There are few things in life that give you the chance to teach, learn, respect the environment while making money like earthworm farming. Until recently, earthworm farming was more of a hobby than a job. The market niche was very small: people only kept earthworms as bait for fishermen. With the emergence of environmental theories globally, earthworm farming is gaining popularity and stability in the business world. With a minimum initial investment you can open an earthworm farm and earn quickly, easily and without investing large sums.
Steps
Step 1. Create an optimal habitat
If you don't mind sharing the house with these crawling creatures, the cellar is a great place for an earthworm farm. A warm, dark and dry place is preferable, but earthworms are quite hardy and can withstand temperatures between 4 and 27 ° C. The grow bed should be moist, but not too wet, so try not to keep them in the rain. You will also need to keep them out of heat and direct sunlight. By providing enough light, earthworms can survive even in low temperatures, but they always require attention.
Step 2. Build a container for your new pets
It doesn't have to be pretty to look at. If you don't know how to build it, you can buy ready-to-use containers available in a variety of materials, from plastic to chipboard to hardwood. Wood is a great material because it absorbs some of the moisture and is a good insulator, unlike plastic which tends to leave the soil too wet. You probably already have things in your home that you can reuse, such as an old game box or a cabinet drawer. Anything that can hold the growing medium is fine. You will need to drill the bottom to allow for drainage, otherwise the earthworms will drown in the water.
Step 3. Mix different materials together to fill your container
Torn newspapers are perfect, as are cardboard, leaves and other garden scraps. Just add a couple of shovels of potting soil. Worms need some dirt to absorb their food, just like chickens do with their double stomachs. Use different materials to create the substrate, your worms will be delighted and reward you by producing a large amount of waste. Make sure the bed, whatever you use, is made from organic material, such as paper, and is non-toxic. Wet it and then squeeze it so it's moist, but not soggy. Fill your container up to three quarters full, keeping it ventilated to give enough oxygen to the worms and allow unwanted odors to disperse.
Step 4. Choose which type of earthworm to use
This means choosing which type of clientele you want to have. Large nocturnal earthworms are fine for fishermen. They don't create as much product as red worms. Red worms are great for making fertilizing soil that is highly sought after by gardeners. You can search the internet for a supplier who gives you a hybrid so that you get the best of both strains.
Step 5. Load the substrate with the right earthworm / substrate / food ratio
As a rule, a ratio of 1 kilo of worms to half a kilo of food per day is maintained. This means around 2000 large earthworms, so the container must be large enough to hold all of these hosts.
Step 6. Feed earthworms daily
A family of four should be able to produce enough waste to keep the worms. All types of food are fine except meat, dairy, overly greasy foods, or grains. These foods stink too much and attract flies, both of which should be avoided. Coffee grounds are excellent - they weigh a lot and are cheap. Eggshells are also great. These are all materials that you would otherwise throw away, so you are helping the environment plus you get a good fertilizer in return. Fruit and vegetable peels and scraps are other excellent food sources for earthworms. You can also add more bits of moistened newspaper.
Step 7. Put the food in a specific place in the container
If you put it in one spot, the earthworms will come and eat. There is no need to spread it around. When the container is full of the compost made from animal feces, you can move the worms to another container and start over. You can now sell the fertilizer. As your worms grow, you will need to expand their space. You can puncture two containers on one side and join them with a plastic tube, closing it for the moment. When you want to move them from one container to another, open the tube and put some food in the second container. The earthworms will begin to migrate. This process takes more time, but is easy and requires less work. Now you know what to do to start your new job!
