HOW TO RAISE EARTHWORMS (FOR FUN AND PROFIT)
(Page 3 of 6)
Doris and Art keep their wigglers in 4' X 7' wooden frames
which have no bottoms or tops and stand about 2-1/2 feet
above ground ... a type of construction that works well in
the mild Sacramento climate. Cement bins or cinder-block
structures two blocks high are also suitable for warm
regions. In a cold area it's best to build such containers
three blocks high—with two units below ground
level—for better protection from chilly weather.
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It's even possible to run a small worm-raising operation
right inside a basement or other heated room. A wooden box
3 feet long, 2-1/2 feet wide and 1-1/2 feet high is
recommended if you intend to keep your stock indoors.
Important: Seal the seams of the container to prevent the
creatures from escaping. You should also fit the top of the
box with a frame covered with hardware cloth (you can make
the setup very convenient by hinging the lid to the bin and
adding a small screen-door hook as a fastener).
Another point: Several small drainage holes should be
drilled in the bottom of each bin (the worms do have to be
watered regularly, you know) and covered with fine-mesh
copper screen tacked to the wood. If the boxes are kept in
a place where they can't drain freely, small tin cans can
be set under the holes to catch the excess drippings.
A basement farm of this type can produce as many as half a
million bait or breeder—or an even greater number of
pit-run—worms per year. In fact, one retired Vermont
school teacher nets a profit of $1,200 annually by raising
earthworms in her cellar. Even mobile home owners
can—and do—go into this business ... stacking
the bins is the answer to their space problem.
FEEDING
No fancy food is required to keep earthworms happy. They'll
flourish on all kinds of waste organic material: animal
manure, dead plants or a million and one other things lying
around free for the taking.
Although many worm growers favor a bedding mixture of equal
parts peat moss, soil and rotted manure or compost, Doris
and Art have successfully raised big fat wigglers on steer
droppings alone. Occasionally they add calf meal to this
substance (many breeders use ground cornmeal, poultry mash,
soybean meal or similar products). Such feed may be very
thinly sprinkled on top of the bedding or buried in
trenches through the middle or around the sides of a pit,
but should never be mixed into the bedding where
it might heat and kill the worms.
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