Mama's Worm Composting

When You First Buy Worms, How Many Pounds?

How many pounds of worms should one buy to get started with worm composting? This is one of the most common questions I get, and there is no "right" answer. When you buy worms for the first time you want to take into account a few things. How many people are in your family? How much fruit/vegetable waste do you produce? Is money a big issue? 

As a general rule, red worms can eat about 1/2 of their body weight each day, so each pound of worms can process 1/2 pound of waste per day in the right conditions. But the amount of waste vs. the amount of worms isn't the only consideration. If you start off with several pounds of worms, it can sometimes be harder to manage the larger population from the get-go. Beginners need to be careful about starting out with many pounds of worms because if something goes wrong it will affect ALL of those worms. If money is especially a consideration, then you want to start a little bit on the smaller side when you buy worms, so that if something goes wrong you will not lose a large investment in the worms. 

Time is another matter that you want to consider when deciding to buy worms. Again, the more worms you buy, the more time you will need to spend working with the worm bin, especially in the beginning. Now, when I say "time", I really mean only a few minutes a day. But hey, as someone who often does NOT have a few minutes a day to spare, I can relate to those who really don't want to spend much time tinkering with their worm bin. If you DO have time, however, then you can afford to take the risk of starting out with more poundage. Your attention to the worms, digging down each day to check on them, taking a nice sniff of the system to make sure it's not getting stinky, and making sure they're not too moist or too dry will take only minutes, but it will ensure that your new worm bin will thrive. 

One of the benefits of being a cash poor worm farmer is that I can't afford a large quantity of worms to get my stock started. I am having to painstakingly grow my worms, pound by pound, vs. getting a big system up and running right away. This is a bummer to me in many ways, but I definitely realize some huge benefits to being forced to take this time. I can see what the worms like to eat best, watch how they react to changes in moisture, air-flow and temperature, and if I make a mistake I won't lose tens of thousands of dollars worth of worms. The profits may be slower coming, but the education I get that will help me be a good farmer long-term is worth it. 

On the other hand, I'm getting tired of digging through bin after bin for worms, and I'm ready to make the big investment into a larger system. I am hopeful that I know enough about farming worms by now to not make any huge, crucial mistakes. My experience with the learning curve of worm farming relates directly to the questions of how many pounds of worms to buy when you're starting out. 

So here's the deal:

If you have limited funds and limited time, you should buy 1/2 pound per member of your household. It will take the worms a few months to reproduce enough to eat ALL of your scraps, but you'll save money and time.

If you have more generous funds OR some time to spend, you can buy 1 pound or more per member of your household if you wish. The worms will be able to process pretty much all of your scraps immediately. 

Of course, when you're ready to buy worms, please do so here!

Good worming

Winter Worm Composting Garden Update

I wanted to go ahead and share a little update about my worm composting garden. Aside from the fact that I'm loving life when I'm gardening, I'm happy to report a healthy, thriving garden and healthy, thriving worms. The funny thing about the worms which I did not expect is that they have migrated EVERYWHERE. I thought they would stay put in their worm composting trench (where I put all the yummy food for them), and indeed there are still many worms there, but we are now finding them all over the garden. Saaba tells me she's never seen worms in the garden before my brood arrived, so I know it's my little guys who are wandering. Literally every time I dig a hole to plant something I find 2-3 worms. I am also seeing many babies, which means that the big boys are happy enough to be gettin' it on.

This migration means a few good thing for our garden. First, it means that the entire garden is teeming with micro-organisms. This is good for the worms (food) and good for the plants. Second, it means that, as the worms eat, they are depositing their castings directly at the roots of the plants. Third, it makes me happy to see them all over the place. :-)

When I was in the second grade we had "career day" at school (have I told this story before?). I went as a farmer. It's funny how things work out. In my life I've been:

A waitress

A photo editor at a major US newspaper

A magazine owner

A visual effects artist (the Matrix movies, etc.)

A full-time mom of two internationally adopted children

A diamond reseller

And now, I'm a worm farmer. And I dream of having a real farm where I can grow food (now that Saaba's given me a taste of farming with the use of her garden space). I guess you could say that sometimes things come full circle. What did you want to be when you were 7 years old?

Good worming!

p.s. New to worm composting? Don't forget to check out our holiday specials here. When you buy a composter you can buy worms at a discount to go with it. I personally find the idea of live worms under a Christmas tree to be both an amusing and practical gift. :-)

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Wow, What a Garden!

If I do say so myself, my preliminary attempts at creating a "real" garden (vs. the one on my balcony) are going very well indeed! Nothing has died as a direct result of my stupidity (a plus), and in fact most plants seem to be thriving! The worm composting trench is certainly an interesting experiment for me. Not only do I have loads of worms now breeding in the worm composting trench (and babies as well), but I am finding them all over the garden! I thought they would stay put where most of the food was in the trench, but every time I dig a hole to plant a new seedling I find worms big and small. 

What will be the outcome of this experiment? Well, I can't say for sure whether the worms will have a huge effect on the virility of the plants. But I can say for sure that they are spreading like mad, happy as clams, and that things are going very well. Also, this is the first chance I've had in 11 years to do real gardening in the ground (vs. on my balcony), and it is very pleasing indeed. For someone who talks about being outside and doing good for the earth, I don't spend a whole lot of time in nature. This worm composting project has given me a good excuse to set the kids loose in the yard and put my face down in the dirt to see how things work. I'm loving it.

You know, in the second grade we had "career day" in school, and I went as a farmer. Funny how things work out.

Good worming!

Buy worms for the holidays here!

My Big Worm Composting Truck

Yesterday was a banner day for me and this worm composting business. If you haven’t seen on my facebook page already, I bought a new truck a couple of weeks back. This has resulted in all sorts of loveliness in my life, including not having to bike everywhere, being able to pick up groceries, and my favorite one of all is the ability to haul large amounts of manure without having to shovel it into bags. I struck it rich and found a dairy farmer with precomposted manure and a tractor. Yesterday was awesome.

I brought my son with me to the dairy farm, where the farmer used his backhoe or whatever it was to dump several buckets full of poop into the back of the truck. We sat in the truck and watched all the action. For a four-year-old you can imagine that it must’ve been pretty cool. Then we were able to walk all through the farm. At first this was no biggie, but then the farmer showed us where the baby cows were hangin’. As we walked through, the cows both big and small were quite nervous (I suppose it would take too much time to socialize, like, 400 cows). But when we crouched down they would all gather around behind us to try to get a sniff. It was so cool!

Driving a truck full of 1200 pounds of manure is different from driving a truck that is empty. I quickly learned that we were able to stop about as quickly as a freight trian (ie: it would take several miles to come to a stop). After arriving back at the warehouse, I also discovered that unloading 1200 pounds of manure by hand is no easy task. I’m not sure why I thought it would be easier than it was, and I’m laughing at myself now. I’m actually feeling pretty lucky that I didn’t take a flying leap off the side of the truck as I made my way up the mountain of poop! It’s important to keep one’s balance up there… Anyways, one sweaty, stinky workout and a big pile of poop on the floor later and I was done. I’m tired today, but I feel that I really accomplished something yesterday. You can’t argue with that much poop.

Here are some pics of the warehouse (think I need to expand?). Unfortunately for the moo cow experience I had left the camera in the car, but next time I’ll share!

Good worming!

Buy Worms HERE!

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Holiday Worm Composting Extravaganza

Let's face it, now that Halloween is over it's pretty much Christmastime. Anyone with kids knows that as soon as the pumpkins get fed to the worms, the kids are thinking of Santa. In fact, this has already provided good blackmail material for my husband and I ("You know, Santa and his elves are WATCHING YOU now..."). Thank god for commercialization.

So, in light of the holiday season being upon us, I wanted to extend a special offer to my worm composting customers that will last through the end of 2009. Buy any worm composting system from Mama's Worm Composting, and you will be able to buy worms at a discounted price of $15 per pound (plus $10 shipping). You can buy worms for yourself for your new worm composting project. You can buy worms for your family for their (surprise) worm composting project. Hell, buy worms for your boss (if you dare). But no matter who you buy worms or a worm composting system for, you will get this special pricing. 

Here are your options:

Can-O-Worms Worm Composting System + 1 Pound Red Wiggler Worms

$126.99 Bin + $15.00 Worms + $10.00 Shipping= 151.99

Gusanito 3 Tray Black Worm Composting System + 1 Pound Red Wiggler Worms

$83.99 Bin + $15.00 Worms + $10.00 Shipping = $108.99

Gusanito 4 Tray Black Worm Composting System + 1 Pound Red Wiggler Worms

$89.99 Bin + $15.00 Worms + $10.00 Shipping = $114.99

Gusanito 5 Tray Black Worm Composting System + 1 Pound Red Wiggler Worms

$98.99 + $15.00 Worms + $10.00 Shipping = $123.99

Gusanito 3 Tray Green Worm Composting System + 1 Pound Red Wiggler Worms

$83.99 Bin + $15.00 Worms + $10.00 Shipping = $108.99

Gusanito 4 Tray Green Worm Composting System + 1 Pound Red Wiggler Worms

$89.99 Bin + $15.00 Worms + $10.00 Shipping = $114.99

Gusanito 5 Tray Green Worm Composting System + 1 Pound Red Wiggler Worms

$98.99 + $15.00 Worms + $10.00 Shipping = $123.99

Good Worming, and Happy Holidays!

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Great Resource for Worm Composting

Last week, before the madness of Halloween hit us, I found an absolutely fantastic (and free) guide to worm farming on a large scale called Manual of On-Farm Vermicomposting and Vermiculture. I had seen (and bought) guides like this before, but this one seems to really have it all. As someone who is now 100% obsessed with worm composting, I was transfixed by the charts and data. I continue to struggle to bring my little worm farm into the 21st century, but it requires money and patience (neither of which I have!). This guide has a ton of information about different approaches to worm farming and worm composting, including some stuff for the little guys (or gals). 

After you buy worms for the first time, you will either become obsessed with your worms and all they do, or they will simply become new happy inhabitants of your home. After I went to buy worms for the first time, I obviously  became the first one: completely obsessed. Surprisingly, this affliction has only grown in size and scope over time (you'd think that I'd have learned it all by now). This manual is like salve on my frayed nerves as I navigate my way through this strange business. Though, it's hard to get too frustrated when your charges are so little and helpless and dependent. :-)  

I'm so happy to have found a guide like this one, and strongly encourage you to check it out!

Good worming!

Buy worms here!

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