Friday, November 25, 2011
Setting Up A Worm Bin - Part 2
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Making a Profit Out of Raising Earthworms
If you're already into outdoor or indoor worm composting, then why not make the most out of your worms? You can actually use your worms (whether these are red wigglers or nightcrawler worms) than just using them for composting purposes. They're not only good when it comes to breaking down the decomposing (recycling) organic wastes that you've accumulated at home, they can also be used to make money out of. They are that handy, multipurpose, and valuable to have. So try raising earthworms and get to reap the full benefits to breeding these earth wonders.
Sure you can make a profit out of raising red wigglers or nightcrawlers but don't even think about making slaves out of these creatures. They can be very versatile but they're living things too. They might have been born without eyes nor ears, but they can very much feel the things around them (they rely on vibrations) whenever something isn't right.
So how do composting worms become profitable? Well, aside from having to sell the worms per se, you can also market their castings (also known as worm poop, manure, or compost). Worm castings are said to be the richest kind of fertilizer that has been made organically. And since worms only consume nothing but natural materials (take for example your fruit and vegetable peels, coffee grounds, newspaper strips, crushed egg shells, grass clippings, etc.), they're only likely to produce and excrete natural substances that are packed with nutrients.
So having mentioned that you can sell your worms as is, the best thing that you can do is to care for them the right way (so that they may be able to grow at their healthiest). Healthy worms attract potential revenue. Fishermen will be going to you for their daily supply of fish bait, while other dealers will come to your for their buy-and-sell business. Dealers typically buy worms from other suppliers, so that they won't have to deal with the raising and breeding part of vermicomposting. What they will do with these worms is to offer them to other commercial breeders, to laboratories (those who might need it for experiments), and to aquariums (to be used as a source of food for the aquarium pets).
Now if you might have questions as to how to maintain worm farms at home, you just have to be able to provide your worms a secure and comfortable home. When you're raising earthworms, always make sure that they're provided with a composter that is well-ventilated, and has a good drainage system. Also prepare a moist bedding for them, as well as some organic scraps that they can feed on. Check on them once in a while, and make sure their castings are harvested; and that their bin is cleaned and replenished with new bedding and food. When you keep this up, your worm venture will become very successful.
Saturday, November 5, 2011
What is Large Scale Vermicomposting?
Knowing what large scale vermicomposting is would help you decide on which path you should go. This new venture would require not just a part of your time (unlike with small scale worm composting) but it would ask for much attention from you.
Commercial vermicomposting systems have been established to make the process faster and easier. If you are used to home based composting which requires only of a worm bin, shredded newspapers and Red Wiggler worms, this time, you need machineries that will help you achieve your goals. Basically, to determine what commercial vermicomposting is, you will have the word "business".
There are two types of systems in this area. First is the windrow system and the other one if flow-through bed system. Both are effective in terms of getting as much Red Wiggler worms as possible. The only deciding factor on your part is your available fund and other resources.
For the windrow system, a mechanical harvester is a must so you can harvest the end product of worm composting. You can expect around 1.5 tons of compost everyday but you are to have a big building to accommodate the system.
Flow-through bed system on the other hand gives you the ease in harvesting because the need to separate the Red Wiggler worms from the vermicompost has been eradicated. It is also good in the sense that the nutrients in the byproduct are not harmed or reduced as the worms go through the process. You can have as much as 700 lbs of wastes per week depending on the size of your system.
These two systems determine what large scale vermicomposting is. They come in different sizes and prices but they are surely effective when you want worm composting to be your business.