I found some great ideas online and combined them as well as took some excellent advice from a knowledgeable coworker, Viet, on composting with worms. I built a 3'x3' container from ceder wood and 3/4" hole size galvanized wire mesh. This large composter is for yard debris and the front slots are removable so when the compost is ready it is easy to shovel out. On top I built an interlocking tray system that composts kitchen scraps (no fats, meats, dairy) only raw vegetables, rinsed egg shells, and coffee grounds. Underneath the bottom tray is a screen to keep the worms from escaping yet allows the "worm tea" juices drip onto the main composting materials. The lid keeps the moisture in, pests out as well as worm hunting birds out. I did end up with an unexpected resident, BSF or black soldier fly larve (maggots) which I was initially concerned about, but they compost even better the the worms and are not a pest since they prefer rotting vegetables as apposed to manure and rancid meat their cleaner and not attracted to coming into your house as a nuisance. Since they spend 90% of their life as a larve and 10% as a fly (mimicking a wasp) with no mouth and only seaking a mate and to lay eggs they are very useful and easy to get a long with.
