Breeding Worms

Breeding worms or worm farming is an absolutely brilliant way to improve your bustle pressure many ways.

You fulfill to gain a number of things out of starting adulthood your grant worm farm. Breeding worms is in case a very easy thing to rack up again if you follow some simple steps you cede find yourself the happy owner of a small home business pull a intensely succinct space of time.

The biggest advantage that you will sign from your worm breeding efforts would speak for famously improved reputation of all the plants fame your garden. Your vegetable patch will fast alter to the envy of every single person that sees or tastes your produce.

Worm farming is tidily the breeding of worms in a controlled environment.

You fancy to keep a careful, eye on factors like temperature, moisture again ph balance. However if you get the system fully set evolving next instructions, in consequence you will very swiftly jewel yourself the innkeeper of a business that is very easy to run.

The worms produce a liquid waste called worm cocktails again it is this liquid that is so highly sought out by gardeners and farmers alike.

You cede find a ready market for your worm tea. A small worm farm would juicy produce 2 liters of "tea" a tempo again that would be from a one "bucket'" farm. You could fairly easily run whereas bounteous as 10 of these small farms on a paltry balcony. Therefore if you consider the scalability of this business then you can hastily dream of the potential.

Finally I really need to apprise you that ace are some simple factors that you committal regulate closely. If you are using a thermostatically controlled system, whence you will have less risk with variables affecting your farm.

Naturally the country that you potent connections will play a huge role in factors like the price that you will win for your compost besides how cold your weather gets.

Do it for fun, do it seeing profit, perfect it for your health or adjust it for your planet - but, DO IT.

Worm Farms

Compost worms are amongst our favourite backyard buddies, as they turn our household food scraps into 'black gold. Worm castings are phenomenal soil improvers. We spread worm castings over the veggies beds, and around our fruit trees from the base of the trunk to well past the drip line. They're much better than any other animal manure. And they have no smell, which keeps the neighbours on side!

Can of Worms

We found a great system to start out with is the 'can of worms.' This worm home is a system of trays, shown in the picture above. You feed your worms in the top tray, and harvest castings from the lower trays.

Bathtub System

To get the worm castings really cranking, worm houses made from old bathtubs are the way to go. We set ours up on a frame for easy access.

To make sure our wormies don't go walkabout, or drown, we put a 5cm layer of gravel at the bottom of the tub. Over the top of the gravel, we put a weed matt and some washed river sand to make sure there is no mixing between the valuable worm castings and the gravel.

Ventilation and aeration is critical. Wormies need to be able to breathe easy! One way we increased air flow was by cutting 6 slits in the bottom of the tub. We also have gaps between the tub and the lid, to allow oxygen to pass across the top of the worm farm, but still keep out excess water during heavy rains. And we areate the worm bed whenever we feed the worms, or add water to the system, by lightly 'fluffing' the material in the bed with our hands or a trowel.

Homegrown Nightcrawlers

There are many ways to have nightcrawlers ready to go for your next fishing trip. One of the oldest and most used methods has been a crawler bin at your home. This can be as simple as a 3x3x3 planter box or even ½ a wine barrel filled with good soil. Try to stay away from unnatural materials like metal or plastic, as they can heat up faster than containers made from natural materials. If you plan on having your box above ground, remember that crawlers prefer the dark. So don't use transparent materials.

My grandpa had a box buried in the ground in back of his house. He had strategically placed it near the house, in a shadier flowerbed. This method accomplished a couple of things. First, it kept the worms in a central location and ready to quickly dig up on his next fishing trip. Second, it insured that the worms would not get too hot in the summer months. And third, the out of the way location meant nobody would trip and fall into it. If you decide to put your box in the ground, be sure not to have to soil go all the way to the top or your worms will pull a Houdini and escape.

After each fishing trip, Grandpa would put the unused nightcrawlers into the box. This way he always had crawlers on hand for the next fishing trip. That is one way to stock your worm box. The other is to order a batch of worms from a worm farm. Regardless how you decide to start your worm box, putting the unused worms from your trips in will help keep worms ready to go.

I've heard it said that a ratio acceptable to a happy worm bin is 1 to 4. So let's say that 1/2 pound of worms would be happy in a box that was about 2 cubic feet. Remember too that worms need a good size surface area for oxygen to get to them. Also, for goodness sake, don't forget to drill some holes in the bottom and sides for water drainage. This also is good for some air, if your box is above ground. Newspaper ripped in strips helps to protect the worms and keep moisture in the ground.

There are plenty of companies
that sell worm bedding and even food supplements. As with any living thing you care for, taking a little time to read up on it will insure a successful situation. This also applies to worms. Remember...fish don't like dead worms. Give them a "box" lunch instead!

Worms - Some Interesting Facts

Interesting facts about worms you may not know


Worms are invertebrates, that is they have a long, soft body and no back bone or legs! They do not have a brain but do have a nerve centre (called a ganglia). They do not have eyes but are sensitive to light.

Worms either move by stretching and contracting their muscles or some only move using the movement of other creatures or the soil movement.

Worms come in all sorts of sizes from tiny little thin things to very big ones. Guess how big you think the largest earth worm might be?

The largest earth worm is the giant Gippsland, it lives in Australia and can grow to about 3 metres in length, it is a protected and endangered species as many have been killed by farming methods.

There are hundreds of thousands of species of worms and about 2,700 are earth worms. Earth worms have been around for 120 million years! That’s quite a long time, they were even around when the dinosaurs were here!


Dendrobaena worms are native to the UK. They live in the top 2-10 cm of the soil and have a good and varied diet, thus why they are favourite for wormeries.

Darwin described the earth worm as “the intestines of the earth”

Did you know that a Tonne of these worms can eat a tonne of green and kitchen waste in 1 – 4 days!!!! Not a lot of people know that. They basically can eat their own body weight in this time, Imagine a human of 60 kg (10 Stone) doing that!!!!

They like most things we like but are not partial to onions, garlic leaks etc. They also do not like anything high in acidity, so oranges, tomatoes, grapefruit etc are not suitable for a wormery as the increase in acidity can kill them also they just wont eat it!

One of their favourite food is Poo! They just love horse manure, to them this is the same as us going for a favourite Chinese dinner!

If you think of archeologists when they dig up ancient bodies etc there is usually nothing left except, bones, metal or stone objects, this is because the worms and other tiny life in the soil eat almost everything else!

Worms are hermaphrodites, that is to say each worm is both male and female, but they can cross fertilize. Two worms will wriggle together, go all wet and slimely (bit like humans) and both will produce an egg. The ring around the worm, about 1 third down from its head end is called the Clitellum, often referred to as the saddle. The saddle is where the worm eggs are made,

After mating the clitellum forms a shell around the worm cells and “rolls” itself over the head of the worm making the egg capsule, called a Cocoon.

Each worm will produce between 1 and 2 cocoons per week.

Each cocoon will contain between 1 and 7 hatchlings, always an odd number usually 3 or 5.

The eggs can lie dormant for up to a year, hatching only when the conditions are favourable. They like a temperature of between 15 and 22 degrees.

When hatched the hatchlings are tiny, about 2mm in length and the with of a fine pencil line!

The hatchlings develop and are fully sexually mature at about 16 weeks; this is when they develop their clitella and can start mating and producing eggs.

In 1881 Charles Darwin wrote:-
“It may be doubted whether there are many other animals which have played so important a part in the history of the world, as have these lowly organized creatures”

Go Green with Worm Composting

It's estimated that last year in the United States, 21 million tons of food waste was burned or dumped into landfills. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimated that over 64% of the waste generated in the United States is organic.

Instead of disposing of these materials in landfills, they can be recycled, composted, or
vermicomposted.

You can recycle your waste with the help of worms. Vermicomposting (composting with worms) turns many kinds of kitchen waste into a nutritious fertilizer for plants. When worm compost is added to soil, it increases the nutrients to plants and enhances soil texture and drainage.

Using worms to decompose food waste offers these advantages:

* It reduces kitchen garbage disposal costs;
* It produces less odor and attracts fewer pests than putting food scraps into a garbage container;
* It reduces the cost of water and electricity that kitchen sink garbage disposal units use;
* It produces a free, high-quality soil (compost);
* It doesn't take much space, labor, or maintenance;
* It produces free worms for fishing.

What type of earthworm should I use for vermicomposting?

Of the 4,000+ species of earthworms, only half a dozen of them are suitable for
vermicomposting. The most commonly used species is Eisenia fetida (Red wigglers).

Where do I obtain Eisenia fetida earthworms for vermicomposting?

Don't buy vermicomposting worms from a bait shop. You need at least 1,000 worms, and bait shops only sell about a dozen worms per cup. Buy them in bulk (roughly 1,000 earthworms per pound) from a worm grower.

How often do I feed the worms?

Feedstock throughput in vermiculture is based roughly on how many worms you have. Eisenia fetida will consume 50% to 100% of their body weight per day. Assume the worms will eat half of their body weight each day. The number of worms you have is measured in pounds; there are approximately 1,000 red wigglers per pound . So, one pound of worms can consume half a pound of food per day in the proper conditions.

Earth Worm

Earth worms are mysterious to most people. They are deep in the earth working for us with out anyone really noticing. Worm farms are a new way to learn more about worms and get rewards from their castings while also recycling your food scraps.

Worm-farming involves the use of special breeds of composting worms and this kind of farming can be implemented on any sized scale. Vermiculture can be pursued as a pass-time for homeowners that want to start their own soil rich vegetable gardens or for farmers that produce foods on large scale.

If you are less than excited with idea of having hundreds of worms around your home, you need not worry. To make this compost does not need much direct contact with the worms. All you need is to provide them with a comfortable home inside the bin, as well as a healthy diet of foods for them to chow on.

Red worms or Eisenia foetida is a species of earthworm adapted to the environment of decaying organic material1. Rotting vegetation, compost and manure are its ideal companions. It is very popular for its innate ability to convert organic material into compost and is usually the species used for worm composting.

You see, most worms normally found in garden soil normally live quite a bit deeper in the soil than the preferred composting type. These garden worms prefer the nutrients found deep in the soil, so that's why they like to habitate there.

Worm farming is actually less expensive and less dangerous than your average farm. After all, you don't need tons of employees and expensive equipment to have a worm farm. You can have your own little worm farm for your own personal benefits. Encourage your kids to join in and use it in class for show-and-tell time.

Healthy and robust roses require only four simple things to flourish and produce beautiful blossoms: good soil, plenty of sun, adequate water, and a balanced feeding routine. Perfect these factors and you are home free.

So how do you start a worm farm? Before you go off and catch some worms here are a couple of basic things you should know about worm farming. First off you need to pick the site of where you want your worm farm to be. Remember that worms don't like the heat so make sure to pick a nice cool and shady spot for your worm farm.

Worm composting is being seen more and more as a way to help our environment and reduce waste. The City of Oakland in California has a recycling program expressly for food waste. (It supplies the bin and you supply the organic garbage.)

Worm fishing becomes as much of an art as fly fishing when a set of gang hooks and ultra light gear are used. So what is a set of gang hooks? A set of gang hooks is simply two small hooks tied in tandem. You see, two small hooks tied in tandem allow the angler to present the worm in a completely natural way.

If you are knowledgeable in the dietary habits of worms a few examples of these include coffee grounds or tea leaves, smashed egg shells, fruit peel, hair, stale cookies and cakes, wood dust, plate scraps, moist cardboard, vacuum cleaner debris and vegetable scraps.

How To Grow Your Own Organic Worms - Your Silent Workforce

The main work worms do in your garden is tilling and aerating the soil. They burrow very deep, leaving channels through the soil that break up clods and allow air to enter and water to penetrate and drain away.
In the process of eating at the surface and eliminating lower down, they introduce organic matter to the deeper levels and steadily increase the depth of topsoil. Their main role is to digest decomposing organic matter, converting it quickly into a form plants can use as nutrients.
It is important to maintain good soil structure when gardening organically. Unlike mechanical tillers, earthworms do not damage the soil by inverting it, creating hardpans or breaking up the crumb structure. They never have mechanical breakdowns, they do not create noise or pollution, and they use garbage for fuel - an excellent way to dispose of your kitchen scraps, especially if you live in an apartment.

DIY Worm Farming

Commercial worm farms are very practical, widely available, easy to use and are quite aesthetically pleasing. You usually buy them with a small supply of worms to get you started. Choose either Red Worms or Tiger Worms. However, if you already have a suitable 'home' for your worms you don't need to spend the extra money.

A pair of old concrete laundry tubs in a shady spot near your kitchen door or close to your propagating area (or both) is ideal. Have the tubs elevated to make collection of the fertilizer easy. Leave the plugs out and put a strainer in the hole so that any excess water can drain.
Fill the first tub with compost and mix in a handful of dolomite or agricultural lime, along with about a half a bucket of soil. Place a bucket under the plug-hole and water this mix with a fine spray until it is quite saturated and starting to drip into your bucket.
Tip in your starter population of worms and cover the surface with an old hessian sack, wet cardboard, old carpet or similar. Worms usually live underground so they thrive in an environment that is cool, dark and moist. You can purchase a tub of 500 - 1000 worms to get started. They are available from professional worm breeders and can be sent through the mail. Many garden supply centres will also have them.
A close-fitting solid lid on your farm will suffocate your worms, so you need to fit a fly-mesh or shade-cloth screened lid to keep out flies and other insects.
For the first month you need do nothing except make sure the farm is kept quite moist, but not awash. Once the farm is settled in you should not need to add extra water. If your farm is exposed to rain, make sure the plug is left out or your worms will drown.
The compost itself will feed the worms for quite a long time, but to get maximum breeding it is best to add some supplementary feed every few days, especially as the population starts to increase. Add a dessert-spoon-full of lime or dolomite to each kilo of food.
You can vary their feed by rotating between:
- a bucket half-filled with water and cow or horse manure, mixed to a slop and poured over the surface;
- a blender filled with household scraps(not citrus or onion peel or meat) blended to a slop and poured over the surface;
- rotten potatoes, pumpkin or fruit, just placed on the surface;
- half a bucketful of new compost, spread over the surface.

Worms also like:
• soaked and ripped pizza boxes
• shredded and soaked cardboard, paper
• leaves, dirt, hair, egg shells

Worms do not have teeth, so scraps should be cut into small pieces - waste from a vegetable juicer is ideal.
Plants from the onion family (including garlic, leeks and shallots) and citrus fruits contain volatile oils. If any of these are included in the food scraps the worms will climb out of their housing to get away from the smell.
Within a few months the tub should be filled with a writhing mass of worms, and it's time to colonise the second tub.

Half-fill the second tub with the same mixture of compost, lime and soil. Put a strainer in the plug-hole and water the mixture until saturated.
Burrow down to the plug-hole in the first tub and put in the plug. Set a hose to just dribbling into the first tub until it is half-full, being VERY careful not to forget it and fill it right up. Leave the hessian on top to exclude light. The worms in your first tub will all migrate into the top half to avoid drowning.
Scoop them out and, reserving some to put in the garden, transfer them to the second tub. Let the plug out of the first tub and drain into a bucket. You are left with a bucket full of very, very rich liquid fertilizer and a tub half full of worm castings.
From now on you should be able to repeat this process every month or so, transferring about a third of the worms out into your garden or feeding them to the chooks each time. This will also ensure that you always have a supply of excellent liquid fertilizer available as well as the rich worm castings. Your plants will thrive!

Compost Tea - The Tea Of Worms Explained

It is perfectly a very simple process with a couple of not so simple steps if you have never done it before. Basically, the vermicast is entrench leisure activity a bleed like a nylon and added to a jug of water and oxygenated in order to encourage microbes within the mixture to flourish and grow. Some additional ingredients to enter to this tea include molasses or sea kelp. The oxygenation process will continue through about a day or sometimes longer.

So the eventual time that you turn up about a personal social that can enhance the growth of your crops, make your fodder grace better, and increase your overall yields, you will not conclude about the kind of tea that you sip quietly at the scullery table, but of natures key that is habituated to us by burning worms to succour full organic gardeners evolve more vast crops called compost tear.

A Worm Farm Business Explained

Worm farming, Worm tea and vermiculture are fast becoming the most popular home and garden hobby of all time. (Vermiculture = a worm breeding farm)

Economic factors combined with the simple fact that the awareness of the health of this planet has led the mass movement towards an overall healthier way of living. A lot of people are looking at organic living in all its different forms. Worm farming has fallen directly within that category. The very simplicity of the system allows everybody to keep their own small or large worm farm running in their own homes.

Worm tea is simply the watered down fluids that run through the farming system that allows the "tea" or liquid compost to be so powerful. An average worm farm would produce at the very least 2 liters of tea per week. People are doing this farming idea for a number of reasons, and the two most popular reasons are either for profit or to produce better and better healthy crops in their own gardens.

The profit side is obvious as the worms duplicate themselves very quickly and the more you have the more "tea" you will produce and be able to sell. Naturally you would be making money from the sale of the worms themselves too.
From the other side of it all you would be able to produce bumper crops of specific fruits and vegetables almost at will. From my own personal experience I can absolutely promise you that correctly done compost grown vegetables will grow faster, bigger and longer that if you simply made a feeble effort.

What you then do is to grow a collection of organically grown fruits and vegetables that are in demand.
All of these benefits from a worm business? Yes. And a resounding yes - at that. The worm business will run with very little maintenance and low costs. Anyone can do it, and there are no problems like smelly things. (The worm farm in fact has a pleasant forest smell if any smell at all.)

Now for the bad news

There are some basic rules that you will need to follow as the balance of the worms' environment is important. There are certain waste materials that you can feed the worms without any worry at all and others that will kill all your worms quickly. I heard of one place that put an old pair of pants in a worm farm and only the buttons and zips remained. However on the other end of the scale things like pineapple are extremely bad for your worm farm.
So to end I would highly suggest that you get yourself involved in the joys of setting up and running your own worm farm. Do it for fun or as a business. For whichever reasons that you use the environment will be an added winner in your planning.

Stacked Tire Worm Farm

Have you ever given a thought to what it must be like to be a child sitting in a dusty drab schoolroom, trying desperately to concentrate, while hunger gnaws continually at your belly. This is the daily reality for many African children, both in remote rural communities and also in the ghastly shack-towns that surround the major cities. Jobs are a rarity, families are under stress and there just is never any money, period! Worst of all, this situation is not going to change anytime soon. Probably not in our lifetime!

Concerned people, both local and outsiders realize that international food aid can only go so far and often dries up, just when it is most needed, as in the current international financial crisis. To survive, the communities have to find a way to help themselves. Intervention at a local level is needed. One solution to the problem is to promote food gardens at the schools themselves - run jointly by the community, the parents , the teachers and mostly by the children themselves. Labor is freely available and skills can be taught, but the problem is that what little money that can be collected must go towards buying tools, seeds and fertilizer. The tools would be unsophisticated and can be donated or borrowed. Some seed would have to be bought, but in part it can be collected from the last crop. Fertilizer is always the main problem. In many areas soils are very impoverished and would yield little.

This is where worm composting can lend a hand. Vermiculture produces high quality organic fertilizer that can be 20 times higher in nutriments than natural soil and brings trace elements and beneficial micro organisms to the roots of the crops, while simultaneously improving the disease resistance and moisture retention of poor soils. Crops grown using vermicompost will be fully organic and organic food is far healthier than any commercially grown products. Providing fodder for the worms is no problem, there are always organic wastes to be collected, in the form of animal dung, crop trash, paper or fallen leaves. Of the many types of vermiculture systems available , the stacked tire worm farm, which costs nothing to set up, is the most appropriate solution . We have described the setting up and operation of this simple system in detail on our web site at http://www.working-worms.com/

In brief, all the children need to do, is to collect discarded old tires and stack them upon a drainage board, as described in the article, and then begin feeding in organic waste from the top. The compost worms, will naturally migrate upwards towards the food, leaving their faeces (worm castings) behind them. The vermicompost is harvested by pulling out the lower tire from the bottom. The tire is emptied of compost and then it goes back to the top of the stack again and so on. The beauty of this system is that it costs nothing to set up and can be replicated many times over, to create multiple sets of individual worm farms to whatever scale is appropriate. All that is needed is a small amount of training and a supply of suitable compost worms - usually eisinia fetida (red wigglers), which can be donated from other schools, already on the programme, or from concerned individuals.

Stacked Tire Worm Composting is an appropriate low tech solution to a widespread Third World problem. It is a technology that does not require constant cash injections and can be fully run by the communities themselves. Besides everything else, the children will have a great deal of fun worm farming and will learn something useful. Best of all they will be doing something positive to improve their own lot, without relying on any handouts. This builds up human dignity. "Give a man a fish and you feed him today , teach him to fish and you feed him always".

Think about it - maybe there is something you can do to help.

Compost Tea

Compost tea or worm tea is made by steeping vermicompost (or other compost) in water for a period of time. The resulting liquid (or compost tea) is then used as a fertilizer for plants or as a prevention against plant disease. Compost tea is just another powerful outcome from having a worm farm.

Worm castings and vermicompost are an amazing product of worms. Worms eat, then produce this vermicompost; also referred to as worm castings (worm poop!). Therefore, this is a the end product of worms breaking down organic matter which is very nutrient rich.

Compost tea is typically used as a fertilizer. The use of this fertilizer requires a great amount of knowledge and skill. If used on edible plants one should avoid spraying directly on edible parts of the plant. In fact, the US National Organic Program has very strict guidelines on the use of compost tea for USDA certified organic farming. In addition, it takes some trial and error before you are able to find the proper amounts of compost tea to use. Composting is a complex process and in particular compost tea is not fully understood by everyone.

In addition to fertilizer; compost tea has also been used as a way to prevent plant disease. The use of it to prevent disease in plants is an extremely complex biological process. Steven Scheuerell and Walter Mahaffee of the Department of Horticluture at Oregon State University have given a more detailed presentation on: Compost Tea for Plant Disease Control: Production, Application, and Results.

It is possible to build your own machine or "brewing barrel". Many "do-it-yourselfers" have taken this route. In addition, there are lots of barrels produced commercially as well.

The process of actually making this product depends on its purpose. There are several kinds of compost tea all of which are processed differently. Some of the variables are the amount of Vermicompost, amount of water, amount of time allowed to steep, amount of aeration, method of aeration, application, and other ingredients.

Worm Farming, The Easy Way

If you don't feel like making your own worm farm, they are easy to find. Available from some hardware shops, local councils or even online, worm farms are very popular.

But if you can get hold of four crates or storage boxes , you are well on your way. The boxes will be stacked on top of one another, so make sure the bottom one is waterproof with no holes and large enough to take the weight of the other boxes when filled with soil. The other three boxes need holes in them or perforations, so that the worms can move from box to box and the box on the bottom will collect the worm juice.

Don't try to collect worms from your garden, not only will it take you ages but they just won't do. The best worms are red worms or tiger worms. You will also need a good supply of vegetable scrap waste.

Step One

Line the first box with soil and newspaper, add some fruit and vegetable scraps and then add the worms. Place a hessian cloth or more newspaper over the top to block out the light. Now place this box on top of the waterproof "bottom" container.

Step Two

Look after your worms for a couple of weeks. Don't put orange and lemon skins in your worm farm, worms don't like acidic food. Also avoid raw onion, tomatoes and pineapples. Remove the hessian or newspaper every time you add food scraps and replace afterward. Add leaves or paper with every second or third batch of vegetable scraps and spray with water occasionally to keep moist. After about two weeks your worms will have grown larger and your box will be full.

Step Three

Set up box two in the same way as you did in step one, remove the hessian or newspaper from box one and place box two on top with the hessian or newspaper over it. Keep adding scraps to this second box and when this box is also full of worms you do the same thing with the third box.

Step Four

Now is the time to harvest your compost from box one. By the time box three is full the worms will have finished eating all the food in box one and moved on. All that will be left in this box will be compost material that you can now spread over your garden.

Step Five

The waterproof bottom container will regularly fill up with liquid fertilizer. Dilute this worm juice, two parts water to one part juice and pour on your plants as fertilizer.

Keep rotating your boxes and enjoy your beautiful garden.

Worm Farming - Uninvited Guests

Black Soldier Fly

Latin Name: Hermetia illucens. Although often listed as such in vermiculture articles, it is a moot point as to whether this fly should actually be called a pest. Worm farmers might not want it in their bins as they may feel that it competes for food with the worms - but that is not necessarily true.

The Black Soldier Fly is actually a benign species of tropical fly , originally from the Americas. It has now spread throughout the world. The larvae of the fly are produced in thousands and are actually very useful workers, as they have voracious appetites and are highly efficient composters, feeding exclusively on putrescent material - thus removing a potential source of disease. However these larvae are unattractive to most tastes, as they are actually a type of small maggot and seeing a mass of them writhing around in your worm bin can be very off-putting. The mature fly would be unlikely to win many beauty competitions either! However, it is completely harmless and after pupation, the adult fly has a very short life and it has no mouth and cannot eat (or bite).

These remarkable creatures, unlike the common housefly, do not spread bacteria or disease - in fact the larvae ingest potentially pathogenic material and disease-causing organisms and thus render them harmless. Moreover Black Soldier Flies exude an odour, which positively discourages disease carrying houseflies and certain other flying pests. When the larvae reach maturity they leave the feeding area to pupate, preferably in a shady bush or tree. After turning into an adult fly, the female lives only a further 5-8 days and produces almost 1000 eggs. The adult fly is nocturnal and characterised by very fast and rather clumsy flight. It has no mouth and cannot bite or sting.

The maggots are often found in worm farm bins, but although unsightly, they are not a real threat to the worms, as they do not attack them and may in fact complement the compost worm's activities, rather than compete with them for food. Like the composting worms used in vermiculture, their feces make excellent compost and the maggots can be used as a high protein fish or poultry feed. They may be utilised directly as live food, or dried and processed commercially into ground meal. They may also be used by the less squeamish for fishing bait.

However the worm farmer may still prefer to avoid them, in which case Black Soldier Fly can best be kept out of the worm farm bins, by not using meat, fatty waste or fecal matter for feeding the worms and by keeping the moisture on the dry side, and by making sure that there is always a good cover of bedding material over the feeding area. The use of fly screens and fly tapes to keep away the adult flies is an obvious choice that would also have the added benefit by keeping down other flying pests such as houseflies and fruit flies.

There is a growing interest in using Black Soldier Fly for commercial processing of sewage and agricultural waste. Its fast rate of reproduction and voracious appetite make it well suited for this purpose. Some hobbyists have been experimenting with the Black Soldier Fly, as an alternative to vermiculture, for private composting/ waste disposal. For the same size of container it is said that a well stocked colony of Black Soldier Fly would be able to process waste material very much faster than a comparable sized worm farm. To find out more about this creature and other "pests" see the Worm Dictionary at http://www.working-worms.com/content/view/43/68/#abc.

Ant Coe has a degree from the University of Cape Town, South Africa and is passionate about promoting the use of cheap solutions for the various problems facing poor communities in Africa. DIY worm farming or vermiculture is one such proposal. Few poor African communities can afford the high cost of commercial fertilizer, and worm compost is an excellent source of free organic enrichment for school and village gardens. Visit his website at http://www.working-worms.com/ for further information.

How to Make Your Own Worm Farm

Worms can do wonders for the garden: they aerate the soil and their castings are an excellent fertilizer. To get a constant supply of this worm fertilizer as well as extra worms for the garden, start a worm farm.

Use Red Worms or Tiger Worms only (available from most plant nurseries). The common garden worm is not suitable.

Setting up the System

Worm farms are simple structures that you can make yourself. They consist of three or four stackable crates or bins made of plastic, wood or any other lightweight, waterproof material. The worms live in the bins and simply wriggle their way up from the lowest bin into the one above, where they can smell fresh food, fruit, vegetable and other scraps that might otherwise go to waste. These scraps are turned into the castings that make such good fertilizer. Some local councils sell worm farms at a cost of $50 to $75 for four bins.

The base bin has a solid floor to catch liquid run-off that percolates down from the upper bins, and preferably a tap near the base. By tipping the stack, liquid waste can be drained away through the tap without having to remove the upper bins.

The upper bins are perforated to let the worms move up through the floor to reach fresh food supplies. These 'holey' bins lock into each other and are deep enough to leave enough room for the worms to move about without being squashed.

To create congenial living conditions for the worms, you need newspaper and soil to start the farm and a continuing supply of suitable food scraps.

Starting the Worm Farm

On top of the base bin fit an upper (holey) bin #1 that has been lined with a few sheets of shredded newspaper and a couple of handfuls of soil. Spray lightly with fresh water. Add the Red or Tiger worms along with a small amount of food scraps. Exclude light from the upper bin and keep it moist by covering it with newspaper, hessian or another bin. Allow the farm to settle in for a couple of weeks before lifting the cover and putting in more food scraps. Check on the bin's progress and add more food scraps as the worms grow and multiply. Make sure that your worms have enough food, but don't over feed them - uneaten food will simply rot, resulting in a smelly farm and unhappy worms.

When holey bin #1 is about half full of worms and worm castings, remove the newspaper or hessian and place holey bin #2 on top. Put food scraps in bin #2 and, again, exclude light and keep the contents moist. In about a week the worms from bin #1 will have moved up into the fresh food in bin #2, leaving behind worm castings that can be spread on the garden.

A Guide to Worm Farming

Thousands of tons of waste are dumped into landfills which is harmful to the environment because as it decomposes it produces poisonous gases and methane. Many environmentalists and governments as well as agricultural ministries are becoming extremely interested in Vermiculture which is the technical term for worm farming. Worm castings which is the rich natural compost produced by special composting worms can provide an answer to any household recycling of kitchen waste and scraps that are normally just dumped in refuse bins. Imagine the benefits a worm farm can have for hospitality institutions, restaurants, and homes which is another step forward in protecting the environment from excessive waste. Worm castings produce rich dense natural fertilizer which is a far better alternative to man made pesticides and chemicals used on mass produced fruit and vegetables.

How to set up your own worm farm.

Worm farming is an easy way of recycling kitchen scarps and peelings and turning it into useful compost for your garden, pot plants or vegetable patch. This rich natural compost called worm castings will produce amazing growth in any plants. Worm farming can be done all year round as long as your worm farm is kept in a place that is neither too hot nor too cold.

A guide to get started in worm farming

A. To start your own worm farm for a flat or small apartment you will need a container that has a ventilated lid. A sensible size is one that is at least 10 inches deep and 20 inches wide and the same in length. Of course it can be a lot bigger if you have a backyard or space in your garage. It is best to have a container that is watertight and the lid must keep it dark because worms like the dark. Keep the worm farm away from lost of noise and vibrations because worms are very sensitive to this.

B. You need to prepare your worms bedding next which should consist of shredded moist newspaper. Try and avoid glossy sections and color print which has unnatural inks which worms do not enjoy. Make layers of garden soil and shredded newspaper which all should be well moistened. You can add a few kitchen scraps for good measure to get you started as well. Some tea bags and coffee grinds are a great start. Crushed eggshells and peels also work great.

C. Now you need to introduce the worms which you could purchase from certain hardware stores, nurseries or online dealers which can send them to you if you have the Internet. These should be special composting worms called red composting worms or tiger composting worms. Do not try common garden earthworms because they are not effective enough for a worm farm dedicated to decomposition of organic wastes.

D. Feeding your worms can be done regularly and as a point to note - these red composting worms can eat their own weight every day. Their excretions are called worm castings which is what you are after because this is the rich fertilizer that you are looking for. Avoid feeding your composting worms meat because this will end up making your worm farm smelly which you definitely do not want. Use some common sense and stick to egg shells, peels, old food and vegetables that are well past their sell by or use by date. Worm farms must have fresh air so keep the lid well ventilated to prevent suffocation.

E. Worms will lay eggs more readily when you add egg-shells because this provides calcium for reproduction. You will see tiny oval shaped cocoons which will tell you your red composting worms are reproducing. Be very excited because this means your worm farm is a success. Soon you should see tiny white offspring from your red composting worms.

F. Following this simple guide to starting your own worm farm will have you hooked before you know it because worm farming is not only useful but a great hobby as well. You can later expand into worm farming on a bigger scale once you have got the hang of it. If any one asks you then tell them you are now a fully-fledged vermiculturist!

Start a Worm Farm

Humans have been polluting the earth for decades. We have dumped our wastes into the soil, rivers, seas and even the air. Environmentalists are encouraging everyone to do what they can to help save Mother Nature. It doesn't have to involve something big like chaining yourself to a tree in the middle of the Brazilian rainforest, something as little as recycling and managing your household waste like food scraps goes a long way. A fun, environmentally friendly and cost effective way of getting rid of your food scraps is worm farming.

Worm what you ask? Worm farming or worm composting is the practice of feeding your organic wastes to worms to produce worm tea. Worm tea is the liquid produced during the composting process and is used as an environmentally safe fertilizer. So you not only get rid of your organic wastes like food scraps, but you also get to make organic chemical free fertilizers for your gardens. Worm farming can be done both indoors and outdoors and is a good way for kids and adults alike to learn about nature, recycling and helping the environment.

So how do you start a worm farm? Before you go off and catch some worms here are a couple of basic things you should know about worm farming. First off you need to pick the site of where you want your worm farm to be. Remember that worms don't like the heat so make sure to pick a nice cool and shady spot for your worm farm.

Picking the ideal container is important in worm farming. You can buy commercially sold worm beds or farms or better yet you can recycle old boxes or even an old bathtub. The thing to remember is that the typical worm bed is around 30 centimeters deep, 60 centimeters wide and 90 centimeters long. It is important to have holes in the base of the box to allow for good drainage and air circulation. The box should also have a lid to cover it with and a base underneath the box to catch liquid and provide good drainage. Remember that worms breathe through their skins so they need a lot of moisture but be careful as too much water will also drown your worms.

After you have your box and base set up, the third step to worm farming is preparing the bedding for your worms. Torn, or shredded paper mixed with compost and soil make for good worm beddings. Make sure that the bedding material is torn or shredded and then soaked in water before it is added to the box. The bedding layer should be ten to fifteen centimeters deep.

Now that your worm bed and bedding is ready its time to pick your worms, you can buy commercially sold worms. Worm farming has gotten to be very popular so you can even check the yellow pages under Worm Farm for distributors. Worms are usually sold by the thousands and a thousand worms would weigh about 250 grams. A good solid number to start your worm farm with is around two thousand worms.

When it comes to feeding your worms be sure to pick food scraps like vegetable and fruit peelings. They also like bread, juicer pulp, crushed eggshells, and even teabags. Never feed your worms dairy products, meat, fish, fat and bones. This type of food will also make your worm farm stink. Worm farming experts also advise you not to feed your worms oily foods, citrus and garlic.

Harvesting the fruits of your worm farming efforts is done in two simple steps: first, move the old bedding to one side of the box and then add fresh bedding to the other side. The worms will move on their own after a day or two. Make sure to harvest the liquid produced by the worms and their castings as they make great fertilizers.

Worm farming is an easy, fun and cost effective way to manage your food scraps, not to mention the money you save on fertilizers. So help save money and help save the environment today by starting your very own worm farm!

Worm Farming, Where The Worms Do All the Work and You Get All the Benefits

So, you may be wondering why anybody would start a farm to grow worms? Maybe to use when they go fishing, or sell to other fishermen? Well, there are some people who do it for that reason. But the majority of people who decide to begin with worm farming aren't really interested in increasing the worm population, although that will happen as a side effect. They do it in order to get the end product that the worms produce. While the whole procedure is usually called worm farming, the technical term for it is vermicomposting.

That desirable end product is called castings, or vermicast, and is literally worm poop. Don't be put off by that. It's an earthy, humus-like, non smelly material, which is a fantastic fertilizer and garden amendment. There are commercial worm farms that produce it and pack it in bags for sale, but you can make it yourself with the right worms and a minimum of other materials. Basically, the worms are just fed organic material such as that used in a normal compost pile.

To end up with the best quality castings from your worm farm, you need to begin with the right kind of worm. If you just head out to your yard and start digging for earthworms, you may get lucky and find a species that's suited to vermicomposting - but it's not likely. The typical worm found in gardens will tend to burrow too far into the ground, and will also not be as prodigious of a 'processor' as the type most often used in vermicomposting - called the red wiggler or redworm and technically reffered to as Eisenia foetida. You can buy these from any worm farm supplier, many of which are online.

People have used many different materials to build the actual worm farm. Commercial operations frequently just create the farms directly on the ground in long rows known as 'windrows'. But for home use, you probably want to house the worms in some type of a container. You can build or scrounge these yourself, or buy a commercial solution for under fifty dollars. Some of the pre-made models are actually intended to be placed under the kitchen sink, where there is usually a steady supply of scraps that can be used as food.

Speaking of food, what can you actually feed the worms? Just about any type of organic waste material will do, such as vegetable peelings and waste, tea bags, coffee grounds, egg cartons, egg shells, leaves, hair, paper, certain types of cardboard, etc. Most wastes from fruit are fine too, but some people caution against citrus peels, and pineapple contains an enzyme known as bromelain, which will dissolve the worms, so that's definitely out. Other things which should not be added are wastes from animal products, such as bones, left over meat, milk products, and dog, cat, or human manure. Adding these items may either contaminate the final castings with pathogens or attract pests to the worm farm.

There are a number of different designs for worm farms, and these use different methods to harvest the castings. One popular arrangement uses a number of separate bins stacked on top of each other. The farm is initially started in the top bin with some shredded newspaper or cardboard to serve as bedding. On top of that is added some dirt, the initial supply of worms, and some organic waste for food. Then put the lid on and try not to peek every day, as the worms don't like light. When the bin gets full to with a couple of inches of the top, put an empty bin on top and move the full bin below it, removing any large pieces of unprocessed food. Put some bedding and food in the new top container, and the worms will migrate from their original home to the new one through the holes in the bottom, leaving the first container filled with just a rich dark dirt-like material ready to be added to the garden.

The worm farm will also usually leak some dark liquid which can be caught in a pan placed at the bottom. This is called 'leachate' and is also a great fertilizer, but it may be too strong for some applications. I'd advise researching your intended use before using it.

Give worm farming a try. It's like having a regular compost pile, but the worms do all the work for you. And how many people are able to put a compost pile under their kitchen sink?

Worm Farming as Extra Income

A insect farm could be a enthusiastic investment for a little extra income as a prototypal business for a teen entrepreneur. A teen mortal with admittance to a bounteous backyard, who lives in the land or a teen mortal who lives on a farm strength encounter insect job a enthusiastic artefact to intend their prototypal undergo with business management. Even a child who lives in the municipality crapper move a small insect farm if they have a flower bed-sized area to begin. Town folk like to fish and garden, too.

Suppose you're looking for something to occupy your spare time during your retirement years? Worm job on a small scale may be just the thing to ready you busy, to provide you an activity that keeps you close to nature, crapper provide extra income, and crapper be less demanding physically.

Worm job could be a enthusiastic interest to share with your teen grandchild. You could essay it as a artefact to acquire popularity among your fishing buddies or with your gardening friends.

Shelter for your insect farm is important for several reasons. Shade from the sun, cover from the rain (you wouldn't poverty your investment to cover or be washed away), and protection from reptiles and birds are important reasons to have good shelter.

Worms go dormant in the winter. You'd have to ready them in a controlled environment to delude them year-round. Sheds, barns, or basements that allow for temperature control are whatever ideas.

Make trusty you consider packaging costs. The correct packaging for your worms, their castings, or the repast you crapper attain with the drain water could support meliorate your businesses chance for success. Informative and/or captivating packaging crapper support spread your stylemark to solidify your image in the public eye. But when you prototypal move out, you'll poverty to ready your overhead as low as possible, so choose your supplies wisely so your extra income will be more lucrative.

Plant nurseries, take stores, or hardware stores are whatever ideas for places to occurrence about allowing you to delude your products from your insect farm. You may be able to delude on a consignment basis. You could lease a booth at a flea market to intend a move on selling your products. To attain extra income, you have to be willing to let go of whatever first!

You strength essay making a care with a local livestock farm to trade whatever fishing worms for scatter to support take your worms. Just attain trusty there's no residue left in the scatter that would blackball your worms. If the animals have been wormed recently, or if they have parasites of the wrong kind, it could wipe discover your stock. Chicken scatter may be the least captivating scatter since it tends to be \"hot\". Also, remember not to use fresh manure. It's better if it has older for a few weeks.

Some people enjoy insect job as a artefact to manage their stress levels. They encounter it relaxing to harvest the worms. Just as people encounter relaxation in gardening or bird-watching, insect job crapper relieve tension and provide you an outlet to focus on. It may even be a artefact to support your child attain new friends with the kids on the block!

Where to Find Worms for Worm Farming

Setting up a insect farm requires three things. The prototypal is an pertinent bin for containing the worms. The second is plenty of compost materials to keep the worms properly fed. The most important abstract necessary for a insect farm is, in fact, the worms. Learning where to encounter worms is the prototypal step.

It is important to state that worms collected from the garden in the disorderly should not be utilised in a insect farm. Various types of worms are acquirable on the market specifically for insect farming. These worms are sold for traits that make them more desirable for composting or as springy bait.

An established insect farm can require a large number of worms to be efficient enough to compost enough material for a diminutive family. Most diminutive insect farms need to move out with at small 1000 worms.

The prototypal place to encounter worms for insect job should be the local device and face stores. These places typically delude a variety of worms that can be utilised for both composting and springy bait. The Red Wiggler is known as being the prizewinning insect for composting and can usually be found in establishments much as these.

The Internet provides a accumulation amount of options for purchasing just about any kind of insect to use in a insect farm. Red Wigglers, Night Crawlers, Florida Wigglers, egg capsules and even exotic breeds of worms can all be found. A simple see on any see engine module display a number of opportunities and choices.

Purchasing springy animals online also means that shipping is something to take into consideration. Care has to be taken when aggregation and packaging the specimens. Most worms ship well and with ease but shipping methods should be investigated. Simply ask the bourgeois what the rate of springy arrival is and encounter out what their shipping methods are.

The local garden centers have proven very helpful as a supply for worms. Typically they delude other supplies for insect job as well. Depending on the geographical location, most garden centers have a flooded distinction of the different types of worms acquirable for purchase. The staff is acquirable to respond questions about insect job for new beginners. If a specific type of insect is found to be unavailable at a garden center, an order can ofttimes be placed for particular varieties.

A very commonly overlooked option for locating worms is other insect farmers. Worm farmers ofttimes have a nimiety of worms and are more than selection to conception with them. Some are selection to offer them up in exchange for taking them off their own safekeeping patch others module delude them for a low fee.

Local insect farmers can ofttimes be found in the yellow pages under \"worm\" or \"worm farms\". This provides a enthusiastic maker as insect farmers are ofttimes more than selection to give tips and hints for a flourishing farm.

Worm job can be fun and rewarding. Knowing where to encounter good quality worms is essential in maintaining a flourishing farm. Once a insect farm is established, it haw one period establish to be still another outlet for those who are new to the insect job world.

Worm Farming History

When some of us think of worms, we think of the few pink earthworms that secure out in the garden, strolling through the grime and showing their faces after a heavy rain. We don't often stop to think about the history involved in these legless creatures. Some people modify place these guys to work for profit and natural grime care through a process known as worm farming.

So how long hit worms really been around? To verify a look at the history of worm farming, we hit to go way back before the geezerhood of man. Worms hit been around almost since the first of time. Even in the geezerhood of the dinosaurs, earthworms worked hard breaking downbound excrement and waste. Their job was to produce a substance more multipurpose to the soil. In turn, the level of fertility of the grime would remain high promoting a better rate of growth.

From 51 and 30 B.C., the Queen of Egypt, Cleopatra VII realized the importance the worms played in the fertilization of the Nile. The export of worms from Egypt was then banned and became a crime illegal by death. For this reason, the river has been reported to contain the most fertilised grime in the world modify today.

Many years later, physicist Darwin publicised \"The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Actions of Worms with Observations on their Habits\" in 1881. He mentions here that the locomote was one of the best inventions prefabricated by man. It changed the lives of farmers everywhere.

The worm however, has been doing the aforementioned job long before man though later they were once regarded as a pest. It was thought that worms destroyed being life, chewing through the roots of crops. In reality, the worms locomote through the Earth carrying water and expose beneath the grime aerating and fertilizing it. Darwin continuing to study earthworms, their habits and their benefits to man for over cardinal years. He modify went so far as to adjudge these crawlers as one of the most important creatures on earth.

During the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s chemistry was discovered and Darwin's studies were cast aside. Worm job as a natural method for tilling was ignored. Instead, man-made products were used for the job for a quicker more efficient way of producing a larger yield of growth.

Chemists produced fertilizers that accumulated the growth of crops. These fertilizers also damaged the soil, requiring modify more fertilizers to continue to produce this accumulated growth yield. Other chemicals much as pest sprays and poisons hit caused the decrease in the population of earthworms in the soil, thereby feat a fall in the fertility of the soil.

Because of the availability and ease of use, fertilizers and pesticides hit been primarily used in crops across the world. However, whatever farmers began to culture their own worms on a smaller scale. Worm farming, or vermiculture, is the use of earthworms to alter grime and modify organic matter into compost. It exclusive became a advertizement process in the 1970s.

Worm farmers experience fluctuations in production and revenue depending on market requirements and demand. While advertizement worm farmers still exist and function efficiently, some individuals hit begun to establish their own methods of job worms. This has been prefabricated easier through readily acquirable worm job supplies and equipment to encourage a more natural way of producing well fertilized grime and for composting waste.

The views about worms and how they gist the surround hit changed dramatically over the years. Whether they're held unnameable or regarded as nasty slimy critters, worms hit proved to be hardy and beneficial enough to last this long; they're probably going to secure around for some years to come.

Build Worm Farm

So you've decided to verify the plunge and set up your own worm farm. Perhaps you're hunting for a natural way for composting waste, are interested in the nutrient rich fertilizing substance produced by the worms, or are hunting to provide a constant supply of springy bait or springy food for exotic pets. Regardless of the reason, you're feat to requirement to set up a bin.

Various models are acquirable for purchase at worm job supply companies and garden centers. These become in different shapes, sizes and colors and each have their own benefits. The stinting approach is to build your own.

The prototypal thing to consider is how big of a container you're feat to need. To figure this out, you'll requirement to prototypal measure discover approximately how much waste you are feat to requirement to use for feeding. For each pound of waste, you'll requirement digit square foot of space in your bin. Depth should be at least sextet to dozen inches.

A plastic transport or container works substantially as do wooden boxes. Metal containers should not be used as irons and chemicals crapper withdraw into the soil, harming the worms. Many worm farmers prefer wooden boxes over plastic as wood is more easily aerated. Plastic crapper cause more moisture to build up than wood, which crapper be both good and bad.

Once a container of the appropriate size has been chosen, it'll requirement to be prepared. Holes should be drilled or punched through the crowning of the container to earmark for air flow. There are two ways to come the lowermost of the container.

One method is to drill or punch holes into the lowermost of the container to earmark excess water and another liquids to pipage out. Another is to establish a spout at the lowermost of the container. When liquefied begins to modify up in the bottom, the spout is turned on and releases the fluid.

If using a spout, a raised ridge should be additional within the container. This ridge should be the same width as the container, but be allowed to sit a few inches above the bottom. This module earmark the blank space at the lowermost to modify with liquefied and preclude it from movement in the grime and bedding. This raised ridge should be made of slats or have several holes to earmark liquids to pipage into the lowermost of the container.

If a raise ridge is not used, display should be installed over the holes to earmark liquefied to run discover of the container but preclude worms from squeezing through. Screening should also be attached to the crowning of the container to preclude escape.

Some thought should be place into what module be used for substance material. Soaked and shredded newspapers, unreal and even dampened leaves crapper be layered in the bin. Regardless of the material used for bedding, a small amount of grime should always be integrated in. If using the raised ridge system, substance should be layered on crowning of the shelf.

The container should be place in a positioning that module secure best conditions. Temperature should remain between 72 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. The containerful should not be placed in an area of the field that module gain excess rain water, either.

Once the containerful has been constructed, substance has been additional and the amend positioning has been found, the incoming travel is to add the worms and begin your own worm farm. Worm job is rewarding whether it is done for a profit or a hobby. Constructing an appropriate home for these guys is your prototypal travel towards becoming an authentic worm farmer.

Promote your Worm Farm

Advertising can be the most expensive part of many diminutive businesses. But without the comely advertisement, your playing module struggle. Although word of mouth is and module continues to be digit of the best sources of advertising for a worm farm or any playing or service, you must consider other options as well.

Air instance for broadcasting stations can be expensive, as can production advertisements. You may be limited in how often you can equip in either one. Start-up costs can be demanding in any business.

The clew for your worm farm playing should be colorful, cushy to read, informative, super sufficiency to readily notice, and in the correct locate to be seen easily. Although a plain, diminutive clew can ease work, it is the bigger and more attractive digit that module draw more interest. Think about it from the consumer viewpoint. If you saw a small, plain, black and white clew on digit side of the street, and a big, colorful, clew on the other side of the street.......which digit would be more probable to snag your interest? You poverty to be welcoming to the public with your advertisement.

Another means of advertising your worm farm is flyers or bulletins. Many people module make up a Brobdingnagian arrange of them and locate them on every automobile they see until they run out. But you poverty to get the most discover of every coin you equip in your advertising. So, before you run discover and start shoving those flyers under windshield wipers, consider placement. Is the mom shopping with her two assemblage old female in the toy accumulation as probable to buy your fishing worms or your fertilizer as the mortal shopping in the hardware accumulation or sports store? Grocery stores, Laundromats, your topical Wal Mart, convenience stores, and even super construction businesses may be meliorate places to distribute your flyers. You could ask accumulation owners about posting your flyers in their windows. Try the topical video stores, flower shops, and so on.

You could consider holding a demonstration about the benefits of your worm farm at the topical library. They hit story times and guests visit during the summer months to entertain the children. These children hit parents and grandparents who garden and fish and own reptiles or birds who strength need worms. Be sure to hand discover color pages or bookmarks or something kindred with a diminutive taste of information for your business, including your phone number.

Magnetic signs that confiscate to the sides of vehicles hit become more popular in advertising. There are thrift newspapers that hit lower cost advertising. A booth at your topical farmer's mart or in the topical flea mart may help get your worm farm perceptible with the public.

Make sure you check discover your tax laws and your playing license requirements for your area. Even if you hit your worm farm at your house, you may be required to get a permit to sell your worms or the things you are healthy to display because of your worms (like the tea, compost, fertilizers, etc.).

Worm Farming is a Fisherman's Friend

Red worms, red wigglers, or manure worms are said to be best for composting. They're also famous as fishing worms. You crapper encounter them in leaf litter, manure piles, and bait shops.

The ability to produce fast makes these worms attractive for insect farmers and fishermen.

You crapper start your red fishing-worm farm in a small, affordable plastic container such as a margarine dish or cool whip container. Start with a diminutive collection, say....under a dozen, just to get a feel for the journey ahead and decide if you poverty to equip further. Add at least digit big spoonful of dirt or compost, some thin strips of notebook paper or newspaper (not glossy), a cup of liquid (you poverty moisture, not soggy contents), fine sand or crumbled eggshells, and a lowercase cereal or fruit. (The worms aren't as partial to citrus fruits because of the acid content.)

You'll have to punch holes in the sides and the lid, at least a dozen in each. There must be gas flow and drainage. Worms can't survive without oxygen. And you may have noticed that they rise to the top of the ground after a hard rain.

Your worms will eat many things that you would normally throw away. Almost any food scrap will do, but there are some that are discouraged. Meat scraps, citrus scraps, garlic, onion, and hot peppers or really spicy foods are not good choices. You should be careful about exposing your worms to pesticide residues used on food or contained in manures. Although the fishermen's someone will eat cardboard because it's a wood product, attain sure the cardboard is not septic with any poisonous residues. You have to feed them at least three times a week. Bury the food under the substance for the best results.

You crapper analyse out bait shops to get an intent of how such to price your worms if you plan to sell them. You don't poverty to be too high or too low compared to another worms sold in the area for fishing bait. You can, of course, just grow them for your own fishing excursions. Also, consider the area where you live. If you live in a diminutive area, there may not be sufficiency market for a large insect farm to earn sufficiency profit unless you sell over the internet or ship to another places. You poverty to attain sure you don't equip too such too soon.

If you live near a lake, you may do very well with your insect farm business. People do like convenience. Even avid fishermen crapper run out of bait or forget to buy it, although they may not like to readily admit it! There are plenty of people who favour to use natural bait, too. Of course, this means customers will be knocking on your door on weekends and after normal work hours. So, you may do better to post your office away from your living area and attain sure your hours are compatible, but not overwhelming for you. Post them plainly and large sufficiency for those early rising fishermen/women to readily see them.

Feeding the Worms in a Worm Farm

Naturally composting waste, providing an organic matter that enriches soil and even supplying hobbyists and fisherman with springy bait. These are all reasons for worm farming. Taking care of the worms in a worm farm is typically quite cushy but there some guidelines to follow. Proper feeding is important for the health of the worms, and therefore important for the health of the farm.

Worms are fed a difference of food items, and nonfood items, for composting. Some food type items that can be offered are fruits, vegetables, greens, bread products, cereals, tea bags, coffee deposit and filters and egg shells. The worm’s module eats just about anything so it is imperative to undergo which foods are appropriate and why.

Fruits and vegetables are easily composted by the worms. The important thing to remember when serving fruits and vegetables is the filler of the portions. Fruit pieces should be cut down bound to 1/2 progress pieces or slices. Smaller pieces module be consumed more quickly. Food blended up with water module also support the worms find the food and consume it faster.

Fruits and vegetables are highly nutritious. Worms that are fed an appropriate diet module in turn produce a nutrient rich substance that is beneficial to crops, gardens, flower beds and even indoor flower pots. Some nonfood items that can be offered to worms for composting are paper products, cotton rags, hair clippings, leaves and soaked cardboard. A pizza box that has been torn up and soaked is a wonderful impact for worms.

When substance leaves to a worm farm, be certain to only ingest products that hit never been aerated with chemicals. For the country of the worms, grass clipping and other field clippings should be avoided incase chemicals hit been used.

Dog and cat droppings can be used in a worm farm with care. Cats and dogs that hit been dewormed recently module ease hit the substance within their bodies. The penalization used for deworming can be excreted in the droppings. If fed to the worms, the droppings can kill the worms quickly. If a pet has been dewormed recently, avoid using the droppings in the worm farm.

Care should also be taken when substance cat droppings from a litter box. Inorganic litters are unsafe for the worms. If your plan is to ingest the worms to compost the droppings, using a natural and organic litter module keep the worms happy.

While there are many foods that can be offered readily, there are also those that should be avoided. Care should always be taken with items that hit been aerated with chemicals, medications or other substances that may prove harmful.

Meats should not be offered to the worms in a worm farm. Being voracious eaters, the worms module gladly consume whatever meat is offered. The difficulty with meat is with the pests it module attract. Flies and maggots module be found in a worm farm that uses meat and the best way to eliminate these pests is to eliminate the ingest of meat.

Citrus fruits, onions and garlic should not be used either. The worms materialize to find the smell of these items offensive. Most worms module try to escape the bin to get away from the smell. Dairy products module also attract unwanted guests into the worm farm. Another problematic supply with serving dairy products is the dishonor smell that is emitted as it rots.

Feeding worms is a pretty cushy job. The key is to undergo which items are good and which are bad for the health of the worms. Another point to always remember is to not over feed. New worms should be fed in small amounts when they are becoming established within the farm. Once settled, the amount can be increased over time.

Over feeding leads to problems such as dishonor smells and pests. Keep feeding down bound to a minimum, substance new food only when the old food supply is running low. Worms can eat over half their body weight in food per day. The worm population can double every few months. Overfeeding can cause a difficulty but keep an eye on the population as well to be sure that underfeeding isn't an issue.

A well fed worm population is a happy worm population. Happy worms produce a lot of naturally composted, healthy castings for soil enrichment therefore keeping the worm farmer happy as well.

Why Worm Farming is Important

It may become as a surprise to some that worm job is beneficial to our environment. After some research into the topic it may be sensational to learn how essential these hidden crawlers really are. There is more to them than just crawling through the garden.

Worms hit been around since the beginning. During the age of the dinosaurs, worms ploughed through rotting debris and excrement, composting it into a more usable substance. Millions of years ago they were efficient creatures and today they rest the same.

So why is worm job so important? There are three ordinary reasons for worm job both commercially and individually. The first think is for composting.

Worm job provides an effective and efficient way for composting matter waste and other biodegradable items. On the larger scale, worms are utilised in place of landfills by commercial companies. The worms compost waste eliminating unnecessary overflows in landfills. Certain landfills also use worms to help compost the waste that has build up over time to try to prevent an overflow.

On a smaller scale, home owners and housing dwellers are able to run their own individualized worm farms. The determine is to wage a more natural way for composting discarded matter products and other items, instead of sending them to the local landfills. Various sizes of individualized worm farms are available on the market today. These crapper typically be utilised both outdoors and indoors for those with limited space.

Having a individualized worm farm means that individuals are able to employ worms to naturally compost items such as fruits, vegetables, breads, cereals, paper products, soaked cardboard, egg shells and hair. What is given in return by the worms is a naturally nutrient rich organic center that crapper enrich grime for gardens, crops and concern plants.

This brings us to the next think for worm farming. Vermicompost, or worm castings, is the product the worms produce as they compost and digest their provided diet. These castings are as rich in nutrients as the matter items provided to them. This center is so rich in nutrients that it crapper be utilised as an effective plant matter for a small pot for up to two months. Vermicompost is one of the best fertilizers available.

Chemical fertilizers crapper be replaced by using natural vermicompost. Chemical fertilizers often produce a fast effect, but when the grime is analyzed, it is found that the nutrients in the grime are existence further broken down by the chemicals. This requires that even more fertilizer be utilised later on to produce the aforementioned effect.

Chemical pest removers and poisons hit led to the conclusion and evacuation of worms in many areas. The worms are either killed by the modify or they leave the area as the grime is no longer healthy enough for them to springy in.

Using vermicompost as a natural fertilizer helps eliminate the need for chemicals that destroy the grime and rid the area of these helpful worms. Some worms crapper be utilised in garden beds, rising the quality of the grime as they locomote through pulling water into the grime and aerating the bed as they go.

Another think for worm job is the production of worms to be utilised as springy matter and springy bait. Many exotic pets, birds and tank fish require the addition of springy worms to their diets. Offering worms for this think gives pet owners an opportunity to purchase springy matter that has not been chemically altered or treated.

Professional fishermen, bait and tackle shops, and the fishing hobbyist are often on the see for good suppliers of various worms that are best suited for springy bait in both freshwater and briny water. Worm farms offer these buyers a chance to purchase organically raised worms that will produce the best results when fishing.

As surprising as it may seem, worms are a very essential part of our environment. Worm job is just a way to be able to appreciate their effects on a more individualized level. They are hard workers and keeping them happy in a worm farm will help ensure a healthier environment, inferior overflow of the landfills and a higher level of plant growth.

Worm Farming with Mealworms

Mealworms are scavengers. It doesn't necessarily make them a bad worm, but it does help to understand them. If you want to move a mealworm farm, you can find starters in damp, spoiled grain and grain products. Perhaps you have admittance to a grain containerful of whatever sort, a grain processing plant, or can get troubled cereal from a cereal factory.

The dark mealworm is the species institute throughout the United States. Anyone who has institute them in their flour or corn meal would not consider them friends! But in this instance, you can turn an enemy into a friend and gain a profit from the experience.

The trick to worm farming of any category is to move small and work your way up. You have to learn your limits and gain experience, find a market for your mealworms, and become educated about your product. But anything worth having is worth working for.

People have been known to use the mealworm as fish device or matter for their birds or reptiles. They're people matter in whatever places!

One interesting fact about mealworm farming is that powdery residues can build-up in the containers. This residue, also known as frass, contains mealworm eggs. You can separate this frass with a sifter of whatever sort once a month, ready it in a separate container, and feed it with raw pieces of potatoes or bran. It takes a month for the eggs to hatch.

Females are capable of producing up to 500 eggs, but the adults exclusive live a short time of 3 months at most. They get their fluids from wet fruits like apples or over-ripe bananas and vegetables such as the potato or carrot. They also lay eggs on these foods. You can ready them alive and asleep at temperatures over 40 degrees. They prefer warm environments of 80 degrees to grow and change. So, don't plan on them reproducing at the lower temperatures.

Did you know you can eat mealworms raw and live? Ok, it's not your cipher meal, but it's flourishing and is encouraged in other countries. If you want the benefits, but can't stomach the thought, maybe you could try baking them or turning them into flour to use in other recipes. Just spread them on a lightly greased baking sheet and cook for up to 3 hours at 200 degrees. They're done when brittle. Toss them into a blender or grinder until they resemble wheat germ. If nothing else, you could safely serve them to that irritating cousin just for a laugh. It can be your little secret!

Meal worm farming is one of the cheapest worm farming you can enter. It's a great way to experiment and can be a safe way to feed your pets something natural and healthy. You could add the worms to your dog or cats diet by using the flour to make your own dog or cat food. Safe, natural, and flourishing is the wave of the future.

Worm Farming as Extra Income

A worm farm could be a great investment for a little player income as a first business for a young entrepreneur. A young mortal with admittance to a big backyard, who lives in the country or a young mortal who lives on a farm might find worm job a great way to intend their first experience with business management. Even a child who lives in the municipality can start a diminutive worm farm if they hit a flower bed-sized area to begin. Town folk like to fish and garden, too.

Suppose you're looking for something to occupy your constituent time during your retirement years? Worm farming on a diminutive scale may be meet the thing to keep you busy, to give you an activity that keeps you close to nature, can provide player income, and can be less demanding physically.

Worm farming could be a great interest to share with your young grandchild. You could try it as a way to gain popularity among your fishing buddies or with your gardening friends.

Shelter for your worm farm is essential for several reasons. Shade from the sun, cover from the rain (you wouldn't want your investment to drown or be washed away), and endorsement from reptiles and birds are essential reasons to hit good shelter.

Worms go dormant in the winter. You'd hit to keep them in a controlled environment to sell them year-round. Sheds, barns, or basements that allow for temperature control are whatever ideas.

Make sure you consider packaging costs. The right packaging for your worms, their castings, or the tea you can attain with the pipage liquid could support improve your businesses chance for success. Informative and/or captivating packaging can support spread your trademark to solidify your image in the public eye. But when you first start out, you'll want to keep your overhead as low as possible, so choose your supplies wisely so your player income will be more lucrative.

Plant nurseries, feed stores, or hardware stores are whatever ideas for places to occurrence most allowing you to sell your products from your worm farm. You may be able to sell on a consignment basis. You could rent a booth at a flea market to intend a start on commerce your products. To attain player income, you hit to be willing to let go of whatever first!

You might try making a deal with a local livestock farm to trade whatever fishing worms for scatter to support feed your worms. Just attain sure there's no residue left in the scatter that would blackball your worms. If the animals hit been wormed recently, or if they hit parasites of the wrong kind, it could wipe out your stock. Chicken scatter may be the least captivating scatter since it tends to be "hot". Also, remember not to ingest fresh manure. It's better if it has aged for a some weeks.

Some people enjoy worm job as a way to manage their stress levels. They find it relaxing to harvest the worms. Just as people find slackening in gardening or bird-watching, worm job can relieve tension and give you an activity to focus on. It may even be a way to support your child attain new friends with the kids on the block!

Facts about Worm Farming

Worm farming is a great way to naturally compost waste and other discarded materials. As a result, nutrient rich soil is produced and crapper be used in bloom beds, crops, and gardens. Regardless of all the reading and investigate one does, issues may arise and crapper drive whatever concern.

Here are a few of the commonly reported questions and issues with worm farms.

Smell

It is often thought by many that a smelly worm farm is normal. In fact, it is not. If worms are kept in an pertinent environment, they will not smell. If the farm has an odor, the most likely drive is overfeeding.

Material to be composted is placed on the top layer of soil for the worms to consume. If likewise much is presented to the worms, it crapper begin to deteriorate causing a physique up of bacteria within the walls of the worm farm. This is the drive of the smell.

To remedy the situation, simply discontinue feeding of the worms until any uneaten material is gone. The soil should also be stirred for aeration and to allow the worms to move more freely.

Bugs and other pests

Using a container with a tight lid crapper support preclude many pests from infesting the worm farm but whatever are sneaky enough to make it in regardless. Small vinegar flies are often a complaint among worm farmers. This type of fly is of no harm to the worm farm but typically is a result of overfeeding. Large flies appear when there is an abundance of food.

Ants are also a common issue. If ants are seen in the worm farm, the chances are pretty good that the soil is likewise dry. Adding liquid to the soil to increase the wetness crapper support eliminate ants. If using a worm farm that stands on legs, simply apply whatever oil goody to the legs to preclude the ants from being able to climb up.

Maggots crapper be institute in worm farms where meat is offered to the worms. The best scenario is to eliminate meat from the diet altogether. If maggots have prefabricated their way into the worm farm, they crapper be eliminated by placing a milk soaked example of bread into the farm; the maggots will be drawn to it and crapper simply be removed.

Worms leave the farm

This matter leaves it up to the worm farmer to figure out what the problem is and mend it. If a worm is leaving, he is unhappy with his environment and is in see of a more suitable one. Worms will carelessness for reasons such as the soil being likewise dry or there isn't enough food. On the other hand, soil that is likewise wet could also be affecting the worms, causing them to want to leave.

The source of the problem should either be eliminated or fixed. If the soil is likewise dry, fresh liquid should be added to the farm. If it is likewise wet, the excess should be drained and new bedding should replace the old. Locate the drive of the excess wetness and eliminate it.

Ensure that the worms are getting enough food and the farm is in a location where the temperature will remain constant.

Feeding

There may be whatever fault on what to feed worms. Appropriate foods to feed include fruits, vegetables, egg shells, greens, tea bags and coffee grounds and filters. Non-food items crapper also be fed to the worms and include soaked cardboard, essay products, material rags, leaves, dirt and hair.

More important are the items that should not be fed. Dairy products, meat, citrus, onions and garden waste that has been treated with chemicals are all things to avoid in a worm farm.

These are just a few of the common topics when it comes to worm farming. Although they are pretty easy to tending for, it is important to realize the reason for whatever of the changes or issues noticed within the worm farm. Problems should be corrected primeval to preclude the loss of the worms.

Providing a proper environment, correct food, pertinent wetness level and temperature will support ensure a supply of bright and healthy worms.

Benifits Of Fertilizer From Worm Farm

Worm farming is a simple way to reduce waste sent to landfill by turning it in to nourishing fertilizer for your garden or pot plants. Worm farms are great for people living in units because they don't smell or take up much space so they are perfect for balconies and small courtyards. They are also simple and easy to maintain. Worm farms consist of four or one trays. The bottom tray collects liquid fertilizer which is high in nutrients. Dilute to a weak tea color before you use on plants. The other trays are the ‘working trays' in which the worms live, breed and work, turning your kitchen scraps in to rich castings, which can be used as an excellent soil conditioner.

Worm farming is a simple way of turning vegetable and fruit scraps in to a great potting soil or soil amendment for your garden or house plants. It can be done year round, by apartment dwellers and home owners. Worm farming is useful for people who would like to compost their food scraps but do not have space for a backyard compost bin. Here is what you need to get started. They use a sturdy plastic container that is about 7 inches deep, 9 inches wide and 14 inches long. The measurements are not real critical. This happens to be an easy size for us to keep around the office and carry to presentations. If you're going to keep your worm farm inside, you will want it to be water tight. The worms are going to be happier when kept in the dark. If your container is clear, wrap it with newsprint or place it in a cabinet or a opaque container to seal out the light.
A worm farm or a bin is basically a plastic or wooden box or bin or bucket of some kind with ventilation holes on sides and top and drainage holes or a spigot on the bottom. What nutrient content do worm castings contain (roughly)? Worm castings’ nutrient content depends on the diet the worms have been fed with. Analysis of earthworm casting reveals that they are richer in plant nutrients than the soil, about four times more calcium and several times more nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Usually plain worm castings made from variety of organic waste will support plant growth without additional nutrients for some weeks (3 to 5 weeks), although my experience is nitrogen and magnesium supplement doesn’t hurt (with a n and mg greedy plant).