A Self-Sufficient Energy/Livestock System

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The beds are each six feet wide, 100 feet long, and up to a foot deep. Six-year-old decayed sawdust (the family gets it free for the hauling), piled to a depth of about six inches, makes up the bottom of the beds. The wood chips are then covered with four inches or so of fresh cattle manure, which Charlie replaces every month. Given such a mixture of bedding and food, the worms will breed well — and gain weight rapidly — as long as a pH balance of 6.5 - 7.0 is sustained and the litter is kept moist by regular waterings (every other day or so).

. . . OR IN THE BAG!

To harvest a crop of the earth-eating soil rejuvenators, the McCutcheon clan merely set a layer of 1/4" hardware cloth on the surface of each bed, and cover the screening with three inches of rotted sawdust mixed with the moist by-product from the latest ethanol run. Because the high-protein grain residue is such excellent feed, the worms work their way past the mesh to feast on the fresh material above and are easily removed after about three days (which gives the slippery little critters plenty of time to "fatten up" for market, where they're worth about $4.00 per pound ).

Although Charles and his crew have realized excellent profits by selling their worms to live -bait dealers, they have at times been disappointed by the number of creatures lost as a result of temperature extremes and physical damage sustained during shipping.

To get around such problems, the senior McCutcheon developed a dehydrated redworm convenience bait last year, which he's now manufacturing and distributing across the country. "Miracle Bait Jerky" is sold in sealed pouches, each of which contains four 1/4" X 4" worm-meat strips. According to Charlie's son Chuck, the strips can be cut in half and "hooked" like alive worm. When they're placed in the water, they swell up and emit a natural scent. Chuck reports that the bait is very effective at enticing many types of freshwater fish. . . and, of course, it's far more convenient than are live worms.

Furthermore, the redworm business has resulted in another "spinoff" trade which has also proved itself to be a moneymaker. Since the bait operation has produced far more earthworm manure than Charles needs, he decided to sell his surplus castings to local gardeners.

The venture worked out so well that Charlie has recently begun to bag his own organic potting soil amendment — consisting of equal parts of Canadian sphagnum peat moss, decayed sawdust, and worm castings — for sale to wholesale and retail nurseries and plant shops. The sideline is both profitable and practical . . . since the McCutcheons need go no farther than 30 miles from home (to Columbia, Missouri) to dispose of their goods. (In fact, the demand for this earthy product has become so great that Charles may have to begin purchasing castings from other local worm-breeders to supplement his supply!)

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