A few years ago I invested in some Indian runner ducks because I wanted to do quite a lot of baking and needed duck eggs. My Indian runners were always hanging around the muck heap, burying their beaks in it with relish. I discovered that the main attraction for them were all the worms that were thriving in the muck and it gave me an idea which has paid dividends when it comes to compost for my vegetables, fruit bushes and plants in general.

Watching my ducks I decided to build myself a wormery and I intended to use my worm compost on my garden and vegetable patch. Of course, worm composting is a very old method that has been used for ages and today it is an extremely lucrative and popular way for many people to make money. But I am talking about ten years ago when I first built mine.

Worm compost is one the best natural fertilisers you could ever come across but the trick is to use this very sparingly as it is very potent. Worms can and do convert organic waste into the best fertilizer known and every worm can convert their own weight of waster every single day so you can really make quite a lot of it.

My wormery is not as high tech as many you can now buy, but it works really well as it helps get rid of a lot of my kitchen waste (a lot also goes to the chickens) it turns it into fantastic compost for my vegetable plot and garden too. I just use the castings, the worm poo, but a lot of people make worm tea called casting tea. You have to use either of these really sparingly and to remember that a little goes a long way when it comes to worm compost.

The results have always been quite amazing and my vegetables have very often been incredible. But I do have to say that I still use good old horse muck and my chicken droppings on certain of my plants and vegetables that is after it has really rotted down well. The biggest problem I have ever had with my wormery is to stop the duck getting in it, which they have done on several occasions.