Odds and Ends to Note About Worm Farming

For the beginner, worm farming can either seem like a simple adventure or something totally foreign to them.  Some people have never been brave enough to hold a worm, not to mention making a whole farm of them!  So, let's explore some interesting odds and ends about worm farming.

Compost worms and earthworms are not the same.  Earthworms loosen the soil.  Compost worms eat the mulch layer of soil.  Grub worms are not really worms at all.  They're larvae from the June bugs that are pests to people in the southern parts of the United States.  Catalpa worms are not really worms either.  They're caterpillars from a moth species that are known to infest the Catalpa tree.  Red worms are popular as fishing bait.  Tomato horn worms sound like little monsters, but they're actually edible worms.  Witchetty grub worms are served in restaurants as barbecued appetizers in Australia.  Palm grubs are prepared by frying in hot pepper and salt.  (Kinda makes you want to ask what the new dish is before you eat in a strange place, huh?)  If you soak an earthworm overnight, it will purge the soil from them.

Odds are that the end result of many dishes served in other countries could be quite tasty.  But most worm farming in America is done for other purposes.  New word of the day is vermicomposting!  It sounds really smart and sophisticated, but it only means composting with worms.  Worms are great little workers for your compost bin and can enrich the end result.  This means you have better luck with that green thumb you've been trying so hard to encourage!

You can build a worm bin out of wood, plastic, concrete, an old bucket, or an old bathtub.  If you really want an odd bin, create one out of an old toilet!  You just knew you were saving it for something, didn't you?  The only problem with having strange bins is that you need to create a drain.  You can't let your worm dirt get too soggy.  They rise to the top of the ground after a rain for a reason, you know.

Drainage creates another benefit of your worm farm called worm tea.  No, you don't drink it.  That would be far too odd and might end with a sick stomach.  You don't serve it to your worms either.  Although it does create a cute picture to imagine them sitting at a tiny table, holding their tiny little tea cups and wearing tiny little straw floppy hats!

Did you know you can feed your worms vacuum cleaner dust?  Although you may want to ensure that you didn't just fog the house for bugs before you vacuumed.

Worm farming can be as expensive or as low-cost as you choose to make it.  How much does it cost to start a worm farm?  Well, that's up to you.  How fancy you think you need it?  How large do you want to make it?  What type of worms do you want to start with?  How much space will you have for new growth?  How much money do you have available for the adventure?  What type of advertising do you want to do if it is a business venture?  Whatever your choices are, odds are that you'll end up learning something valuable!

Catalpa Worm Farming

If you are from the southern portion of the United States, you may not know about catalpa worms, but chances are you've at least heard of them.  Catalpa worms are not really worms, but they are lumped into the worm family anyway.  Try telling the redneck fishermen these little buggers aren't worms!

Catalpa worms are usually called "Catawba worms".  Although it isn't likely you'll find many catalpa worm farms, this may be a very good reason you should start one of your own.  It's a way to enlighten the public and provide something unique for consumers.

Catalpa trees are the way to get Catalpa worms.  So, a tree farm of catalpas is your first investment.  Other things you may need to invest in are:  sprinklers, wheelbarrows, shovels, rakes, containers, a business license, fertilizer for your tree crop, and advertising.

Your catalpa trees are going to make quite a mess with litter, so you'll want to decide how to handle that as well.  It's an idea to turn this litter into a profit.  Toss it into your compost pile to help build up some valuable food for your trees.  Sell it for seeds to others who may want to grow a tree.  Use it to start campfires.

One tree can provide a worm farmer with hundreds of worms.  They're a hot commodity for southern fishermen.  The fat worms draw catfish like crazy.  Their juices are the enticement for the fish.  They just can't seem to resist.  The best way to use the worms is to break them, tear them, or cut them somehow to allow the juices to flow.  Place them on your hook and put the hook as near to the bottom of your fishing hole as possible.  This keeps the juices close to the bait instead of allowing it to float down and away, which causes the fish to also go down and away to chase after the juice instead of the bait!

If you invest in a freezer, you can also freeze the worms to sell out of season. The caterpillar stage only lasts about three weeks.

You can buy a starter tree from the Arbor Foundation for $9.  If you're lucky enough to have a relative or friend who has a tree, you can try growing your own from the seed pods that hang from the limbs.  Your best bet for starting the worms is to harvest eggs from a tree that is already established and attach them to your own tree.  The caterpillars emerge in the spring, so you'll want to attach them in February or March.  You could try ordering the catalpa sphinx moth yourself from an insect source of some kind.  This is what the catalpa worm evolves into, so obviously it would lay the eggs to start more!

The downside to catalpa worms is their ability to devour leaves.  All species of the catalpa tree are subject and can be host trees.  You'll have to guard against small wasps and parasites that can destroy your worms.