Four months ago, I was in the same position as you, thinking I'd like to compost my kitchen waste & intrigued by the idea of vermicomposting. Can0Worms caught my eye, and I almost bought one, until I read more on this website about how easy a bin system is to set up. You would hardly be "building" anything -- all you have to do is drill holes in the bins. I bought two 18-gal plastic bins at Walmart, and drilled lots of holes in the bottoms and sides of both bins & in one lid. I set one bin up on the other (undrilled)lid, perched on four 1-quart plastic planting pots, left over from last summer's plant purchases, to catch any drips, and the holely lid on top. I didn't bother with false bottoms or packing peanuts; I just put about six inches of torn, water-soaked newspaper in the bin along with a tub of veggie waste, and dumped in one-pound of worms bought through EBay. I've added about a gallon of kitchen waste a week, along with additional bedding to cover. Occasional digging around to see what was happening helps to keep things aerated. Now the bin is half full of wiggly worms and about half-finished compost, and I'm about to nest the second bin on top, starting it with new bedding and food. The idea, like with the CanOWorms, is that as the food is exhausted in the lower bin, the worms will migrate up into the upper bin through the holes in the bottom of the upper bin. After a couple of months, if all goes well, the coccoons in the lower bin will have hatched, most of the worms will have migrated, and the castings in the lower bin will be ready to harvest. (Fingers crossed) The only problem I've had is that the one bin isn't quite enough to handle all the compostable stuff my family generates, and I've had a couple of minor problems with overfeeding; I think I'll start another bin going, and that should give us enough capacity, once we get enough new baby worms.

Total cost -- $4 each for the bins, and $15 for the worms. While I strongly encourage you to give this a try, I'd save my birthday money for something lovely for the garden -- you can do both!

I agree with fadoodle. The time spent with the worm bin will mostly be worrying about them -- not building the bin. I think you'll find the worms to be another "project" whether you drill holes in a rubbermaid bin or buy a can o' worms. If you're the kind of person who finds them facinating, you'll spend lots of time with them. If you don't, you'll feed them and forget them. Either way is fine, but you'll probably spend just as much time on them if you buy a bin, and it'll cost quite a bit more.

Have fun with your worms.
Mariann

Ditto to the above posts. I'm a newbie, but I am happy with my drilled rubbermaid bins. I'm beginning to understand that this is a whole lot simpler of a process than many make it out to be. I almost bought a "system", but don't regret that I didn't.

Wow! Thanks for the responses and the details. Actually, the decision was taken out of my hands and bought for me by my DH. I think he feared what I'd come up with. LOL!

I'll start the Can O Worms in my kitchen but if I need to expand - as I think I will, I'll go the homemade route. At least my birthday money can go for something else. Hhhmmmm.