Q: I am interested in learning about the raising of fish worms and the collection and sale of worm castings.

A: As a worm explores the soil, it ingests tiny organic particles, digests any nutrients present, then excretes what it can’t use. The excreta are called “castings” and they are rich with plant nutrients. Organic gardeners buy castings to use as fertilizer. If you raise earthworms, you can feed them table scraps and other garbage.

Earthworms are reportedly able to consume half their weight every twenty four hours. This means that if you have two pounds of earthworms in a bin or bed, they will eat one pound of scraps every day and reward you with fertilizer for your flowers.

A small-scale earthworm bin can be constructed from a large plastic box. The worms like warm conditions so a box sized to fit under your kitchen sink is ideal. Even when fed odorous scraps, the worms do not give off bad smells. Every couple of weeks you can separate the worms from the material they live in and dump it in your garden. Extra worms can be sold to anglers and the rest put back in fresh bedding to continue their life of quiet vermicomposting.

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Earthworm Questions

Raising Earthworms
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