Conserve water by collecting rainwater and using it for your garden or lawn.
Believe it or not these arre easy to make I could probably make this without instructions
Works really well
Kinda smelly once the compost starts breaking down.
I used a large trash can instead of the food barrel and reinforced the side braces with more wood.
Great weekend project, it took me about 3 hrs.
I am moving to a new place, and I really wanted to start my own compost, but I didn’t want to buy a $200+ compost tumbler. I quick Google search, and my third hit was for Boys’ Life. Being a Scout myself, I had to click it. Needless to say, I am WICKED excited to build this. It’s been far too long since I’ve built anything with my hands (I’m a bit embarrassed to say that the last time might have been my Eagle Project in ’04). Thanks a bunch for these instructions Boys’ Life!
And to all those Scouts climbing the Path to Eagle, keep it up! It will be something that you treasure your whole life, something no one can take away.
Wow–very simple design. I bought a barrel and have been stumped on how to build a cheap but strong frame with stuff I have already. This is a good design–easy, strong, looks good, and I have all the stuff! Thanks Boys Life!
anyone else have some more tips? So you spin it, and the compost comes out of the holes? love to build it
Lazy, you can introduce worms to it yourself, though. 
Stevey, you can throw some things onto your garden, but only those things which break down very quickly on their own and will not attract vermin. For instance, coffee grounds can be sprinkled around acid-loving plants like roses and the plants love it. The main reason for composting first is, the bacteria break everything down into a better form for the garden. The compost warms up in the pile or container, and that sets off a chain reaction resulting in the materials being broken into finer parts more easily introduced to the soil.
Nice drawings David, but where are the pictures of a real one. Didn’t you build one!!!!
Manure from horses, cattle or chickens will work great. Seriously. You need to use three times as much brown leaves since it’s so concentrated…
Don’t use dog or cat poo though, they can have human diseases.
Good Stuff! Clean neat and tidy, but coffee grounds and broken egg shells come right out the half inch vent holes making a big mess, cut the hole size down, and put more of them to get rid of moisture!
This is a great idea! But its one disadvantage is that the barrel is not resting on the ground, so you don’t get all those worms coming in and holding a party!
Sounds really cool,but can you use horse manure with it?
Hi this is very cool!But if you don’t have a barrel
you can us a Garbage Can
this is a really cool project and i hope 2 see more like this one. I hope u guys keep thinking of ways to help the Earth!!!!
this looks like a really good project for my den to try! thanks so much.
thanks for this i am going to use this for part of my eagle project
I’m going to have my Bear and Wolf Den do this. Thanks for getting this posted!
it was so cool it was sweet i would like to make one
why not just throw the waste from the kitchen in your garden
I think it is really cool that you could help your garden and be green at the same time if you make the compost tumbler.
my mom whants to try it so that way she could put with her plants.
Here's how to tumble your way to rich compost for your garden and plants.
Does anyone know of a store that you can get the lead at?
NICE!! I cant wait to try this and show my freinds
Can’t you just take a pencil and widdle away at it to get a like effect?
I made it and when i brought to class my teacher told my to throw it away. she thaught it was a real stick
that is cool, i have 1 from a school feild trip and npw i can make my own!
it was a lot of fun and i added a pen to the other side and gave it to my sister and now everybody wants one
itis just a pencil 
, but a cool one ,it also saves $$$$
those look so cool i should make one and use it at school
Very uniqe and unusual… And very cool!!! I’ll make one now!
This looks sweet. I’m gonna try it when I can
That is ahhhmazing. My friends at school ‘ll flip!!
I think that is cool. I’m going to tell my mom (she is a boy scout den leader) that. I think she would like doing that in boy scouts.
Twig pencils are fun, easy and cheap to make. And the expressions on your friends’ faces when you start scribbling with a stick will be writetious!
Does anyone know how to make a sculpture of a flying bird out of a two litre plastic milk bottle? I’m trying but haven’t got it right yet. it looks like a flying swan at the moment!
I think almost everyone was to simple except the self-watering plant
I would love to see how to make a robot. How about electricity projects?!
For the self-watering planter, it may be useful to know some of these tips.
1) use COTTON string. plastic stuff won’t work.
2) use about 5 strings. one string will not bring anough water to the plant.
3) use soil made for seed starting or potting. regualr soil from the garden will compress and become some what like concrete (not good)
4) once in a while, take apart the planter and wash the water resvoir and strings.
the best of luck
these are all eally cool and i think i might try some. these projects are becoming really fun for me and my family!!!
I punched holes and added a string handle to help get the planter out. This makes it easier to add water. I also decorated the base for Valentine’s Day.
Has anybody made the self watering plant holder? Has anybody made modificacons to it?
i like the first 2 they recycle and help the environment
I thought the SELF- WATERING PLANTER was interesting.
What about a fish feeder using half of a empty milk jug. Poke/drill a hole in the cap, crumble the food, put food in top of jug, watch fish eat.
card board orange juice cartons r better for bird feeders ’cause if they fall they decompose
That is way too simple do something alout cooler!
You have bright ideas in recycling used plastic jugs into practical use. Regards from the Philippines.
Go Green and recycle empties into fun and useful projects.
At my school we did practically the same thing except we used Pringles cans. THey work just the same and all you have to do is cut a hole in the can add plastic wrap and wait a while.
This is a great idea. The solar cooker for a hot dog needs direct sunlight (no shade trees) and the outside temperature needs to be above 94 degrees Farenheit to cook the hotdog in about fifteen minutes or so ( usually with a Heat index of over 107 degrees Farenheit)– about the same temperature as cooking an egg on a cement sidewalk which does not have shade trees around. This is a great idea as a school science fair project. It’s a way to have a hot, cooked meal using absolutely no matches or charcoal.
This is a great idea. The solar cooker for a hot dog needs direct sunlight (no shade trees) and the outside temperature needs to be above 94 degrees Farenheit to cook the hotdog in about fifteen minutes or so ( usually with a Heat index of over 107 degrees Farenheit)– about the same temperature as cooking an egg on a cement sidewalk which does not have shade trees around. This is a great idea as a school science fair project. It’s a way to have a hot, cooked meal using absolutely no matches or charcoal.
i was just wondering how long it will take to cook the hot dog and how to build it
Looks easy, but hard! I guess it will probably explode! 
This hot dog cooker is awesome I’m sooo using this for my project. Hope I get an A+.
If you make the uprights and somehow the skuer bigger, you can cook other stuff. This is a great idea. Where did you get it at?
This idea is swell. I tried it at home with my fam. We all enjoyed the hotdogs.
why didn’t someone tell me that before it would have saved me some time i love hot dogs
And so I was dreaming I was being attack by a monster in the first place.
that is cool my 8th grade class is do it in science it is alsome
=) Hey i really think this is a great idea we are goin to do dis as a science fair project but one of our team member doent want 2
hey this idea is craaaazzzzyyyy n i love it!!! hahahahaha xD
Wow….this would have been helpful!!! The dimensions were not included in the print instructions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We made one but it was too small and took way too long to cook the hot dog!
If you curve some aluminum foil just right, you can cook hot dogs with the sun's heat.
Hey people send this to other people! I’ve tried it and it was cool!
It’s a great trick to make it without mom and/or dad noticing and scaring them when they come in your room.
So why do you have to stain it with damp coffee grounds? Why not use the paper bag from the start?
or maby a sock themed lamp shade might be better
Now all i need is a pre historic bone lamp please post a design for that
Maby not a cave man but it is not so easy . But it is cool .
cool! you could also go to goodwill and get an old lamp shade. 8D
i’m gonna try this
Cave paintings have been around for thousands of years. Light up your own bedroom "cave" with this torn-paper lamp shade.
This is a great idea for my science project and gardeners should do this!!!!:)
This isn’t really a green project unless you use organic liquid fertilizer.
organic liquid fertilizer ?… use cow poo. that’s the only organic good fertilizer. ^^
this is so asome i am going to try it with my science partner!!!:)
I think i’ll do this for my Science fair project. Cheers 
Too bad you can’t do this from a seed… I’ve tried 
Sweet potatoes work very well. They look great after growing for a while.
I wonder what else will work insted of cork? I’m going to definetly try this.
COOL!!!!!!!!!
I just tried it! hope it works with morning glory vines…
If you don’t have a cork a regular water bottle with a hole punched in the cap works great.
can it grow vegetables?
I’m doing this for my science project with a calla lily bulb. Can’t wait to try it out!
I’m going to try to use a 55 gallon barrel instead of a 2 liter bottle.I hope it works!
i was sopposee to be looking how to create oxygen on mars and one way we thought was to grow plants without dirt on mars.
if it’s that big, you can probably put several plants in there.
I need more informstion on how to prepare container for vegetables
Can u give me an idea about plants growing on preaty much anything thats liquid?I’m doing a project about how plants grow on anything thats liquid.I’m in 5th grade and I need an idea.I was thinking about how I can have 3 pots,one is filled with water,one filled with coollaid and the other one is filled with milk.I would see three weeks later which one grew faster the water,the coollaid or the milk.What do u think?
that kool aid wate and milk idea is a bad idea, the milk would go bad and smell disgusting, plus plants could grow in kool aid (we all know that kool aid is water with powder in it, and its pointless
This is a great idea. Philodendren houseplants really like to grow this way. Also potatoes will grow by growing roots in a cup of water. Spider plant hous plants grow tremendous root systems just by growing the house plants in water. Sometimes, house plant food spikes (such as Jobe’s house plant fertilizer food spikes) will dissolve right into the cup of water to provide nourishment to the house plants.
this is cool i can see it working and i gonna try it but i wonder if you can start it from seeds too? i mean i love to grow tomatos but but i like to grow them from seeds.
I really liked this website because I’m doing this for a science project. Thanks!!!
well how do u grow a plant without soil starting from a seed?
you can grow an avocado seed this way at least up until it is about two months old i dont know after that. but it gets roots and starts growing. you will need an avocado seed, toothpicks,and glass of water, you have to stab the seed with three tooth picks spaced evenly around the seeds middle, the toothpicks will hold the seed on top of the cup, next fill the glass with water so that the seed only gets wet for about an inch. after a week you will see results
During WWII, American bases in the Pacific were supplied with fresh vegtables from hydroponic gardens.
Take a look at some of the tomatoes in the supermarket and you will find some hydroponic tomatoes.
actually works. I tried this, and it works really well. Next, i’m gonna try a much bugger plant, and a large plastic barrel. a sunflower and a huge pretzel container!
i have heard a little about hydroponic but never knew how to make one this is pretty cool
Plants don't need soil as long as they have five things: food, water, light, air and support. You can provide all five in a hydroponic garden. Here's how to create your own.
Any ideas for small apartment living spaces I have house plants and they always seem to get a pesticide. If I can grow indoors or in a hallway area with lots of light,I will try it!
Why does it say 2×10 in the directions but not the supply list
Hmmm…Any recommendations for type of lumber that won’t rot after one season? Maybe composite or something? I’ve seen some reaised bed kits made of composite/resin but they’re pretty expensive. Would love to built one myself but I want to be sure I’m building something that will last. Thanks!
We used marine treated wood for our raised beds. We also lined the bottoms with 1/2″ mesh stapled to the inside bottom of the boxes to keep moles and voles out.
Pressure treated redwood will last for years and will withstand termites too! Redwood alone is great too:)
Pressure treated wood used for gardening will leach arsenic into soil & plants. Arsenic is used to pressure treat wood. There are other choices like cypress & redwood for example.
Awesome idea! I think there may be a typo in the supply list? It say 4 – 2×4′s but in your instructions it says 2×10′s.
The compost and compost tea from the compost barrel works great as the soil for this garden.
You can make this garden smaller in size if you combine it with hydroponic gardening. I used a system like that to get my FFA State Farmer Award Philadelphia.
We actually board raised beds last spring, but didn’t know “what next.” So, good timing for this info, and now we’re ahead of the game. Thank you so very much!!!
I am not a fan of vegies but I might try home grown ones
This reminds me of the Square Foot Gardening method. If you look up that book, go for the revised version called “The All New Square Foot Garden”…or somtihng like that.
We’ve got 4 beds via Square Foot Gardening. Look it up. the soil composition is phenomenal. My son can’t get enough and I love that he’s learning to self-provide.
Thanks metallica! That’s a realy cool idea, I am going to try that with an apply and orange tree.
I will try this!! Do I need to have drainage holes in the bottom of it? I will put it on sawhorses or legs.
This also works really well in a larger area if you have one
For a larger scale of this principle check out the book “How to Grow More Vegetables Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine” from your local Library. If you want to start a VERY productive produce garden in a relatively small area, this is the book to have!!!
another good way to get a bunch of fruit in one area is makeing a tree with branches that produce diffrent fruit. Its done by tieing the end of branches together for a few months and they will all make one tree. My Uncle Planted one of these and it produced apples, pears, and peaches. Real Cool
you can also hang window box flowerpots on the sides with marigolds in them to keep out rabbits and other small critters.
What makes this compact garden so productive is that you will be placing plants close together in squares instead of traditional rows. You can continue to plant as you harvest.
Thnak you for cool plan. This is really great. Others charge money for a simple plan
this is great! my mom was just talking about buying one, but now i can make one for her!
This is the perfect birdhouse for virtually any small bird. Thanks.
At first I thought that it meant a purple house for martins.
Im 11 and I built 2 one for my grandpa and one for my mom. Thanks!!
This is a difficult project to attempt to build. The purple martin songbirds will refuse to use this type of birdhouse if the entrance to each individual room does not have the correct diameter of the entrance to each room in the birdhouse as accepted to the correct species of songbird. If a person can properly build this project, it is a great accomplishment to build this type of birdhouse. This is difficult to build.
thanks so much for the pattern for martins, we are new at this so we are still learning. again thanks
im agirl
Im so going to use this idea for
my Quarter project
I am going to build this in my wood working class
Build a Purple Martin bird house and attract these bug-eating birds to your yard to help make your summer pest-free.
I build bird house and feeders all the time and i sell a lot of them and its a fun thing to do for a hobby
Simple diagrams. I don’t get what you guys are mumbling about. Just pay attention to each detail and the diagrams are easy to read.
One problem is squirrels. When there are birds, there are squirrels. I would recommend waxing the pole or something so they can’t get up. When I was a little kid, I made a bird feeder in cub scouts, but the only thing that ate from there were squirrels. =/
Could you put in a picture of the final bird feeder?
suggest making the platform out of screening so that seeds will have a better chance of drying if they get wet
that will be the easy thing, but making a dollhouse for the birds will be the hard thing!
it would be great if there was a picture of the finished product so we can see what it should look like
I Can’t Wait To Build It. I Have A Bird House, I’m Going To Put It Thare.
Tweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet
This is very easy and I have done it a couple times, I don’t even need adult help.
However, like other people said, the diagrams are confusing. I just don’t look at them and follow the directions, but now that I’m used to making bird houses, it’s not really hard. I would just go ahead and try it if this is your first time doing a birdhouse. If you’re anything like me, you’ll find that it’s really fun and doesn’t take that long! 
very usefull for merit badges, but the diagram are too detailed
this is really good but maybe next time make it less confusing
this is a boring thing, i could build a house with 3 rooms in a day!!!!!!
It would be cool if you could make a bird house out of this!
You could also put a small plastic bowl full of water on your feeder, so the birds could drink and bathe in it.
This simple project makes an ample feeder for serving a flock of seed eaters.
Ac tually it is quite workable.
In one case something like this was shown to reffuges in a camp in Africa. One tribal group that seemed impervious to new ideas tried it and soon started taking courses in other subjects.
Do a GOOGLE search on Solar Cookers, Solar Stoves, ect.
Another good source “Fun With the Sun” by D. S. Hallacy.
Simple cookers can be made from three reflector panels (like two walls and a floor), a dark colored glass jar with lid (to hold the food) and a plastic roasting bag. The three panels form a two walls, corner and floor structure. Put the food in the jar and add water to cover and close the jar. Put the jar in the bag. Put the bag in the reflector corner. Inflate the bag slightly and tie it shut. The bag helps to trap hot air around the jar.
I have heard a rumor that if you lay a closed one liter pop bottle half full of water in the sun for six hours the water will get hot enough to kill microorganisms. I would advise against testing this method but try to see how hot the water can get as a Science Fair project.
This is a neat thing! Great for when you can’t get a fire started!
i can melt a candy bar in my pocket, what if i want a hamburger, or cook up some road kill? bogus.
I’m gonna get food poison and suit the magasine. The real American Way!
I think it is a great idea and it sounds lightweight.
I thought it was great!! By the way, I don’t want to sound rude or anything, but for those who asked “how does it get the heat?” the answer is the following: Light energy in the form of photons hits the black construction paper. The black construction paper absorbs the light energy, turning it into heat. The aluminum is apparently for centering more light onto the paper, therefore creating more heat.
i wish we did this in Girl Scout camp, but we only did the “Dutch Oven.”
can you make briscuits,pizza,steak,fish,hambergers and other stuff??
write back
its a great idea accept if the wind blows can you cook steak??
I have’it done it but it sounds cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What a way to cook without using the stove, this is really cool or hot depending on how you look at it.
i want to tri it!!! this is my 1st time onthe website i love most(after 5 minutes)!!!;)
it’s not actrually solar powered. it’s powered by heat energy
sorry about sounding so mean but i watch the science channel for fun
There is also a way to make biscuits like this. Take a regular box and cover all sides with aluminum foil and tape it in. Take old wire coat hangers and punch them through, about three of the long ends to hold a pie plate. You fill another pie plate with coals from your fire and put the biscuits on the other pie plate above the coals, resting on the coat hangers. close the box and let them cook. They are great. You must make sure the whole inside of the box is coated in foil or else it will burn through. This happened the first time my patrol and I tried it, but the biscuits were still great. We laugh about it all the time now!
Hey, Tumten the black paper absorbs the heat with reflection of the aluminum foil. It also sounds really COOOOOOOOOL.
Awsome! I have tried many things like this but, this is the best i have ever seen! It is truly wonderful and is useful and a cheap way to cook. MY RATING: 5 stars
i have’nt used it yet but i can’t wat {;its cool;maybe;}
I’ve got a camping trip to go to, so this [i]might[/i] be of use!
This is sweet, when I get home I am doing this I hope to here more cool stuff like this. I’v been reading the magizene for 6 years and I just now got to the website
I started my marshmallow on fire! That thing is hot! (pun intended)
You don’t need four burners and a gas line to make some great-tasting trail food.
Awesome IM DOING A SCIENCE PROJECT AND THIS IS PERFECT! THANK YOU
i am trying it right it right now. i think it will work good
Gengen
beleive it or not but that is not sweat it is a raincloud. This makes a tiny ecosystem I learned that in biology A
im gunna try it on saturday and if it works ill grow trees and everything with it!
Sounds cool and i believe it. I have tried tried something similar to this and it worked very well.
Sounds cool and i believe it. I have tried something similar to this and it worked very well.
do not believe a word of it ….. what kind of seed? I want a tree seed??
You don’t have to wait for the right season to plant your flower and vegetable seeds. Grow plants indoors any time of year with this easy project.
when you get your box done how do you get the bats to come to your box thankyou
MY MOM HATES BATS SO I’M NOT ALLOWED TO BUILD ONE. WHAT DO I DO?
the next time she gets a mosquito bite, or squeals about a flying bug she sees, tell her that one little bat can eat up to 1200 mosquitoes in an hour- and they also eat all kinds of other bugs! A bat house in your yard will keep the whole area mosquito and bug free- try that!
To batman, you should use plywood.
S.(sucsess) T. (tip) Stain the boards with black stain before asembly.
Me and my dad built a huge one with 4 layers!! We call it “Bat Condo.”
hi i built a bathouse using some old boards off my barn.i simply staggered three planks about 1/2 apart giving me 6 slats for the bats.after 2 weeks i checked inside and there had to be at least 20 bats in there!!cost to construct…………zero!!
Great instructions…maybe a photo of the completed project!
its way more easy to glue some wooden skewers to the backboard than to try to roughen it up or attach plastic [that could potentially catch and choke a bat]. works just as well, even easyer for the bats to grab onto.
Cool site. I thought you might like to have add a link about bat house plans for even bigger houses since those tend to work better. My site just happens to provide suck plans. Here’s the info:
Scott’s Bat House Plan Page
http://habitat.ms11.net/bat/bathome.htm
Good Luck,
Scott
–
Scott’s Backyard Habitat Enhancement
like to see other bat houses with instructions like three chambered
Use these plans to create a mini-habitat for some of North America's most misunderstood—yet valuable—creatures.
..I am sooo psyched!! I love to fish and camp; and always need worms. So this is such a cool idea, as well as profitable. Now all I need is someone to get my fish off the hook!!Ha! Ha!
I had three worm beds, open ground with frames, all flooded. I have to try to think this over and decide what will be better. Perhaps the concrete around the frame with no breaks will stop the water rush from Texas storms.
Candin
built mine using a large black container that was used for cow protien. I drilled a hole in the bottom and covered it with screeen. It is hot here in Texas so I pour a pitcher of cold water on them every other day. They seem to be doing ok!
First for poor ol Sparky..Most worms hang at @ 18″ deepths well within the authors 36″. like the gardners I’m in it for da poop. What I grow loves it and needs the natural “pest controll” Best organic I can raise for my self. Any overage of worms don’t have too escape I give them their freedom willingly, in my yard and flower beds. Go green baby!
My family has a worm bed we use the worms for fishing and composting.
I dug a worm bed & used tin sheets for the side, do you think that it would be ok to use the tin for the bottom to or not nessasery The hole is about 6 foot wideby 6 foot long by about 2 & a half foot deep,& also does it matter what type of dirt you use
definatly going to try,i live near lakes and people need worms as bait
try feeding your worms a mixture of protein powder that you get at any health food store and whole grain wheat bread. it makes your worms BIG AND STRONG!!!
There are many boxes, this one really works. It has provided enough worms for the season and has been profitable. Thanks for the cool idea. The best thing is the profit makes it’s self. Word of mouth and just being at your local lakes at the right time of the day. Most people run out of worms around noon or 2pm. All I do is have plenty of worms to go around.
We have a much smaller version, I caulked a screen onto the bottom of a larger planter with pre-drilled holes. Filled it with a mixture of soil and peat moss to a little more than half full, then added both nite crawlers and red worms that I found while gardening. I place the planter inside a window well on the northeast side of the house which is very shady. I occasionally water & feed them small amounts of egg shells, coffee grounds, shredded paper, dried plants/leaves, whatever natural scraps I have. No cover on it. They multiply quickly and we always have our fishing bait. We release them (if there are any left) late fall as they would freeze in our Wisconsin winters.
Built 2 last year, Did wonderful, now I have 8 more making 10. Worms are 3.50 a box at the store, I get 2.00 a box and can’t keep up. Thanks a million……
I have found that as long as the worms are happy they stay, even without a bottom. Even so, I added a wire and screen bottom to mine.
Once again, Thank you……… )
this sounds like a great idea but i think waater will collect at the bottom!!!!
i think that you r right and that the worms will bring lots of money!!!
You could drill a hole in the bottom of it to let the water drain so they don’t drowned.
I’m a Master Gardender and working with 2 other MG’s helping some elementary students become gardeners in their own school yard. To create more interest, I’m going to feed this information to them so they can also build themselves a worm bed. They’ll love this! Thank you!
I think this is a wonderful idea, because sometimes I can’t aford bait AND gas money…lol
i am so gonna do this im gonna do this weekend cause one time i went to go buy worms from the dixie dairy bar there is sopposed to be 30 worms in there and there was only 5 worms in there i bought them with 50$—{} i got ripped off? didnt i.
The worm bed works well under a grape arbor or wisteria bush. They like the coolness and the air flows freely. Watch for snakes when you feed the worms and dig worms to sell. They like to lie beside the worm bed.
I know I spelled that wrong
I have a few questions…
How can the worms crawl out? The sides are straight up and down arn’t they?
When it rains… won’t the water just collect in there and drown the worms?
If you know the answers to either of these PLEASE let me know.
Thanks!
This is great! I live near a lake and EVERYONE has a boat and goes fishing! Yes! This is JUST the kind of thing I need! Thank you!
next spring i will start collecting red worms the in the summer I will sell them
I’m fishing now and I’m tired of buying worms and then they die. I’m going to do this right now!
I think that i might want to do this over the summer using some stuff that my parents aren’t using. I might be able to sell at least ten worms to my dad.
has anyone every “called” worms?….take a stick (3 foot or so ) and carve notches about every 8″…place pointed end of “grunt stick” into ground, then begin furiously rubbing/clicking the notches with another stick,,,after 5-10 minutes go out 5-10 yds from where you are “grunting” and they should be up trying to wiggle away…they think it’s an armadillo or such from the vibrations, you may have to practice “grunting” for a while 1st, but this does work and if you’re outta bait at the lake etc. this beats running to the bait house
your little thing about worm beds SUCK what keeps them from digging through the bottom of the hole
the worms will hang around…you are feeding them, why would they leave??
An easier and cheaper version can be made by purchasing a rubber tote box about 1.5 x 3 feet. They run 3-7 dollars at any Target, Walmart, etc. With adult supervision use a sharp utility knife to cut 4 holes in both the bottom and lid about 1.5-2 inches in diameter glue with hot glue gun a square of screen mesh over the holes. The bottom holes allow for moisture to drain as green waist breaks down. The holes in the lid will allow for air flow and ventelation. You may need more vent holes and may even cut some in the sides of the bucket above the bedding line. Fill the tote half full of bedding and add worms. Add scraps to just on side and as the worms break them down level out the bedding. As the tote feels with casings (worm poop) and fills to about 3/4 full you will need to emptly worms and casings. Count out enough worms to restart a new bed. You can add new peat moss, some of the casings from the previous batch and a small amount of soil. Refill the tote to half of just under half full and start over. You can sell the extra worms to bait shops, and farmers will be happy to purchase the extra casings for the flower beds and gardens. One tip for helping drainage a few old bricks on the corners and in the middle to raise the bottom off the floor is best, the worms need to be a cool place so if you live in a hot area (we live in Arizona) moving the totes into the garage or under a covered cool porch is great. Also if you live in a cold climate, they will bury down in freezing weather but production slows greatly, so moving it to a warmer area such as the garage in the winter is good for these areas as well. In cold areas have extra totes ready so that you can thin out the worms in the first and build a stock pile of worms and casings to meet demand of spring when fisherman and gardners start their summer activity.
Have you ever wished you could dig money out of the ground? In a way you can. Raising worms in a small worm farm can make you extra money during the summer.
>:)
LOL:>
Where do you get the barrels?
any where they sell barrels
I goggled….Where to buy food grade rain barrels in my state and found a great source less than two blocks from my work!
I made one of these two years ago and I cannot use the water fast enough! I love it and have yet to have problems with Mosquitos. I use the water on my flower beds, vegetable garden, and have a bottle of camp soap on it to wash my hands too!
If you gather rain off your roof, be aware the water that runs over any shingles or tar will be full of nastiness not recommended for food growing. grass, probably ok.
Great project – wish we’d thought of it – we bought a commercially built water barrel. Standing water may allow mosquitoes to breed – get some beneficial bacteria mosquito control rings at your garden or home improvement center. The bacteria eat the mosquito larvae. The screening alone may not prevent mosquitoes … and you don’t want to potentially spread disease like West Nile.
hey to prevent that stuff getting in the baRREL PUT AFEW layers of tightly woven screen over the hole then it will filter out the bad stuff so the you can use it for growing
is it ok for flowers?
yeah just put a screen on it and some fertilizer in and good water but you should use a bucket to water the flowers
wouldent you think it would rust if it was metal
dear sparky, it wouldnt rust if it were staneless steal
Use Brass Fittings they don’t rust
many food grade barrels are made of plastic.
this is great!My MoM and DaD are going to make this this summer.
One problem, Mission Viejo dosen’t get much rain!
This sounds like a great way to go green!
to sniper: LoL!!
Wow! Neat Idea!
cool i will talk to my faimly about it
mine got zapped by lighting!!!!!!!!
Mabye you can try again
lol *:}
really good project gonna try it and post the out come
Great project. I built one. How about a hovercraft project?
not sure if itll work… it might leak
great…i like to see this article
Looks great
where will I get a barrels? from a store.
where will I get a barrels from a store
where will i get a barrels
You can also contact a local car wash owner, they get soap and water treatment in large blue barrels. Most of these barrels are not the lidded style though. But that works out fine for a water barrel. Just clean it well I recomend letting watter sit in it for several days after a good clean then dumping it. (sometimes the soaps and treatment leech into the plastic).
I bet lowes as some barrels cause after all lowes knows
I would love to conserve water, but this is a lot tougher than it sounds. Be careful on this one… it’s super tricky!
This is a great project guys! It may take a little time and effort to get the stuff to do it, but ask your parents or another adult for help and it will be much easier to get the parts.
Car washes, restaurants, pickle processors all will have these barrels. Just look around. You’ll be surprised.
go green!!!
cool status
its kind of nerdy but cool
You can get your rain barrel at a full service car wash.
this is so fun
Higuy, It Says Ask A Resturant!!
cool )= -o
Im going to start to build this today. What a way to conserve water!!!!
this is really cool i never thought to do this this is a really good idea i really like it. i am going to build one for my family
Wow! Sounds great! Mabey I can make one in less a hour!
wow maybe i can get my awesome troop leader to get my aesome troop members to do this
i think it is a totally rad way of saving H2O
this is fun
man how do i get all that stuff
this is very cool and very usefull
this is a great project.yes , i am green.i agree w/higuy-where will i get a barrel?
Where should I get a barrel?
looks like im the first one
not what i expected
lol