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Guest Post! Experimenting With Earthworm Farming

Posted: 13 Apr 2012 06:36 AM PDT

Earthworm farm has always been a great way of decomposing kitchen scraps and old leaves into an organic product that can be thrown back onto your grass. It is now making a big come back with the organic trend hitting the world. This type of farming creates the most nutritious fertilizer that conditions the soil.

My worm farms have perfect soil!

How to start:

To have a successful worm farm at home or mass produced from a farm/small holding you have to make sure the temperature outside is not too cold or too hot. The area you decide to grow your compost can be done in an old bath and must remain moist at all times, not soggy. You can begin your worm farm with old leaves and dirt and keep adding any old scraps from the kitchen, including egg shells, banana peels, carrot skin etc. Depending on the size of your farm add 50% manure that can be bought at any garden shop. You then add enough water to make the soil moist. The soil must be completely decomposed before any earthworm is added. Remember that the earthworms will try escape if the soil is not right for them; you have to keep track of the environment they live in.

Find the right earthworms:

For your earthworm farm you will need roughly 1000 worms. The most common species used is the 'red wriggler' which can be purchased from a worm farm.

They also need to eat:

The Earthworms will feed on the organic produce you have laid out. You need to add kitchen waste every day, but do not overdo it otherwise it will begin to smell. A smelly area might lead to the earthworms trying to escape. A tip to avoid a smelly area is to make a hole and bury the waste; this will avoid fruit flies as well. You will start to work out how much is needed daily from trial and error.

Citrus fruits are not particularly good for the worms, so add in moderation and maybe only once or twice a week.

Grass and leaves are actually the best and easiest food to give them. This can only be done is NO pesticides were used on the grass.

Avoid dairy products, meat products, onion, spicy foods and anything oily as they ruin the digestive tract of the worms. The earthworms will feed according to their weight, everyday. As the worms begin to multiply you can add more waste.

Harvest time:

Earthworms need to be harvested often. The production rate of earthworms is too fast, therefore either you can sell the worms or use the soil on your grass to make it grow green and lush. For interest sake earthworms can be sold for $70 for a bucket.

A neat trick:

To have a healthy earthworm farm it has to be well oxygenated. To do this added shredded pieces of newspaper. Make sure your earthworms are out of direct sunlight. Always keep an eye on the bin, don't go away for the weekend and completely forget about them.

Nicole enjoys writing content about do it yourself projects, most recently she wrote about trailer manufacturers,water tankers and farming projects.