I bought myself a farm this week with a thousand head of livestock. Well, I call them livestock. Others might call them worms. Yes, I bought a worm farm with a thousand red wigglers.
Why?
My wife asked the same question, but there are four good reasons. First, I like worms. They are one of the most interesting creatures on the planet. Second, I have a small goldfish pond full of baby frogs. There are so many, they will need additional food sources other than the native population of flies and mosquitoes. Third, I have a vegetable garden with the consistency of asphalt. I now have composting worms that will do my plowing and cultivating for me, and fourth, I didn’t have much of anything else better to do than become a worm farmer.
Worms are nature’s wonder workers. They can improve lawns and garden soil by eating into the soil and depositing their worm castings. The castings, excrement, is 100% natural fertilizer rich in nitrogen, phosphates, and potash. A worm will eat and digest their body weight every single day. The bed of castings they leave in their wake is known as “black gold”, the highest-grade fertilizer available for house plants, seedlings or anything requiring a perfect growing soil.
A pound of composting worms can turn a pound of leaves, grass clippings or even household garbage into a pound of top quality, high-grade manure in just 24 hours, and it’s not just rotten organic debris. Rather, it’s digested worm castings (manure) that won’t burn even the most delicate seedlings.
My worm farm came from a commercial worm grower called Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm out of New Salem, Pennsylvania. I have been buying meal worms from them for my bluebirds for years. They have a great product and great service, so I decided to buy the worm farm kit from them to have a source of food for my frogs and to jump start my vegetable garden. The kit comes complete with a large bin to contain the worms, worm feed, bedding material, a burlap cloth to retain moisture and a thousand worms eager to get started.
In September, when the weather cools a bit and (hopefully) we get some rain. I will introduce the worms to my garden. To radically improve a vegetable garden, simply loosen the soil of just 18 square inches in the center of the garden, introduce the worms, cover the area with a piece of wet newspaper and the little underground engineers do the rest. They naturally disperse throughout the garden, tilling as they go in a process called vermicomposting. And they multiply, doubling their population every 90 days. Unlike nightcrawlers that go deep in the soil, the worms work near the surface loosening the topsoil and aerating it.
These red wigglers aren’t like ordinary worms. They are lightning quick and very aggressive in their travels. They also make one of the best fishing baits of all – fat, lively and juicy, and my frogs love them. One worm produces a lot of protein, and they taste much better than flies – or so I’ve been told.