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Have you ever heard of worming? This method of composting is known as vermicomposting or vermiculture, and is very popular with homesteaders because it makes for very beautiful soil. Not only that, but that worm poop is all black gold. It’s great for your garden and people want to pay for it.
How To Make Money Raising Worms
Let’s dive into this fascinating topic to see how it can benefit your garden and your life.
The Perfect Diet For Compost Worms
In simple terms, a worm farm is a type of container where earthworm friends turn food and household scraps into compost. These are small and easy to fit under your kitchen sink or in multi-stack worm houses outside.
Basically, worm farming is just using these fellow worms to break down the chemicals in the soil. You will use this soil to grow excellent vegetables, fruits and herbs. You can use these low-maintenance farms to supply your own garden or you can expand your operation and buy amazing compost.
Worm compost is good for the planet, your garden and your wallet. Worm poo, also known as worm castings, is a beautiful, nutritious, and organic addition to your garden soil.
First of all, the result will help you to make the soil healthy. Castings produced by worms (i.e. their feces) are called “black gold”. This is because castings are very nutrient-rich and can help replenish depleted soil.
Worm Farm Business: Worm Feeding
Your plants will appreciate the tunnels made by the earthworms because their roots can reach the moisture and well in the soil.
Additionally, vermicomposting speeds up composting. Most kitchen scraps end up in standard compost piles and decompose within months. With the help of little worm friends, however, that process can be made much faster.
The material is processed in the worm’s intestines, and that process removes harmful pathogens and promotes beneficial bacteria. As a result, everything breaks down into elements that are more easily accessible to plants.
In some parts of the world, large scale worm compost is being used to digest sludge from sewage plants. Hazardous, potentially toxic human waste is converted into organic fertilizer with increased nutritional value and free of harmful pathogens.
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In poor countries, worm farming is promoted as an effective way to increase soil fertility levels. There are many jobs available, but there are few ways to buy materials. Organic materials are always available, whether they are animal waste, paper, leaves or grass.
As an added benefit, worm farming can reduce individual waste production. After all, why dump stuff in a place that can be processed into healthy soil?
You can make your worm farm as small or as large as you like, depending on how much space and food supply you have available.
Some people operate worm farms using nothing more than stacked hats, while others have sophisticated systems that produce black gold crannies. The level of awareness is all up to you.
How To Build A Worm Farm At Home (and Monetize It For Profit)
Before diving into the details, let’s outline some of the basics of worm farming. This way, you’ll know what we’re talking about when we get into the details.
Space is important to rearing worms. Worms are always warm. If you own your home, if your landlord is happy, then try to keep your worm farm indoors. Temperatures of 55-75°F are best, but they can handle small variations between 40-80°F.
If the surrounding temperature drops below 50°F, they go into a dormant state and will not digest anything. Also, if it gets below 40°F, your worms will die. Also, temperatures above 80°F will cause your worms to crawl deeper and away from the heat. If the temperature rises above 90°F, your worms will overcook and die.
The kitchen cupboard or under the sink is convenient for throwing fruit and vegetable scraps. If your kitchen isn’t comfortable or spacious, a basement is also a good idea.
Worms Produce Another Kind Of Gold For Farmers
Outdoor worm bins also work if you live in a mild climate where temperature fluctuations do not occur. Although worms are very tough, remember that they will slow down, die, and die in high or low temperatures.
Provide heating in winter and cooling in summer. Keep the containers out of the sun and out of the rain. Although you want their beds to be wet, don’t overwater them. You should also cover them to protect them from birds and bats – you don’t want them coming to steal your worms.
There are many ways to start your own worm farm. I divided my two pounds of worms into two 30-gallon containers, and they had plenty of room to roam, eat and happily socialize. You can make your own from plastic or wooden containers, or buy a pre-made container.
A pre-made compost bin is a quick, convenient and easy way to start turning your food scraps into compost. However, pre-made worm bins may not be the right size or shape for your situation and can be expensive.
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To make your own system, take two 5-gallon plastic containers, one with a lid and one without. They should be dim as worms are happier in the dark. They should be 12-inches deep.
Wash well and drill a few small holes around the top sides and a 20 1/4-inch hole in the bottom sides of one of the containers. Leave the other container empty. On the lid, drill at least 1/4-inch holes to allow air to circulate. Then place a brick or small flower pot in the container, without any holes.
Place the bucket you dug out on top of the brick. This allows the water that collects to drain into the container below. This juice can be harvested to make worm tea, which will make your fertilizer good. Also, the worms will not drown when the water builds up.
Another option is to use plastic containers that can be filtered in the same way. Not the chippy variety, because they cook your worms to protect them. Worms are also dark.
Guaranteed Ways To Get Worms Out Of The Ground Fast
Large containers allow about 2 inches of space at the bottom, which is perfect for allowing the potatoes to drip.
Just drill a few 1/8-inch holes in the bottom of a container. There should be 20 of these holes, evenly spaced down. Then put that jar in another, undigested one. You can put two bricks in that bottom box for more height if you want. You should also drill a few holes in the top lid so your worms can’t suck.
If both methods are used, add bedding, worms, and organic matter to the top container to turn it into compost. The bottom container collects water and can be easily drained out when needed.
When making worm beds, you are adding material that will turn into compost. You can use materials such as shredded newspaper, shredded cardboard, leaves, other vegetables, and some soil. Stay away from brightly colored paper or cardboard. And if you do add dried leaves, avoid those with a lot of oil or a strong smell.
Invasive “jumping” Worms Are Here To Stay
Worms need soil to process their food in the same way that chickens need grit. Add water to moisten, but not wet. Worms will drown if there is too much moisture in their bedding.
Some people add wood shavings to their worm bins, but most vermicompost enthusiasts advise against it. This is because wood is not 100% organic and can poison your worms and pollute your soil. If you have leftover wood shavings or wood shavings collected from your own land, that’s fine. Never throw away scraps from construction projects or renovations there.
Fill the tube 3/4 full with the mattress, and tighten it every so often. This allows for good air circulation.
Since this is a worm farm, you’ll need some of the aforementioned worm friends to put in. There are many types of worms to choose from. The most popular are the red wigglers (
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), which is popular with people who use worms as bait for fish. If you plan to sell your worms, these might be a good idea.
Be sure to get your worms from a reputable supplier to ensure that the worms have been grown in a controlled, clean environment that is free of pests and diseases. Keep the worms clean, so you get the weight you order in the worms and not in the soil.
Are you trying to figure out how many worms to raise, and the space needed and the cost? Let’s break it down a little (pun intended).
Usually, worms are sold by the pound and cost around 1000 per pound. Imagine you need about one pound of worms
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