Why would anyone want to raise worms? They're just creepy crawlers right? Anyone who's been fishing has handled worms. They aren't as gross as they sound. They are amazing little critters in fact. Worms can turn scraps into fertile, rich garden soil. Raising worms is not difficult. Keep them happy and they will continue to reproduce more worms. Feed them and keep their bedding moist, protect them from freezing and you will have happy worms. Happy worms work all the time. They eat, poop and reproduce. I know what you're thinking, "Ewwwww, Poo!" Well they're poop is what you're plants need, it's natural organic fertilizer.
Getting started only requires a few stackable plastic bins. Leave one bin intact to catch excess moisture. Drill lots of holes bid enough for the worms to go through in the other bins for air circulation and migration. Start with the bin with no holes and stack another bin on top. Prepare the bedding, place dirt, shredded paper, grass clippings, weeds, small pieces of cardboard, tea bags torn open, coffee grounds and filters, crushed egg shells, avoid plastic except tape....they love the adhesive on tape. Moisten it all until you cannot squeeze water from a handful. Then put your worms inside and put the lid on the top bin. That's it! Just keep the bedding moist as described for a few weeks. Repeat the process by adding another bin (with holes in the bottom) with new bedding on top when they have turned the previous bedding into rich soil. They will migrate into the new bedding above looking for more food. After they are in the upper bin, remove the one with rich soil and use it in your garden. Repeat the process again and again.
In your kitchen, keep a container with a lid for scraps to feed your worms. Meat or fat is NOT suitable for your worms...they will only make your bin smell and draw fly's. Discard them or feed them to a dog. Scraps for the worm bin include trimmings from veggies like onion skins, potato peels, carrot and celery tops...mostly things that would go into a garbage disposal. Worms don't have teeth so they can't quickly break down big pieces or chunks. They use crushed eggshells to help break down some bigger things but your aim should be to make everything small so they can do their work faster. Chop everything as fine as you can, they love it and you get results much faster.
They compost almost everything except plastic, meat and fat. One lb. of worms composts 5 gallons of stuff into great soil in a few weeks. They turn garbage into the best fertilizer you can get. In another post, I'll tell you how you can profit from them and make a bigger setup.
