Ultimate Guide To Worm Farming

The ultimate guide to worm farming. Worm farming is a great cheap hobby for people of all ages. Not much space is needed either and best of all there isn't much cleaning up after the worms. Here's a great guide to worm farming:

Worm Farms: A Practical Guide

Why Worm Farms?

Worms make great pets. They don't make a lot of noise, they never need to be walked, they eat our garbage, and they make valuable compost. Disposal of food waste and the production of fertilizer alone makes worm farms make sense. Whether you live in a big city or out in the country or somewhere in between, worm farming is easy and fun

Do You Have What it Takes?

It doesn't take much to start a worm farm. First, of course, you need somewhere to put the worms. It should be a bin with a few holes for ventilation. For most families, a bin that is 1 foot by 2 feet by 4 feet is big enough. For small apartments, a five gallon bucket will do. That's about a square foot of space in a worm bin per household member.

Second, start off with some bedding for your worms to make a home in. Shredded newspaper or cardboard, dampened, makes a great home. Mix it with a few handfuls of soil, a handful of sand, and leaves. Worm farms that are most successful will mimic what the surface of the earth looks like, with leaves on top for example.

Now the worms. Eisenia foetida is the Latin, scientific name for worms most often used for worm farms, while Red Wiggler is the name most people use. You should have about two pounds of worms, from hatchlings to full grown, to start your worm farm. They like cool, moist environments, and take about a month to get used to their new home.

Caring for Your Worm Farm

Once you've given your worms time to get settled, now it's time to feed them. Start using half the bin. Add a bit of food (they like vegetable and fruit trimmings, eggs shells crushed up, crushed oyster shells for calcium, or pretty much any food waste that's not meat) to one section at a time, and work it in just a little bit. Feed your worms every few days or so.

After about six months, you'll have compost in the half of the bin you've been feeding. Now it's time to swith to feeding the other half. After a few weeks of feeding the new half, most of the worms will be over on that side and you can harvest the compost from the first half of the bin. This is great for gardens, potted plants, or anything that grows in soil.

If you find fruit flies in your bin, it means the bin is too wet. Add some shredded, clean newspaper to help even out the moisture content. If it smells, that means there's too much food; just work the soil a bit for ventilation and stop feeding until the smell is gone.

There you have it! Worm farms are easy to set up and maintain, and can be a fun way to dispose of waste and create some really great fertilizer.



About the Author

Robert Usher owns and operates http://www.WORMS-FARM.COM Worm Farming Whether you want to educate the kids, make compost, or raise worms for bait check this out

Easiest Way to Start a Worm Farm

If you have no idea how to start of worm farm this is the article you need to read! Worm farming doesn't take a lot of work and isn't time consuming but it can be a fun hobby and one that kids especially enjoy.

Worm farming requires very little supplies and most can be found in your household. You don't need a large yard either. I small yard will do.

Start a Worm Farm!

Worm Farms are a way for the everyday household to be environmentally friendly. In this article, we are going to discuss what a worm farm is and the benefits of worm farming.

A worm farm is often used to decompose food scraps or other items and the resulting worm castings or Vermicompost is used to fertilize a garden, grass, or other area. This worm compost is extremely rich in nutrients and therefore valuable to anyone seeking an organic, 100% natural, alternative to commercial fertilizers. The most commom types of worms to use for a worm farm or worm composting are Red Wiggler Worms (Esienia foetida) or Red Earthworms (Lumbricus rubellas).

A worm farm can be produced in small scale or large scale. There are many commercial worm farms that sell both the worms and the Vermicompost (worm castings). This organic compost is highly sought after.

However, worm farms can be started in your own backyard, garage, or even the kitchen on a small scale! Worm farm bins (i.e. Vermiculture bins or composting bins) can certainly be purchased from other worm farms or commercial compost bin manufacturers. However, worms are very resilient and therefore a number of containers are suitable for starting a small scale worm farm; including, plastic bins, buckets, wooden crates, metal containers, and many other common items. For more details on suitable containers, visit our worm bin page.

Red Wiggler Worms and Red Earthworms can handle all sorts of common kitchen scraps, such as:

* Vegetable peels
* Leftovers
* Fruit (no the peels however)
* Moldy bread
* Coffee Grounds
* Coffee Filters
* Tea bags

Most households will be able to significantly reduce the amount of waste they are putting in the garbage can by feeding their worms! Therefore, you are doing your part to keep our landfills from growing out of control. The resulting organic compost from your worm poop can also help you harvest a fruitful garden, have a green lawn, or have healthy house plants, and much more.

Want to learn more about worm farms? Visit My Worm Farms

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Spencer_Ray

Worm Farm Predators

Unfortunately worm farm predators are a real threat to the worm farmer, however, not all predators are that obvious. You built your worm farm so ignoring predators and letting the animals snack on or chemical harm your worms isn't going to fly.

Various birds love to eat worms, so do foxes, hedgehogs, leeches, toads, beetles, snakes, and a great many parasites, so that's the first worry when protecting your worms.

Another problem is in what you feed your worms, which may be the manure you probably get from livestock farms. The problem with that is is that those livestock take a lot of different medications and if you're not aware of what they are could affect your worms in a negative manner the medications may not always be completely digested and so the residue stacks up in the compost, which then goes to your worms.

To protect your worm bins you need to make sure they drain properly so that water is replaced. Stale water becomes contaminated over time, eventually causing harm to your worms so you also need to be careful about drainage material you use. There are those who opt to use shredded cardboard but some of the cardboard might have become contaminated by pesticides, which ultimately will affect your worms.

Yet another factor is what other predators consume the feeds you give to your worms since worms eat a lot and if the feed supply allotted to them is eaten by another predator then your worms won't be eating as they should be. Even supposing the predator isn't actually after the worms, the consequence is the same: your worm produce will rapidly decline. One specific problem here is the inevitable existence of raccoons on your farm because they tend to find their way into all kinds of containers, hidden or not and are able to open door latches.

Anyone who has birds on the farm with your worms there's no problem with the birds so long as you can keep them from finding interest in your worms. So you should find ways to keep the birds fed in areas away from your worms, to keep them from getting nosy and finally finding your worms and eating them.

The remaining type of predator neither consume worm feeds and it doesn't live on your farm. If your worm farm is found in or is even near a heavily populated area, this predator could be a human being, a thief or interlopers or nosy neighbors. So make sure your doors are not that easy to pick, and your fences are difficult to jump over so it's harder to steal worms from your farm.

4 Steps to Worm Farm Success

Here's four easy to follow steps for worm farming success! Worm farms are inexpensive to make and most supplies can already be found at your house.

4 Simple Steps to a Successful Worm Farm

The best location for your Worm Farm should be a well shaded section of your garden. Worms prefer a cold, moist area so open sunshine is a definite no.

Now you have your area set up, your worms will something to eat. Worms are the totally opposite to humans, they will eat most things that we throw away. Old vegetables, fruit peelings, bread, egg shells and general meal waste are great for worm food. The smaller you can make the food, the better. As you know, worms are small creatures so anything big will be difficult for them to digest. They also like soiled paper or cardboard such as torn egg cartons. Worms do not like fish or meat, cheese or butter, generally foods that are oily, very smelly or have strong odours.

You have two options when it comes to the actual worm farm; you can buy one or build one yourself. There are 3 levels to a worm farm, each with holes in the bottom to drain moisture and allow good air flow. Each level should be about 30cm deep, 60cm wide and 90cm long. A suitable covering for the top layer is required to keep out unwanted animals and to keep it dry. A drip tray is needed at the very bottom to catch all the water. A varied amount of compost mixed with wet paper and leaves gives a great bed for the worm farm. Add about 1000 worms once you are happy with the soiled area. Ordinary worms cannot be used, you will need to buy them from your local garden centre. Spread them evenly and allow them to burrow into the soil. Add your kitchen waste in small amounts, always keeping the cover on when finished. Don't overcrowd the worm farm with food, if they haven't eaten the previous waste, don't add more until it's gone.

After a few days, the worms will have made their way into the top layer leaving their castings in the lower layer. You can use this layer to fertilize your garden. When you remove the compost, simply replace it with fresh soil, cardboard and papers and allow the worms to mix it up again.

Written by Glen Buchanan, How to Make a Worm Farm. Discover how to create your own DIY Worm Farm with minimal effort and cost.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Glen_Buchanan

Getting Started Worm Farming

Getting started worm farming is not that complicated, all it takes is a love for recycling and a little information, supplies you can probably find around your house and a little information on how to get stated worm farming.

How much do worms usually eat? Mature worms capable of eating up to three times their own body weight on daily basis and those who are just getting their feet wet in the world of worms and would like to know how to make worms eat more and be a lot more productive.

What do worms eat? Shredded, mashed or blended food scraps since these will make the food more digestible and is very easily eaten by the worms. Make sure you keep their bed somewhere around 23-25 degrees Celsius since it's at these temperatures that worms enjoy it the most, but stay away from acidic foods as it will screw up the worms digestive system.

The following are a few things you'll want to not feeding your worms period manure, onions, citrus fruits or peelings, garlic, garden waste sprayed with insecticides, dairy products like milk and cheese or meat.

Moistening the farm will heighten the production but take care not to add too much water in the farm or the worms will drown. Remember that food wastes are nearly eighty percent water and that gets released when the worms begin to break it down. So, if water is poured over the system every couple of weeks, be sure to just add sufficient water to be sure that the worm bed stays damp, as well as cool and you will easily have a constant supply of liquid fertilizer. You will not be able to harvest the worms since they'll regulate themselves within any space and the food given to them. Here are some other questions that you may end up asking.

Why do worms like to congregate on the lid of the farm during rainy periods? It's a perfectly normal response for the worms to act in this manner during the rainy season to avoid getting drowned.to avoid drowning. All you have to do is move the farm bins or boxes to a place where it does not get exposed to too much rain and drop the worms back on their bedding.

Why don't the worms go to the upper level of the tray? It may be because you having added some new food before the worms got to complete the last batch. Worms usually like to consume leftover food and won't go out of their way to find a new food source until it's done with what was already left. As a result, before adding new trays, stop feeding the worms for a period of about five days so that you're certain the original food has been consumed and make sure that the levels at the tray needs to be high enough for the worms to be able to go up to the next tray.

Do worms have the ability endurehigh temperatures? worms are able to stand a temperature range between 10-30 degrees Celsius so if it gets get hotter than their tolerable levels, relocate the farm to a shady cool place where it won't have any trouble regulating moisture and the humidity. In cold temperatures,cover the box with old garments or carpets, blankets and wool shavings to keep the temperature up. It's also a good idea to feed about a quarter more than you should, since more food by the worms gives way for more heat being generated in their bodies. So put these ideas into practice and soon you'll be able to creating an awesome worm farm.

Worm Farming Benefits | How To Start a Worm Farm

If you have an interest in vegetable gardening, flower gardening, or fishing then you should consider worm farming. Worm farming is easy and doesn't require a lot of money to get started. It also doesn't require a lot of space. Worm farming doesn't require a lot of work either. The benefits are enormous, an endless supply of worms for bait and for the gardener the added bonus of fresh soil.

Worm Farming And How To Get Started

If you have always wanted to start a worm farm but don't have the essential information on how to get going, then don't worry. Getting started in worm farming is not complex, and certainly not rocket science.

You may have many reasons for wanting to set up a worm farm. For example, you may be interested in the fertilizer rich in nutrients produced by the worms, or if you are considering a constant supply of live bait or live food for exotic pets.

Whatever be the reason, you need to set up a bin. The foremost thing to look upon is the container. To calculate an appropriate size, you need to measure the quantity of waste you are going to require to use for feeding. The depth of the container should be at least 6 to 12 inches. Wooden boxes or a plastic tote is considered to be ideal material as a container.

After deciding the containers dimensions, you should prepare it for use. For use, the holes must be punched or drilled through the top of the container for permitting the air flow. Generally for this, two methods can be applied.

One method is to drill holes in to the bottom of the container to permit sufficient water and other liquids to drain off. Another method is to install a spout at the bottom of the container. When the liquid starts to fill up, the spout is turned on in order to release the fluid. While using the spout, you also need to top raise the shelf a little bit. The raised shelf may be made up of slats having various holes for permitting the liquids to drain in to the container's bottom.

Once the container is ready, check the bedding materials. You can make bedding using shredded or soaked newspapers, dampened leaves and cardboard. Don't use colored pages. And be careful not to drown the worms. You just need to keep the bedding moist, not soaked. No matter what the bedding material is, a small quantity of soil should always be mixed in. The best types of bedding for worms is covered in more detail at http://www.wormfarmworld.com

The container must be placed in an area which ensures optimal conditions. The temperature should be between 72 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. The placement of the bin should be in an area having access to rain water.

Once the bin has been constructed and bedding has been added in a perfect location, then add worms to it.

This is the way to start your own worm farm. Gather some information regarding the addition of useful and appropriate worms for your farm. Red worms are supposedly the best for worm farms but its best to research on this before finalizing a decision. Undoubtedly, worm farming is beneficial whether it is done as a hobby or for a profit.

So getting started in worm farming is really simple. You just have to follow the above-mentioned procedure. Once started, you should know how to sustain the quality by regularly maintaining the worm farm. Good luck with your worm farm!

Carl Formby owns and operates http://www.wormfarmworld.com, a website dedicated to information on Worm Farms

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carl_Formby

Best Worm Farming Secrets | Worm Farming Tips

If you are a fisherman or enjoy fishing then you should think about starting your own worm farm. Worm farming to grow your own bait is an excellent hobby with many benefits. The worms will depose your kitchen wastes and create a bonus of beautiful soil for you garden.

Worm Farming Secrets

Worm farming used to be only a good idea if you were a dedicated fisherman. Recently, the hobby has exploded into a multimillion dollar business. Because of its incredible track record of being great for the environment households, communities, and even municipalities have revisited vermicomposting as a viable alternative to landfills.

By eliminating the waste that would be sent to landfills, starting a worm farm will save the average household hundreds of dollars every year on garbage removal services. They truly are revolutionizing the recycling industry at an alarming rate, and the best part of it is that they are able to be started at a near zero startup cost.

One of the most important parts of starting your worm farm is to design the farm for the size of the garbage that you expect to want recycled. An average worm farm contains a pound of worms, or 4,000 worms, and can eat through over half a pound of garbage every 24 hours.

Now, you cannot just throw any and all trash into your worm farm and expect it to disappear. You can only place compostable garbage such as paper based products and old food. While this may not seem like a lot, it covers all newspapers, paper, cardboard, and all scraps left over from meals. Additionally, you can make choices in the supermarket to buy products that contain little to no plastics, therefore reducing the amount of non-compostable waste that you generate.

If you are ready to take the plunge into vermicomposting, you can find all of the supplies at your local building supply store, and can get the worms straight out of the ground. The only real trick that you must make sure you heed is the fact that you have to allow your container breathing holes as well as it must be sealable so the worms and the liquids that are produced from the worm farms do not seep into the surrounding ground.

Worm farming truly does offer a hobby that can save you hundreds of dollars every year in addition to helping the environment and providing a possible business opportunity. What are you waiting for?

Written by Glen Buchanan, How to Build a Worm Farm. Discover how to create your own DIY Worm Farm with minimal effort and cost.Worm farming used to be only a good idea if you were a dedicated fisherman. Recently, the hobby has exploded into a multimillion dollar business. Because of its incredible track record of being great for the environment households, communities, and even municipalities have revisited vermicomposting as a viable alternative to landfills.

By eliminating the waste that would be sent to landfills, starting a worm farm will save the average household hundreds of dollars every year on garbage removal services. They truly are revolutionizing the recycling industry at an alarming rate, and the best part of it is that they are able to be started at a near zero startup cost.

One of the most important parts of starting your worm farm is to design the farm for the size of the garbage that you expect to want recycled. An average worm farm contains a pound of worms, or 4,000 worms, and can eat through over half a pound of garbage every 24 hours.

Now, you cannot just throw any and all trash into your worm farm and expect it to disappear. You can only place compostable garbage such as paper based products and old food. While this may not seem like a lot, it covers all newspapers, paper, cardboard, and all scraps left over from meals. Additionally, you can make choices in the supermarket to buy products that contain little to no plastics, therefore reducing the amount of non-compostable waste that you generate.

If you are ready to take the plunge into vermicomposting, you can find all of the supplies at your local building supply store, and can get the worms straight out of the ground. The only real trick that you must make sure you heed is the fact that you have to allow your container breathing holes as well as it must be sealable so the worms and the liquids that are produced from the worm farms do not seep into the surrounding ground.

Worm farming truly does offer a hobby that can save you hundreds of dollars every year in addition to helping the environment and providing a possible business opportunity. What are you waiting for?

Written by Glen Buchanan, How to Build a Worm Farm. Discover how to create your own DIY Worm Farm with minimal effort and cost.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Glen_Buchanan