Earthworms may be the easiest and most profitable
"livestock" on your
homestead. I’m not necessarily talking monetary profit, though it is
possible to make a living from selling earthworms, that is beyond the
scope of this article, and I refer you to the sources listed at the end
for more information.
You see, I don’t count profitability in strictly cash terms when it comes
to homestead projects. I consider a project profitable if it, 1. Saves me
from laying out hard earned dollars on goods or services or, 2. Recycles
waste products from other projects while giving me something valuable in
return. Earthworms certainly accomplish both of those goals, as you will
see.
Earthworms are most accommodating livestock. They do not need daily
tending; they will thrive with minimal supervision, providing their modest
needs are met. These needs are a sufficient supply of organic matter for
food and to be kept moist. Unless you want to keep your worms indoors,
they do not require much by way of equipment, bins or boxes.
Earthworms will benefit your homestead in several ways. Worm manure or
"castings" are richer in available plant foods than other manures or
compost. While manure and compost are great for your garden, digested by
worms, they are terrific! Worms will convert such items such as coffee
grounds & filters, shredded wood and paper, sawdust, weeds, etc. into a
rich fertilizer for your garden. At the same time, the worms themselves
are very high in protein, about 60% for dried worms and are a great
supplementary feed for your chickens and pigs.
There are hundreds of different species of earthworms around the world,
from the Arctic to the jungle. Eisenia fetida is the one most easily
acquired in the United States and is recommended for composting use. In
other countries other species might be preferable. I suggest you check
with your government agricultural service or local garden club.
Eisenia fetida goes by many common names; manure worms, fishing worms,
brandlings, red wrigglers. Check the advertisements in the back of almost
any gardening magazine and you’ll find ads for them under one or more of
these names. These worms do not normally live in the soil so much as in
manure heaps. They are not the same as night crawlers. Night
crawlers tend to be solitary worms with ‘territories’ and they do not do
so well under the growing conditions described here.
A pound of "bed run" worms will normally cost less than $30, postage-paid. Bed run means just as they come from the growing beds and will include all
sizes from eggs and newly hatched worms to large breeders. Unless you have
an enormous amount of manure or compost to process quickly, one or two
pounds of bed run worms will be a sufficient start. Some companies also
sell graded worms, usually by the thousand. Being larger, these will be
more expensive than bed run and are not necessarily a better deal.
When first starting out, you will probably want to contain your worms to a
small area. That way they are easier to check up on, keep damp and feed. An easy way to do this is to find a large plastic tub with a lid and cut
the bottom out. Find a shady spot and remove some soil (about 6 inches
deep is fine) from an area the size of the bottom of the tub. Set the tub
in place and pile the soil you removed around it, firming it down well. This setup will accomplish two things. It will keep the worms moister and
keep their food in one place. Earthworms are smart. As long as there is
food and moisture they are going to stay put. Unlike other critters they
are not going to wander off in search of greener pastures! The other thing
is that the tub will help protect them from animals that will eat them
like skunks and mice. If you put your kitchen scraps in the tub it will
also keep out stray dogs, cats and javalinas (the wild pigs or peccaries
of the desert).
Before your worms arrive, wet the ground in your box and add some type of
organic matter, 2-3 inches thick. Fallen leaves are a good start, or a
little compost. Grass clippings, old hay, rotted manure are all good. So
is shredded paper. I shred all my junk mail as well as old financial
records, and it all goes to the worm box since there is no recycling
program where I live. You just want to be careful that what you put in
will not heat up. When your worms arrive, just dump them in, put on the
lid and let them adjust to their new home. In a couple of days, when you
lift the lid, you will probably find worms right on top of the organic
matter. They will dive back down into their little burrows as soon as the
light hits them. They much prefer the dark. In a box with a lot of worms
you can actually hear them going back down if it is quiet and you listen
carefully. It sounds like little popping noises.
