equipment. Start with a simple bin, learn what your worms like, and watch yesterday’s scraps become tomorrow’s soil.
Meet the people behind the bins ↗Meet your tiny team.
Choose composting worms that belong in a bin.
Choose your worms ↗02Make them a home.
Build a setup that fits your space and your life.
Enter the bin builder ↗03Find your rhythm.
Feed a little. Check in. Let the worms set the pace.
Plan your feeding ↗04Stay curious.
Wet bedding? Wandering worms? Let’s work it out.
Open the Rescue Lab ↗DESIGN IT. TURN IT. MAKE IT YOURS.
Build a bin.
Bring it to life.
Play with the possibilities before you pick up a drill. Your bin, your worms, and your starting plan—all connected.
Generic product models, with cutaway layers for learning. Tote, tower and bus-pan hardware differ; extra trays don’t multiply the starter stocking estimate.
Your first habitat
About 10 gal of loose, damp bedding.
Saved in this browser, on this device. No account needed.
A good home is beautifully simple.
Start with an opaque tote and a loose-fitting lid. Add ventilation above the bedding line; manage moisture so liquid doesn’t collect.
- 01 Fluff up damp, shredded cardboard.
- 02 Add red wigglers and a small food pocket.
- 03 Cover the food. Give them time to settle.
How the habitat estimate works
We use the inside footprint of one active bed, not total bin volume. Starter weight = surface area × 0.5 lb per sq ft, following Mississippi State Extension. Bedding volume = length × width × selected depth, before settling. For towers, measure one tray; unused trays aren’t extra stocking space. This is a planning estimate for red wigglers, not a guaranteed capacity. Start with less food and watch what actually disappears.
A SIMPLE ANSWER FOR YOUR NEXT FEED.
How much
should I offer?
Tell us your worm weight. Get one small starter portion. Check what disappears before adding more.
This tool estimates moist kitchen scraps for composting worms. Dry chow is much more concentrated; use the Chow Studio below.
For 1 lb of worms in a new bin.
- 1Weigh the scraps.
About 1.6 oz. A kitchen scale is easiest.
- 2Bury one small pocket.
Cover it with damp, shredded bedding.
- 3Wait, then check.
Offer more when this portion is mostly gone. Leftovers? Wait longer.
This is one test portion—not a daily schedule.Increase gradually only when your worms finish it comfortably.
What can go in?
Choose a food for a quick answer.
Chop peels into small pieces and bury them under bedding. Remove produce stickers first; keep portions small to discourage fruit flies.
The simple math behind your portion
New-bin test portion = 10% of live worm weight. Settled-bin test portion = 25%. These are cautious editorial starting portions, not measured consumption rates or species-specific prescriptions. WSU Extension describes established composting-worm consumption of roughly 25–50% of worm weight per day. Actual appetite varies. NC State Extension recommends waiting for food to be eaten before feeding again. We show food weight in grams because cups of melon, peels, and grounds weigh very different amounts.
CHOOSE YOUR WORMS. CHOOSE YOUR GOAL.
A proper pantry
for your worms.
Every bin has a purpose. Mix a small supplement for composting, or explore a measured conditioning blend for bait worms.
Scraps first. Chow as a little extra.
Keep a varied base of suitable scraps and bedding. A small grain supplement is optional; a thriving scrap-processing bin doesn’t need a richer diet to do its job.
Let food disappearance guide your portions.
Adjust relative parts. The chart and weights always normalize to your total batch.
Use the protein percentages on my ingredient labels
Defaults are approximate as-fed feed-table values. Your ingredients can differ. Enter label percentages on the same basis.
Grind ingredients finely. Moisten a tiny pinch in one small spot, leave a food-free refuge, and check for heat or sourness. Wait until it’s eaten. This recipe is an illustrative starting blend, not a validated complete diet.
The everyday
pantry blend.
| INGREDIENT | BLEND | WEIGH OUT |
|---|
Give growth its own setup.
For European nightcrawler conditioning, use a separate, roomy bed or bus pan, stable conditions, and small, consistent test portions. Track average worm weight over time. Crowding and age affect size as well as food.
More protein isn’t a shortcut.
Rich feed can ferment, heat up, and foul a bed. Keep bedding available, remove uneaten feed that sours, and adjust one thing at a time. A feed’s protein number alone cannot predict bait size.
Recipe notes, species guidance + sources
These blends are practical experiments organized by husbandry goal; they are not species-specific diets validated in growth trials. Penn State Extension discusses balanced feed and stocking density for worm production. NC State Extension emphasizes feed disappearance and avoiding excess. Ingredient protein defaults use approximate as-fed values from INRAE–CIRAD–AFZ feed tables. The weighted result is not a laboratory analysis, digestibility score, or dry-matter calculation. African nightcrawler guidance follows Penn State; European nightcrawler composting context is available from Meme’s Worms. Keep Canadian nightcrawlers (Lumbricus terrestris) out of this surface-bin recipe planner; they need different housing.
COME BACK TO SOMETHING GROWING.
A little check-in.
A growing story.
Your habitat, your blend, your observations. Keep a small record of the living world you’re learning to care for.
No habitat saved yet. Build something you love above.
Save a recipe in the Chow Studio to keep it here.
Stored only in this browser. Clearing browser data removes your saved farm. Download a copy to keep it.
Every good grower starts by paying attention.
Your first observation belongs here.
