View Full Version : On Raising Earthworms
A cousin of mine raised worms commercially for years, at one time he was shipping 70K/week for years. He used to tell people that he had 2M head on his ranch. . .
. . . everything that a worm touches turns to money.
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/1565124685.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
Earthworms are common creatures of soil, compost and leaf litter. Fisherman often use them for bait and gardeners often raise them for their ability to break down compost into usable fertilized soil. Darwin studied these humble creatures and published his last book on them. Although he did not have knowledge that we have of the microorganisms that share the soil with earthworms, and only a minimal understanding of springtails, mites, sowbugs, etc.,which share the earthworm's habitat, he laid the groundwork for at least a smattering of knowledge on these simple, but very strange organisms.
In The Earth Moved: On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms Amy Stewart explores this shadowy realm of soil- a habitat at once close at hand and yet in many ways more remote to us than the sea. In a very well-written 200 plus pages she lays before the reader both the known facts and the multidinous mysteries of earthworms.
The Earth Moved: On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms (www.amazon.com/-Earth-Moved-On-/dp/1565124685/ref=sr_11_1/104-3857640-0878361?ie=UTF8)
Wormfarm.com - Worm Farms and Vermicomposting (www.wormfarm.com/) Worm Woman (www.wormwoman.com/acatalog/index.html)
Jessie
09-13-2006, 02:16 AM
picking worms is a tiring job. :faint:
was good money for the buyers though.
picking worms is a tiring job.
Jessie:
My cousin had his operation all together:
. . . he used a moistened burlap screen that the worms would crawl through [cleaning themselves in the process] so that he had a container with nothing but worms.
. . . he would then count out 100 and weigh them.
. . . with that average weight he would bag up 1000 in a bag the size of a bread loaf by weight.
Fedex to his customers.
was good money for the buyers though.
This was from about 30 years ago, but he was shipping 70K a week and the wholesale price was $0.03 each. $2100 a week.
He was shipping to zoos, gardeners, bait shops, pet food stores. . .
Jessie
09-13-2006, 11:54 AM
is he still doing it?
wonder how he did the burlap? did he have wooden boxes then put burlap over the worms?
many we knew used I think compost in the boxes with the worms.
I dont know how they prepared for shipping though.
we were on the end of picking them.
is he still doing it?
Jessie:
He got out of it about 20 years ago: bad health, old age.
wonder how he did the burlap?
He had a box frame with moistened burlap for a bottom.
. . . he would scoop in a shovel full of worms [bedding and all] and the worms would go to and through the bottom
did he have wooden boxes then put burlap over the worms?
[Please remember, I was only at his 'ranch' a couple of times, back when I was a teenager]
He had a barn [really big barn] with 6 concrete 'beds' . . . each about 4' wide and about 90' long.
. . . in the bottom of each he had a system of water hose set in the concrete that he would use to keep them warm with piped in hot water.
. . . he could make one side 'hot' so that the worms would migrate to the other side so that he could change the bedding.
many we knew used I think compost in the boxes with the worms.
He bought newspaper for bedding; he shredded it with a farm grinder attached to a straight-6 car engine.
When he changed the bedding, he sold it to a plant nursery. [everything in worm farming turns to money]
CoreIssue
09-13-2006, 04:41 PM
We raised them when I was growing up for our own use.
Wheee! Worms, worms everywhere! :aah:
Jessie
09-14-2006, 02:12 AM
thats right it was shredded newspaper. been so long ago I did'nt remember.
I dont think they knew about the burlap though.
wonder if they sold the newspaper to a nursery too...
and I dont think they had it set up for one end to be hot.
sounds like he knew a lot and better than most!
wonder if they sold the newspaper to a nursery too...
Jessie:
The newspaper worm bedding became wonderful nursery seeding material. . . I believe it could be sold by the bag. . . everything about worm farming is green friendly and turns to $$$.
and I dont think they had it set up for one end to be hot.
That was a slick part of his system, he could have the worms move to one side with the hot water piping so that he could change out the bedding material. . . or get them closer together for harvesting.
sounds like he knew a lot and better than most!
My cousin was one slick fellow. . . at one time he had a 56 Chevy [street legal] with a hand built 283 that would only run 100mph, but 100mph just so happened to be what it did in the quarter mile.
. . . back in the '60s he tore up the drag racing strips.
He offered to let me run it at the strip. . . sad that I didn't take him up on it.
This sounds interesting, worm composting made easy:
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0942256107.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
This was a fun book about the little creepy crawlers! It gives a very solid scientific introduction to the little critters and answers most of your basic questions about worms. The focus of the book has to with vermiculture--the use of worms for developing super-rich compost material for organic gardens. Vermicompost is without a doubt the best composting material available for organic gardeners, and setting up your own vermicomposting bin is the best way to get yourself some of this richly organic fertilizer.
The book details how you can set up your own vermicompost bin, either by making it yourself or by purchasing a commercial worm bin. It also even describes how some school systems have saved themselves bundles of money by having worms eat the schoolkids' lunch scraps rather than pay for commercial garbagemen to haul the stuff away!
I would most strongly recommend this book for anybody interested in either worms, vermicomposting or organic gardening.
Worms Eat My Garbage: How to Set Up & Maintain a Worm Composting System (http://www.amazon.com/Worms-Eat-Garbage-Maintain-Composting/dp/0942256107/ref=sid_dp_dp/102-4714600-5176952?ie=UTF8)
CoreIssue
09-16-2006, 04:52 PM
Wow. An indoor aquarium decorator piece.
Great for conversations! :D
But, seriously, there are real good reasons for a bunch of people to do this.
But, seriously, there are real good reasons for a bunch of people to do this.
I met a fellow who grew up on a ranch. He moved a concrete 'horse trough' [the circular, concrete variety] into a barn and raised worms in it.
. . . provided him with 'walking-around-money' when he was a teenager.
Jessie
09-18-2006, 11:39 PM
Jessie:
The newspaper worm bedding became wonderful nursery seeding material. . . I believe it could be sold by the bag. . . everything about worm farming is green friendly and turns to $$$.
and I dont think they had it set up for one end to be hot.
That was a slick part of his system, he could have the worms move to one side with the hot water piping so that he could change out the bedding material. . . or get them closer together for harvesting.
sounds like he knew a lot and better than most!
My cousin was one slick fellow. . . at one time he had a 56 Chevy [street legal] with a hand built 283 that would only run 100mph, but 100mph just so happened to be what it did in the quarter mile.
. . . back in the '60s he tore up the drag racing strips.
He offered to let me run it at the strip. . . sad that I didn't take him up on it.
sounds like one smart man! wonder what that chevy would have really done since it did 100 in a quarter mile... I'm gonna ask my dh!
sounds like one smart man! wonder what that chevy would have really done since it did 100 in a quarter mile... I'm gonna ask my dh!
Jessie:
I don't remember what rearend gears he was running [4:11, perhaps]. . . but at top end, the engine was screaming at redline.
He ran in a street legal class and was really tough.
. . . the only cars that could run him came to the strip on trailers.
If ever there was a green industry, it is earthworm production:
The large earthworm bait market has continued to expand rapidly over the past few years because of the shortage of traditional bait such as shrimp and coarse fish. This has increased earthworm prices and has attracted earthworm growers who have attempted to place cultured worms in competition with 'harvested' worms. Unfortunately some companies have set up worm-growing franchise operations which prey upon a wide variety of people who have little understanding of how the earthworm bait market operates.
There exists in North America a large well-organized bait worm industry supplied by dew worms picked from golf courses and pastures. The species harvested, L. terrestris, is preferred by anglers but cannot be cultured at prices competitive with the 'picked' price. The lucrative market generated by this bait species has attracted competition for cultured worms actively promoted by enfranchising companies. Cultured worms are perceived, by anglers, to be inferior to the dew worm. Claims for other markets (e.g. sludge reduction) are premature or exaggerated.
Earthworm Ecology (http://sci.agr.ca/london/faq/tomlin01_e.htm)
Chrystalwuzhere
12-07-2006, 02:35 PM
The old lady who used to live next door to me raised worms. She did it right in the ground, no troughs or anything. Her soil was so rich, she could grow anything. She used shredded newspapers as well.
I remember she would find a plant of ours in danger, and she'd scoop up a shovel of her soil out of her worm bed, bring it over, and dump it on the plant. Worms and all. :lol: Wowee! It recovered wonderfully!
She was known by folks in our area as the worm lady.
The old lady who used to live next door to me raised worms. She did it right in the ground, no troughs or anything.
No problems with fire ants?
Chrystalwuzhere
12-07-2006, 05:40 PM
Nope, never a problem to speak of.
Count yourself blessed.
Around this part of the woods, fire ants have ruined so much of the ecosystem.
I remember catching fireflys in a quart jar, now they are rarely seen.
. . . and horned toads are almost extinct.
Both decimated by the fireant invasion.
kay-gee
05-09-2007, 02:54 PM
Haven't seen a solitary one since I've been here. I'd give you ten dollars for a fist-full of em........all the best......
Haven't seen a solitary one since I've been here. I'd give you ten dollars for a fist-full of em........all the best......
The only problem we have with earthworms is the fireants.
Years ago, we had a garden that was infested with earthworms.
. . . my kids would turn up a spade of dirt, pick out several earthwoms and feed them to our Oscars [tropical fish].
They loved 'em.
kay-gee
05-09-2007, 09:47 PM
We are attempting to compost our kitchen waste to have something to enhance the poor soil with. It hasen't been going badly, but I know that some earthworms would speed up the procwss considerably. Folks here don't even know what one is. They commonly use chunks of squid for bait!...all the best.......
WI know that some earthworms would speed up the procwss considerably. Folks here don't even know what one is.
kay-gee:
Check out at a pet store and ask them about a vendor for worms.
They probably feed worms to fish and small reptiles and they get them by mail.
. . . 25 earthworms would really help your composting cause.
kay-gee
05-11-2007, 05:28 PM
Thanks for that tip. Now to find a pet store. Perhaps in Nassau. all the best....
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