By Nico Terblanche
What can you get out of Earthworm Farming? Well, several things actually. This earthworm farm process has been widely used by many composters today, just by making use of earthworms. Worms that are typically used for composting are the red worms; and they basically help out in the breaking down of decomposing daily kitchen scraps and garden wastes. And after everything else has been consumed and digested, these red wigglers will then produce what we now call worm castings.
Earthworm farms are now being used and practiced at home. Many are already into home composting since it's easy to do, and shows great results.
Breeding Earthworms
If you're thinking about breeding earthworms, then you can always start by purchasing a few of these compost wonders from bait shops, or from other worm farm stores online. You can also consider buying red worms instead of the nightcrawler kind, since they're much preferred for composting. They're said to work faster than their worm cousin.
How to Raise Earthworms
Anyway, raising earthworms can be made simple. You'll only have to provide them a bin for where to keep them; and with some moist bedding (can consist of presoaked peat moss, coconut coir, presoaked shreds of newspaper, and some soil) for where they will live in. But to be more specific, you can use a plastic container (preferably dark), that has a lid/cover on it. And since your worm bin requires drainage holes, you should drill holes (10mm size holes that are at least 25mm apart from each hole) on the base of the bin. Drill holes on the top area (about 25mm below the top rim) of the bin as well (holes should be 50mm apart this time). These holes will then serve as aeration holes.
Of course, don't forget to include the food supply for your red earthworms. You can put in kitchen scraps and garden wastes (like peels from fruits and vegetables, coffee grounds and filters, crushed eggshells, dried grass clippings and leaves, days old animal manure, some soil, etc.) but never those meat, diary, and oily products. And also make sure that you bury small pieces of these organic wastes on the ground (to help keep away from unwanted pest visits or to avoid odor build-up).
So, when you're raising red composting earthworms, you should also be able to feed them on a regular basis. But make sure not to overfeed them (check on them once a week). Only put in a new batch of organic food supply (about a handful) when the red worms have completely consumed everything.
Producing Worm Castings
In just a few weeks, you're sure to harvest a bunch full of earthworms compost from your worm bin. You can then turn these worm castings into an organic fertilizer, or use it as a soil conditioner. You not only get to produce your own organic fertilizer from worms, you also get to help minimize landfill accumulation. This definitely says something about recycling, since earthworm farming is very cost-effective, and is very eco-friendly.
It's fascinating what earthworms can do for the environment, and for us humans in general. So, if you want to start with your own earthworm farm now, then purchase your own batch of earthworms for sale . And if you want to know more about an earthworm's life cycle, you can read My Blog online. You can find all these at wormsandsons.co.za.[image:image-0]
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