Setting Up Your Worm Ranch
Cattle and worms don't like weather extremes. If it is too cold, neither species wants to eat. They justwant to stay warm. Cattle get out of the wind. Worms get out of their bin, if they can. Usually the worms will gather in a clump or wriggling mass to keep warm.
Worms work within a temperature range of 40 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Like people, they prefer a constant temperature of about 70 degrees. It's important to keep the worms happy so they will eat quickly and reproduce. Worms are not particular about where they live as long as they get food, air and water. Worm bins can be made from plastic pails, storage bins or even old picnic coolers. The bin should have holes in the bottom so excess moisture can escape and air can come in. A piece of tight screen laid in the bottom will discourage the mavericks from leaving through these holes.
Because earthworms are underground critters, they are conditioned to work in the dark and live in soil-like conditions. Simulate that underground world by placing a layer of moist, shredded newspaper on the bottom screen. The worms - red wrigglers - can be purchased from one of several Missouri Worm Wranches.
A new worm "herd" should be introduced to its bedding and allowed to get comfortable. A bit of soil can be mixed with the newspaper, but it isn't necessary. After a day or so, add enough food so each worm can eat up to twice its weight. For example, two pounds of worms could be fed 2 1/2 to 3 pounds of food. Do not overfeed the herd. Excess food might create an acid or caustic environment that could harm the worms. Weigh the food with the help of the bathroom or kitchen scale to make sure the worms are getting the right amount.
As you feed the herd, cover their food with another layer of wet, shredded newspaper. This will help control odor and give the worms that protected feeling of being underground. Keep a lid on the worm bin to further reduce odors and help keep the mavericks in place.
Within a month or two, you may notice that there are more worms in the bin than you started with. That's reproduction! If the herd gets too big, the worms might show signs of wanting to wander. This is natural. It means the adult worms want to get away and let the new worms have a chance to grow and reproduce. This is the time to start a new worm bin for a friend or neighbor or take a few of the adult worms on a fishing trip.
At feeding time you can hear the critters moving up to sample fresh food. In a matter of hours they will be turning waste into castings. The worm castings are good plant food and should be removed from the worm bin regularly. Cows hate to live in a manure-filled shed, and worms don't feel comfortable in too many castings.
To remove castings, move the feeding area to one end of the bin. The worms will leave the castings to go to the food. Remove the castings and add wet, shredded newspaper to the cleaned out end of the bin. As the worms finish eating, add food to the new bedding area. The herd will graze its way back and you can clean the other end of the bin.
You also can dump the entire contents of the bin on a tarp placed in the shade and make small mounds of the castings. The worms will move to the bottom. The tops of the mounds can be removed until all that is left is the worms. Once their bin is set up with bedding again, the worms are ready to go to work.
Worm ranching sure beats calving on a cold spring day or roundup on a hot and dusty autumn afternoon!
SIDEBAR: Worm Wrangling
The sun was casting long shadows down the valley. I had been beating the brush for strays most of the day. I sat down on a log near the creek bank and thought, "There's got to be a better way to do this. Not much money in raising beef cows on my hardscrabble acres. Land washed away years ago. Prices don't cover costs, either." I looked down between my feet. A ray of fading sun highlighted a single golden leaf. I turned it over with the toe of my boot. Right there was the answer! I saw a small, red worm moving around in the rotted leaves and debris. I figured I could raise those little critters in my stock tanks and have plenty to sell to tourists heading for the lake.
That's sort of how I became the official Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) worm wrangler. I left the ranch before I started raising bait, but the move from feeding cows and calves to feeding worms was less of a jump than I thought it would be. Both types of critters are eating machines. The more you feed them, the better they do.
The idea of using worms to reduce the amount of food wastes going into Missouri landfills has become popular in many Missouri classrooms. The next generation may not really be thrilled by the goal of waste reduction, but they apparently are excited about the fascinating stars of vermicomposting - the humble red wriggler worms.
This nation currently is experiencing a healthy economy. However, the more we buy, the more we throw away. One of the faster-growing piles of garbage generated by our prosperous society is uneaten or leftover food. Food scraps now account for a large proportion of all garbage. For example, nearly 20 percent of all wastes discarded from Missouri homes, businesses and industries are food scraps. The food we throw away is too often buried in a landfill. It doesn't disappear once it is buried; it breaks down and produces moisture and gases. Although modern landfills are designed like a giant underground "baggie" to contain moisture (leachate) and gases (methane and odors), they are not guaranteed to remain "zip-locked" forever. So if leachate and methane start creeping into the environment, people, plants, and animals may be affected.
Worms have a role in future waste reduction. Over the past several years, the Missouri DNR has been studying ways to make it easier for worms to get to the food wastes discarded by restaurants, food markets, hospitals, nursing homes, schools and prisons. One proposed solution is to move worm bins to various locations in a climate-controlled trailer. One person could service several traveling worm-powered waste processors in a day.
Small household worm bins have been very successful at cutting down the amount of residential food wastes. Students who have seen how fast a "herd" of worms can wipe out a leftover salad can hardly wait to see what they do to those veggies Mom wants them to eat at every meal. A worm bin under the kitchen sink, home to about 2,000 worms (two pounds), will eat up most of the food scraps that a family of four produce in a week (about seven pounds).
Worms that feel their food supply is unreliable will make every effort to leave their worm bin and find something to eat. They also need enough moisture to keep from drying out. If their bin is too wet or too dry, the worms will become restless. You don't even want to think about dealing with a herd of stampeding worms.
© 2002 Green Home, Inc.
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