Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Worm Farming Business

Just how profitable is a worm farming business?? Most worm farms are started in order to get the product that the worms produce when fed organic material. This final product is called castings, and while it's technically worm excrement, it's also a great fertilizer or additive for garden soil or potted plants.

Using worms to process compost and create castings is 'vermicomposting', and the finished product is called vermicompost or vermicast. To get high quality castings from an earthworm farm, it's necessary to start with the proper type of worms. There are certain types of worms that like to living in a container and process organic waste. The wrong type of worm may burrow down and will not process much of the food into castings. If you're just beginning, you'd want to buy your worms from an experienced vermicomposting supplier.

Grow the farm in a container. Start by putting some sheets of shredded newspaper to serve as bedding, followed by a few handfuls of soil. Moisten lightly with water. Add some organic waste for food, and then the worms. Cover with something that will keep out the light while retaining moisture, such as burlap or newspaper. After a couple of weeks, take off the cover and add some more food. Continue to do this as the worms multiply. If the worm farm starts to smell bad, you may be supplying the worms with more food than they can process. Also, be sure not to add any animal products, milk products, or oils, as food, since they can all smell or attract pests.

When the bin is about half full, it's probably a good time to harvest the castings. There are a number of ways to harvest the castings. Many people just push everything to one side, being sure to pull out any large pieces of non decomposed food. They then add the bedding, dirt, and food to the empty side, and wait a couple of weeks for the worms to move over to the new side, leaving rich vermicompost which they can then remove and use in the garden.

The worm casting compost or the worms themselves can be sold via the Internet and create a profitable, low labor business for the entrepreneur.

The final product is called castings, and while it's technically worm excrement, it's also a great fertilizer or additive for garden soil or potted plants.

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