Benefits And Reasons

Many people immediately think about how easy it would be to generate cash with little effort when it comes to worm farming. Perhaps the thought of having a personal supply of nutrient rich soil for the garden or flower beds sounds appealing. Either way, it’s important to know how to set up a proper worm farm for your specific requirements.

Worm farming can be rewarding both financially and environmentally so it’s important to understand the benefits and the reasons why you would want to take up worm farming. At it’s most basic level worm farming provides your garden with nutrient rich soil that your plants will thrive in. You can also aid the planet environmentally with worm farming. Worms are a great composting technique and they will eat virtually anything that is organic in nature. This includes newspapers, cardboard and kitchen scraps. Worm farms are perfect for the keen fisherman, no more digging about in the backyard for their bait. For the aquarium owner worms are a great supply of fresh food for their fish.

With the reasons for a worm farm established in your mind you can now start setting it up. An easy way to start is with a worm farming bin. These are found online or at your local gardening or hardware store. Worm farm bins are available in a wide variety of shapes, colors and sizes. Some large scale worm farms will often have these setups available at reasonable prices.

If you like to do it yourself you could even try making your own out of common household items. Plastic tubs, large wooden boxes, a large plastic garbage bin are all perfect items you can modify for your worm farm.

Multiple layers are required to provide a space for the liquid run off at the bottom. A tap at the bottom will provide drainage for whenever you need some liquid fertiliser. Worms live and move around in the top layer of soil. The material to be composted is simply laid on top where the worms can get at it.

There are many models of worm farms available that are made specifically for those of us who don’t have backyards and need to put it in indoors. The worm farm can be extended by stacking more bins on top.

Appropriate bedding will need to be provided for the worms to ensure a healthy life style. Using peat moss or coconut fiber interspersed with compost material are two such options. Bedding should always be moist for worms. When you purchase prepackaged worms you will more than likely get the bedding material with them as well as some instructions.

Think carefully about where you locate the bin as well. Worms are unable to tolerate extremes in temperature. A controlled temperature of between 72 – 75 degrees Fahrenheit is perfect. Another option is to choose a fully insulated system to avoid extremes in temperature ranges. Your bin may dry out too quickly or stay too moist if you locate it in the wrong position.

When you have all of the above conditions met you now just need to add worms There are many species of worms that are readily available all boxed up and ready to go. Red Wigglers are the best choice for composting farms while European Night Crawlers are best for live bait.

After you get your worms you will need to acclimatise them for the best chance of survival. You should have received instructions on how to do this. An important step is to be sure the bedding and unit are fully prepared before the worms arrive for placement within the farm.

Now for the fun part, feeding the worms. There are a wide variety of items you can use as worm food. Fruit and vegetable scraps, egg shells, newspapers, cotton rags, cardboard boxes pre-soaked, leaves, dirt and even hair. Items should be cut down to manageable sizes. Slice your fruits into strips so your worms can get at them easier.

Place all of your worm food in layers on the top layer of soil. If you only add food once most the previous food has been consumed you will avoid the problem overfeeding.

All of your worm castings will be found in the bottom layer of soil. By adding this straight to the garden you will be providing your plants with one of nature’s best fertilizer’s. If your plants like being fed directly to the roots a liquid fertilizer can be made by simply adding water.

Worm farming is relatively low maintenance. Worms who aren’t happy with their home will simply crawl away in search of greener pastures. Keeping the temperature constant, moisture at an appropriate level and food readily available will help ensure a healthy and happy supply of working worms.

This article has been written by the author, Gills. Should you require any moreworm farmplease visit his worm farming resources!