Newbie on Board!

[4wigglers]

Guidance needed for a new adventure into the world of worming. I am out west looking for a way to get away with farming in the city. Here, city ordinances have taken away rights to raise livestock, but not rights to rabbits, chickens, dogs and cats, yet.
I would greatly appreciate any and all information and input from you here on this forum.
I would really love to visit working worm farms or retired worm farmers with great advice to give about this subject.
Thanx for any useful information, advice, instructions, warnings, suggestions and encouragements.

Do Not Postpone Joy

[tt]

Hi and welcome to the board. I started small in the country then moved to the city. I had hundreds of bins in my house at one time. I never got caught with them but they are moved now. But I filled three bedrooms and part of the living room and my kitchen just everywhere. I had to sleep on a couch. People never wanted to visit me . i sure dont know why.
Anyway i would start small and slowly increase unless you have alot of room. or access to enough food.

[Jay Blair]

4wigglers,

We can help you cultivate and grow so that to visit an established worm farm you only have to go to your worming area in a year or so.

If you ask the questions, we will do our best to share our experiences. Then you customize them to your application.

Soon you can be the worm farm to visit that you seek.

First step is to develop a starter bin.

www.whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/Easywormbin.htm

Has a nice inexpensive bin design. While I like the bin design and agree that their feeding suggestions are suitable, there are a few feeding point that I do not agree with.

Although I do not agree with all the feeding guidelines included in the above site, I do feel the list is a good discussion starting point.

I would also suggest that you check out a copy of the book "Worms eat my garbage" by the late Mary Apelhoff.

I do not totally agree with Ms Apelhoffs positions on vermiculture totally either, however, it is a widely used reference source in vermiculture study and provides sufficient introduction to many aspects of vermiculture so that current worm raisers can discuss and develop evolving technique.

I have been involved in worm raising since the early 1990s and am always evolving my technique and altering my position on worm raising based on new developments.

The only position I have truly held to is that there is no need for large initial cash investment or a necessity to deal with commercial farms offering worm start up packages unless that is what a new grower chooses after they have been introduced to the cultivation approach that I endorse and have evaluated all of their options.

So feel free to ask your questions as they arise and we will do our best to help you with your vermiculture education.

Jay

[4wigglers]

Thanx for the endless information here. I have been reading
many of the older postings and have gleaned much from the websites in them.
I think I am officially "in the worm farming business" now.
A super rain brought up a gazillion worms onto freshly mown lawn grass. I was able to gather up about 10 pounds in one hour. That was the most I had ever seen on the earths surface here. It was as though the heavens opened to give me enough worms to get this started.
I will have to research as to what kind they really are, but for now I am calling them night crawlers.
I see on the calendar, you have suffered another birthday.
I hope all went well for you on that day.