Are you longing to get your hands in the dirt? I have found something new to bide my time until spring — making my own worm bin.

Unlike a new puppy, worms are quiet, friendly and will not make messes on the carpet. They will gladly eat your table scraps and will not break occasionally, like the disposal. The castings they produce are worth their weight in gold to the garden (and the gardener).

Here’s how to make a worm bin of your own:

Start with a small plastic bin; around 10 gallons is ideal. Purchase an opaque bin or cover clear plastic with paint or fabric to block light from the bin.

While you are at the store, pick up a small piece of fiberglass window screen and some glue or duct tape. The amount of screen depends on the bin’s size.

Drill several holes in the lid. A three-quarter inch drill bit works great for this task, but any size hole is fine. Another option is to very carefully cut square or rectangular holes with a razor knife. For a 10-gallon bin, 10 to 12 holes are adequate, evenly spacing them across the lid.

Next, cover each hole with a 2-inch square of fiberglass screen. Glue or tape the edges of the screen to the bin to allow the worms to get air.

If you want to drill holes in the bottom of the container for drainage, you may do so, but you will need to set the bin in a tray. Another lid usually works well, or a foil pan. If you opt not to install drainage, limit the amount of liquids added to the bin.

Shredded newspaper (but not the glossy paper) is perfect for bedding as long as you finish reading the instructions before you start tearing. An easy way to determine how much bedding is needed is to multiply the number of gallons of the bin by 0.4. The result is the number of pounds of paper to add. A 10-gallon bin needs 4 pounds of bedding to be comfortable.

Dampen the shredded paper until it feels like a wrung-out sponge. Use a plastic bag or wet the paper in the sink before placing it in the bin to ease the removal of excess moisture. Too much water in the bottom of the bin could cause worms to drown.

Once the damp shredded paper is placed in the bin, add one to two handfuls of soil from the yard or garden to help the worms digest food.

Now the bin is ready for worms. Nightcrawlers (available at most bait shops) are OK, but they prefer temperatures around 50 degrees, so they would need to be in an unfinished basement or old refrigerator. If you plan to keep the bin in your home or office, use red wigglers or red worms, which also eat more and reproduce faster than nightcrawlers.

Red wigglers may be available locally later this year, but at present time, they must be ordered from a worm farm for around $15 to $20 for 500.

Add the worms to the bin and start feeding. They love fruits and veggies, grains, coffee grounds and tea. Steer clear of meats, citrus fruits, dairy products and oily/greasy foods. Bury the food 3 to 4 inches deep in the bedding and add it in different places within the bin rather than the same spot every time. Five hundred wigglers eat up to a half pound of scraps a day.

After three to four months, you’ll have nutrient-rich worm castings to add to potted plants and/or the garden. After cleaning the castings from the bin and separating out the worms, re-stock the bin with bedding and you are ready to go again.