The incredible, neglectable worm

[Jay Blair]

In January I used some womcast to sprout some vegetable seeds for a gemination test before transplanting. Although I harvested the worms out of it, I didn't concern myself with any cocoons in the mix.

After getting the sprouts out of the 3 saucer covered bowls in February, I left the bowls on the counter in the store room with the saucer lids in place, intending to drop the leaves and worm dirt back in a bin later.

Well 60 days later, I found that there was still sufficient moisture to have kept it wet and I harvested 42 worms up to an inch long from the three bowls and the leaf mulch in the mix was all consumed.

For gasps and gigles I added the 42 "lost boys" to a fresh prepped bin to see what sort of stock they produce in a year.

So you newbies keep in mind, the Eisenia fetida manure worm while having a unique order, is dang near indestructable.

[betho]

How interesting. I'm going to do an experiment this summer - I'm going to grow potatoes in a trash can full of sawdust (with about 1 ft of potting soil/castings mix at the bottom). I'm thinking about throwing some of my frozen scraps in there as well with a handful of worms. As long as I keep the sawdust damp I bet the worms would still be able to live, who knows!

After I harvest my potatoes, I plan on throwing all of my other dead plants in the can as well, mixing it up a bit, putting a few more worms in there, and leaving them to overwinter. I might check a few times to make sure there's good enough moisture but I'm curious to see what they could do over a whole season.

[richard]

Jay,
I'm brand new, having joined awhile back, 5/15 as a matter of fact. I've looked at all the web sites and bought 3 books so I could to find out everything I feel like I need to become a success at growing worms. I've dug a few night crawlers and know that that is not the way to go... I've seen several sites that advertise worms by the pound (1000 or so red worms), but when I checked with them, they didn't have any. Do you know of any place or places that I may purchase a pound.
Thanks,
richard

[Jay Blair]

richard,
The approach to worm farming that I endorse is cultivation from small quantities of Eisenia fetida either bought as "red wiggler" bait or harvested from piles of horse or cow manure that has aged one to two years.

I feel that using two to three cups of bait purchased locally provides a new grower with a more viable stock in relationship to their region in addition to a less costly introduction to worm farming.

In my opinion its better to invest $20 which includes worms and bins and spend a year cultivating and growing a herd while you learn to properly care for the bins and stock than risking an investment of $50 or more on just the worms if you dont perfect your technique.

The time spent cultivating your stock will also provide you an opportunity to evaluate local marketability.

Using two or 3 cups of $2 bait purchased locally will give you an idea of what the competion in your area offers in the way of product quality, # per container and price.

Most of all remember that commercial worm sellers marketing start up worm farms are generally as car salesmen and will try to put a lot of extras on you.

One commercial farm in the midwest while having nightcrawlers for $30 a pound plus s & h, also will agressively market their proprietary growers manual for over $250. The same information can be acquired by checking out the various worm farming books stocked at your library and participating in discussion forums as this and The Worm Bin for free.

So save your money and take your time . Build an inexpensive bin as this

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

buy $6 worth of locally grown worms and start teaching yourself to be a worm farmer. As it grows, let the worms pay for their own expansions and keep your cash in your pocket.

[tt]

Jay in some ways i agree with you. If your just going to raise some worms then get your few cups of redworms or go hunting in manure piles but a lot of manure piles dont have reds.

A new person going into worms is going to have to decide where they are going with the worms.

I sure would not recommend buying a lot of worms and trying to read a book or even a couple of books and hope you do okay

Ive read a few of those books and they have some good info but they also have some bad info that never gets changed.

There is a big difference between raising a few lbs of worms or thousands of pounds of worms

As you know i compost 12 tons a month and it is costly I pick it up. Im spending 80 dollars every two days for gas and wear and tear on my truck.
and my body
I also am working 90 plus hours per week.

If i were to write a manual and try and sell it I sure would think i deserve the money that I would sell it for.

I pay to heat my one building all winter and that is 7 or 8 months of the year here.

My other site is not on the grid so i dont pay to heat it.

Raising worms on a large scale is a lot of work and very expensive

If your trying to make living from it it is tough and lots of work.

Buying a few cups of worms would take a long time if your looking at any type of income from it.

I would never be able to go that way . Just not in my nature.

[Jay Blair]

tt,
Another advantage that I see to cultivation is that it can grow as the growers capabilities grow. When the farm grows to the 80 to 90 hour a week level its time to add help or sell off compnents.

I totally agree with you on the misinformation incusions in the pulications. Take the worm bin site I referenced above. The bin design I find acceptable. The feeding information on the website I do not totally agree with. I have discovered thst meat and cheese can easily be used in worm bins with puree bending, ageing and a second blending with equal portion of water before addition to the worm bins.

[richard]

Jay & tt:
Thanks for the insight. It makes a lot of sense to start little and learn what works and then if the opportunity presents itself to increase "production" if that is really what I want. I don't think that I want to do the 80 to 90 hrs/week. The website does have an excellent and simple wormbin. Thanks for the advice!!!!

Richard

[tt]

some figures to look at . Once again if you want a hobby start small . If your looking to have some spending money then a couple of cups of worms will take forever I agree at starting small but !
1 lb. will only produce about 10 lbs. per year
10 lbs. will produce 100 lbs. per year
100 lbs. will produce 1,000 lbs. per year

[Jay Blair]

tt,
The figures you reference are why I endorse cultivation from a 100 approx count (2 to 3 bait cups in most market areas) starter sample over a 18 to 48 month period. While a grower is developing their skills of containment worm farming , they can gradually develop their markets so that when they have that 1000 pounds of marketable product they are better prepared and have a minimal overhead investment.

[pharmerphil]

Jay, that sounds like the way to go, I want to learn as much as possible, I live in Minnesota, and basically have a year round market for worms, have already set in motion plans for raising "meal worms" which is the most desired bait here in the winters, and bait shops pay to have them shipped in, have a friend who is very tight with the owners of most bait outlets in the area.

[priswell]

I started with about 200 worms. I bought 2 cups of red worms at a pet supply store, and set them up in a ~10 gal. redwood planter.

In a year, the planter was full, and I divided the population. Half stayed in the planter, the other half made a home in a ground pile in the corner of the back yard. That year the population exploded. Eventually, I started another pile. Now I have 2 smaller bins and one HUGE one. I must have about a million worms by now. If not a million, they're missing a good opportunity <g>.

One of the smaller piles is my "nursery", because it seems to have the best growing conditions and I have to keep reducing the population by redistributing the worms to the other piles.

All of the worms came from the original 200, and we compost about half of our total garbage output. It took me longer, but I figure with optimum growing conditions, you could get to the point I'm at in about 3 years, with the amount we started with.

I tend to agree with Jay on starting amounts. Maybe not start with only 200 worms, but there's wisdom in starting with a smaller amount, say a pound or two - or three, and building from there, even if you want to become the Donald Trump of Earthworm Farming. There's a learning curve of experience that just must be gone through, even after reading all there is to read on raising earthworms. I read plenty gobs before I bought my first worms.

When I first divided my population, it was a disaster. The newer pile went acid from too much food, too much water, not enough air, and in the end, I just buried it all and started over. Along the way, I had a few more mishaps with a few successive piles and bins, but eventually, I got a feel for how to do it with my equipment, in my chosen bin medium, in my climate.

I could have killed off a ~$100+ investment, but as it was, I was only out about $10, if you include the redwood bin.

[pharmerphil]

Very interesting, I have much to learn

[Jay Blair]

Phrmerphil,
I been doing it nearly all my life and I'm still learning too.

[pharmerphil]

Jay, if you are anything like Me, thats what makes it interesting.
I been gardening all my life, raised poor, still poor.
Gardening was not only a way of life, it was FOOD for life.
I'm nearin' 53, and I still have never tasted canned corn!
Now I know alot of folks who hate gardening, mostly because they were made to work in the garden as kids...well, it was not for Hobby that my folks gardened, and I could pull the "I was a child GARDEN SLAVE" _{(Hey, maybe a t.v. mini-series)}
as quick, or quiker than most folks...But I love it, and anything to do with Mother Earth....
Who was that who said ''Although an Old Man, I am but a Young Gardener"...Jefferson I believe!

[Jay Blair]

I was taught to keep an acre of ground, small house with a well and wood heat paid for because in the worse of times you can "till right up to the back door" if need be.

My dogs and I now live in a 1920s era cabin turned into a six room farmhouse in the 40s and 50s with a shallow well off the front porch , sitting on the top knoll of a two terraced 1.8 acre piece of ground with 3 oak trees over the house. The perfect enviroment to raise bait in.