Whether you want to GO GREEN or have more green earthworm farming may be the perfect solution.
Why worm farming?
Because worm farms produce three saleable products simultaneously with very little financial or time investment and the markets for these products continues to grow. These three products are:
1. More worms: (through breeding) Red Wigglers are prolific breeders. One pound (approximately 1000 worms) produces another two pounds every ninety days. Those two new pounds can be sold for $24.99 to $29.99 per pound. Worms are purchased by pet stores for pet birds, iguanas, fish aquariums, salamanders, snakes, frogs and turtles. Trout hatcheries, bait shops, gardeners, gardening centers and landscaping companies also purchase worms. Some cities are purchasing worms to eliminate organic waste at landfills.
2. Worm castings: (feces/mother nature’s perfect fertilizer) Castings are purchased by gardeners, garden supply outlets and landscaping companies. Worm castings are 7 times richer in phosphates, 5 times richer in nitrogen, and 11 times richer in potash than the average lawn soil and 100% usable unlike chemical fertilizers. Worm castings are typically sold for $1.00 to $4.00 per pound.
3. Worm tea: (liquid castings/fertilizer) Worm tea is sold for around $14.99 per quart as is purchased by gardeners, garden centers and landscape companies.
This writer has never had to look for an outlet beyond her neighbors for her worms and worm byproducts and she and has made a tidy little income for years. She works this business at a hobby level, has 10 bins for a total of $4,400 profit in 2010.
One worm bin consists of a plastic tote container with tight-fitting lid, shredded paper (waste/no cost), organic food scraps (waste/no cost) and/or cow or horse manure (waste/no cost) and a pound of worms. Manure is not needed but is readily available in many rural communities often with no outlet for this waste. The GO GREEN benefit is the use of waste products to produce a new consumable product. Worms have always BEEN GREEN as their function is to eat fungi on decomposing organic material.
One bin costs about $28.00 to set up the first time for one pound of worms and a bin and usually returns two pounds of worms, 10 pounds of castings and 1 gallon of worm tea for a return on investment of $103.00 and $110.00 when a bin is reused. The time investment is an initial ½ hour set up then 15 minutes week for 11 weeks and 8 hours in week 12 for an estimated total of 10 ½ hours each quarter.
Caring for worms is fun, easy and a great project for children. Worms are not slimy, do not smell and neither do the castings. The market for the products continues to rise so read the paperback “Worms Eat My Garbage” by Mary Appelhof and watch the online video by the EnvironMENTALS http://dodofilms.com/videos/worms/index.html and go get your green on.
