Tips for the New Worm Farming Adventure

There are many different types of worms that are both good for you and bad for you.  You must first know the difference before you choose which you invest in for your worm farming adventure.  Worms such as tapeworms, ringworms, and pin worms are not good investments for worm farming.  The types people raise to sell and use are those they can sell for fishing bait, food for birds and reptiles, or those used to help benefit the soil and their by-products.

Worms have no exoskeletons and are not created the same inside as humans and other animals.  A worm has one brain and five hearts.  Earthworms breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide.  They can't control their own body temperatures and can't maintain a body temperature.  When they're in captivity, they must depend on you to help them survive in the right temperature.

Some people grow worm farms for their own personal adventure.  Kids use them for pets.  Gardeners encourage their growth to gain healthy crops or flower gardens.  They create excellent natural compost and fertilizers! Some people eat worms, although it isn't something that is a big hit in the United States.

Composting is encouraged to help the environment and to keep the waste down that is hauled to landfills daily.  Worm farming is one small way to help.  Small ways add up to big benefits when enough people join together in their efforts.  If you have complaints about the environment, if you've thrown away food scraps, newspapers, sticks and grass clippings or leaves, if you want to be involved in a positive way to help then worm farming may be just the right adventure for you to take!

Earthworms, red worms, catalpa worms, and grub worms all make good fishing worms.  If you want a variety of worms, though, you need to know that not all worms are raised the same.  Not all worms make good bin partners because of the different temperature requirements.

Not all vegetables or food scraps make good food for your worms either.  Strong foods like onion, garlic, and hot peppers are not as readily welcomed.  If the worms don't want to eat them, they'll eat everything else first.  That leaves a smell to your worm bin, which can ruin your new adventure really fast!  It's not like your own mom making you eat all your vegetables when you were little.  These are not children and shouldn't be tortured to endure foods they don't want.  If you feed an animal something that isn't good for it or that it doesn't like the taste of, it can starve itself to death and will just end up resenting you or trying to escape to get to the better food source.  Meat products are not a good idea for your worms either since they can contain diseases, poisons from the animal's system created by the medicines you must give your pet, and also a bad smell when decomposing.

Check out what the other worm farmers are doing.  Their prices, shipping methods, growing bins, advertisements may all come in handy for helping you plan your own adventure in worm farming.

What Do You Know about Worm Farming?

If you have wondered how popular or widespread worm farming is in the United States, or if you have ever thought of starting your own worm farm, you may find the following information interesting.

Worm farms on a large scale exist as follows:  Arizona, Connecticut, New York, Oregon, South Carolina, Michigan, Montana, New Mexico-1 each.  Florida, Massachusetts, Missouri, and the United Kingdom-2 each.  Pennsylvania, Texas-3 each.  Canada and Washington-4 each.  California-15.  Of course, there are many that aren't listed as major farms.  Many people have their own backyard worm farms. 

Any business, including worm farming, will take from 3 to 5 years normally to break even after their initial investment and maintenance costs.  It's essential to be careful with your purchases and to do your research before jumping into any business.  Careful consideration means a better chance of netting profits sooner.

What do you know about breed stock?  You can find good breed stock in a city gardener's basement supply just as well as you can from any established breeder with the same type of worm.  It isn't unusual for someone to try to sell breed stock at an inflated price in any animal business.  The population can take as long as 90 days to double no matter where you buy your breed stock.

How many worms you should start with depends on several things.  How much can you afford?  How big do you want your worm farm?  How much space do you have now?  Are you investing as a second income, for a little pocket money, or are you hoping to grow into a big worm farm?  Can you shield your worms from temperature changes?  Will you be willing and able to ship your worms elsewhere for selling?

Some helpful information to know is:

1. Worms are sensitive to pressure changes in weather.  Finding them in the lid of your worm bin before it rains is no reason to panic.

2. Ants will be more likely to enter your worm bins if the bedding is dry or highly acidic.  Raise the moisture content or keep the legs of your stand in a container of water.  You could try applying petroleum jelly around the legs or adding some garden lime near the ant gathering spot.

3. Cover your fresh worm food with the soil in the bed or lay a layer of wet newspaper over it to get rid of vinegar flies.  If you feed your worms too much for them to finish each day, it will invite the little flies, too.

4. A smelly worm bin is a sign that you may be feeding your worms too much for them to digest quickly.  Stir the waste lightly to allow air flow and space for the worms to travel more easily and feed less.  It may take a little experimentation to figure out how much your worms can process efficiently.  The amount will change as the worms multiply.

As seen on : How to make a CHEAP worm farm.

Incredible Insect Discovered In New Zealand 2011

  A nature-lover has revealed how he spent two days tracking down a giant insect on a remote New Zealand island -- and got it to eat a carrot out of his hand.

Mark Moffett's find is the world's biggest insect in terms of weight, which at 71g is heavier than a sparrow and three times that of a mouse.

The 53-year-old former park ranger discovered the giant weta up a tree and his real life Bug's Bunny has now been declared the largest ever found.

He came across the cricket-like creature, which has a wing span of seven inches, after two days of searching on a tiny island.

The creepy crawly is only found on Little Barrier Island, in New Zealand, although there are 70 other types of smaller weta found throughout the country.

The giants of the species were wiped off the mainland by rats accidentally introduced by Europeans.

After Mark found the female weta he fed it the carrot before putting it back where he found her.

Mark, 53, said: 'Three of us walked the trails of this small island for two nights scanning the vegetation for a giant weta.

'We spent many hours with no luck finding any at all, before we saw her up in a tree.

'The giant weta is the largest insect in the world, and this is the biggest one ever found, she weighs the equivalent to three mice.

'She enjoyed the carrot so much she seemed to ignore the fact she was resting on our hands and carried on munching away.

'She would have finished the carrot very quickly, but this is an extremely endangered species and we didn't want to risk indigestion.

'After she had chewed a little I took this picture and we put her right back where we found her.'

Mark, from Colorado, America, added: 'We bug lovers hear a lot of people who think insects are inferior in some way because of their size, so it was great to see such a big insect.

'This became all the more amazing when we realised that this was the largest insect recorded

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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!

Worm Farming with Mealworms

Image via WikipediaMealworms are scavengers.  It doesn't necessarily make them a bad worm, but it does help to understand them.  If you want to start a mealworm farm, you can find starters in damp, spoiled grain and grain products.  Perhaps you have access to a grain bin of some sort, a grain processing plant, or can get infested cereal from a cereal factory.

The dark mealworm is the species found throughout the United States.  Anyone who has found them in their flour or corn meal would not consider them friends!  But in this instance, you can turn an enemy into a friend and gain a profit from the experience. 

The trick to worm farming of any kind is to start small and work your way up.  You have to learn your limits and gain experience, find a market for your mealworms, and become educated about your product.  But anything worth having is worth working for.

People have been known to use the mealworm as fish bait or food for their birds or reptiles.  They're people food in some places!

One interesting fact about mealworm farming is that powdery residues can build-up in the containers.  This residue, also known as frass, contains mealworm eggs.  You can separate this frass with a sifter of some sort once a month, keep it in a separate container, and feed it with raw pieces of potatoes or bran.  It takes a month for the eggs to hatch.

Females are capable of producing up to 500 eggs, but the adults only live a short time of 3 months at most.  They get their fluids from wet fruits like apples or over-ripe bananas and vegetables such as the potato or carrot.  They also lay eggs on these foods.  You can keep them alive and dormant at temperatures over 40 degrees.  They prefer warm environments of 80 degrees to grow and change.  So, don't plan on them reproducing at the lower temperatures.

Did you know you can eat mealworms raw and live?  Ok, it's not your average meal, but it's healthy and is encouraged in other countries.  If you want the benefits, but can't stomach the thought, maybe you could try baking them or turning them into flour to use in other recipes.  Just spread them on a lightly greased baking sheet and cook for up to 3 hours at 200 degrees.  They're done when brittle.  Toss them into a blender or grinder  until they resemble wheat germ.  If nothing else, you could safely serve them to that irritating cousin just for a laugh.  It can be your little secret!

Meal worm farming is one of the cheapest worm farming you can enter.  It's a great way to experiment and can be a safe way to feed your pets something natural and healthy.  You could add the worms to your dog or cats diet by using the flour to make your own dog or cat food.  Safe, natural, and healthy is the wave of the future.

Worm Farming is Safe, Natural, and Healthy in Many Ways

Image via WikipediaAre you tired of seeing all that trash along the riverbanks and ponds because of the plastic lures the fishermen use?  Are you tired of the cost of potting soil, fertilizers, and compost?  Are you tired of the expensive pet foods that contain ingredients of uncertainty?  Are you tired of not knowing how to help our eco-system, our environment, our future?  It doesn't happen all at once; it takes the efforts of many people doing the right things and making the right lifestyle choices.  Then maybe you should give worm farming a try.  It's safe, natural, and healthy in many ways.

Worm farming can be done with earthworms, catalpa worms, meal worms, red worms, or grub worms.  You can try having more than one kind, but there are benefits to keeping them in separate containers.  One such benefit is being able to track the progress of each type.  One benefit is having them separated for the different reasons you would want to use them.  One reason for keeping them separated is to make sure you have the correct temperatures and the correct conditions for each type to thrive.

Earthworms, meal worms, and grub worms are edible.  Maybe you don't want to partake of this sort of exotic delicacy yourself.  It may just be a little too safe, natural, and healthy for your tastes!  But what if you could extend the life of your furry pets by adding the cooked worms to their dry food that you've made yourself?  Even animals that don't naturally eat worms can benefit from eating them in another form.

Worm farming is one of the less dangerous types of farming.  You don't have to have a big farm that takes lots of employees and expensive equipment to have a worm farm.  You can have your own little worm farm for your own personal benefits.  Encourage your kids to join in and use it in class for show-and-tell time.  It's a way of getting up close and personal with natural science.  Little gardeners can enjoy the benefits of this safe farming.  And if you are raising the edible worms, you won't have to worry if your tot does experiment by popping one in his or her mouth!

Although the catalpa worms are not one of the edible worms, they are still safe and natural to use as fish bait.  The catalpa trees are well-known along the rivers and swamps of the southern states in the United States.  Texas, Louisiana, and Florida residents enjoy the bait from these trees.  They can be established outside of their natural habitats with the proper knowledge and conditions.  They tolerate heat well, but need well-drained, moist, rich soil to do well.  They can grow to 90 feet and can provide shade and other benefits trees add to the natural balance of life.

If you live in east Texas, you are well-acquainted with the pest called the June bug.  You may not have known, however, that this pest comes from the grub worm.  Not the gardener's friend, but useful in other ways, this worm is one of the delicacies in other countries.  You just have to know your creepy-crawlers so you can help others learn more about what's safe, natural and healthy:  worm farms----spread the word! 

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.

A Different Kind of Worm Farm

Image via WikipediaWorm farms are in effect in different states all over the United States.  Because of the interest in recycling and the eco-system, these farms make sense.  Landfills get less bagged waste, crops are improved, other animals are fed a natural food, and the worms provide natural bait for fishing. 

Worm farms can provide many things besides worms.  Worm gifts, worm candy, worm flour, worm breads, worm cookies, books, dvds, cute worm songs on cds, worm-related toys, fertilizer teas, compost, potting soil, cupped fishing bait, and hands-on activities for youngsters are some ideas.

Worm farming is technically known as vermiculture.  It can be a lucrative business, but it is not a way to make a lot of money quickly.  It takes patience, education, money, space, and marketing skills. You can't just toss a handful of worms in your yard and expect them to go to work and make you rich!

If you want a different kind of worm farm, you first would want to research the other worm farms that are in the market.  If you make your worm farm unique and fun, you'll draw families.  Families spend money on souvenir type items and knick knacks as memoirs of their adventures.  Kids like games.  Maybe you could create some playground equipment for your little visitors with designs that are based on worms.  Demonstrations can make your worm farm different. 

You can make your worm bins decorative as well to help maintain public interest.  People like "eye candy".  Things that are brightly colored and designed catch the eye.  A person dressed in a worm suit to chat with the children would be a fun addition to make your worm farm different.  A small worm farm museum would be interesting for school groups to visit, which would increase public interest and make your worm farm different.

You might want to figure out how to have a worm festival on your worm farm.  Provided you have enough room for parking and someone to direct traffic, this could provide advertisement and fun for you and for your visitors.  Worm contests such as who can eat the most worm cookies or design the best worm poster, the most creative worm art made with playdoh, or races in worm shaped cars are some ideas.