How I Became A Worm Farmer

I started worm farming May 2013 because my outdoor barrel composter wasn't processing fast enough. Translation: I couldn't figure out how to get my bin hot enough, consistently, for it to process our waste. Believe it or not, we started out outdoor composter May 2012 and it STILL WASN'T DONE!  What was I doing wrong?

What I did decide is I needed to stop adding waste to the composter but I couldn't bring myself to just throw it away.  I needed to figure out an easier way to compost until I could figure out my outdoor composter.

Much to my husband's dismay, worms were ordered.  I actually think I ordered the worms and THEN told him about it.  He's a real handy guy and will jump in and do just about anything but worms aren't really one of his favorites.

My first order was for 1,000 red wigglers the small but mighty worm and best composting worm.  I made an an outside 18 gallon rubber maid worm bin.  The bin sat uncovered in my kitchen for the first five days (Did I mention what a great husband I have?) with the light on so they would learn to stay in the bin.  From there, they went out on our covered patio.

A month later I realized we had more food than 1,000 worms could handle.  So I ordered 1,000 more but this time I bought European Night Crawlers so I'd have my own stock of fishing worms.  The following month I decided to add more and I found a local guy and purchased 1,000 more Red Wigglers. From this stock I took about 100 worms and started an in-ground doggy worm bin to handle the waste from my two little dogs.

Authored by Connie Watts