Worm-Farming

Worm farming is ideal for a family or home-based business. How much you earn depends upon what your goals are and how much time you have to put into it.

By Muhammad Shafi Hasni, Muhammad Kasib Khan, Hammmad Ur Rehman Bajwa

A worm farm can be a great way to earn extra money or can even provide you with a full-time income.

Maintaining a worm farm/worm composter is a great way to deal with organic recycling and one more step toward self sufficiency. Produce your own nutrient rich compost and fertilizer.

A worm farm is also an excellent project that you could get your children into to help teach them responsibility and management while they earn money for things they want.

  • Worms are in high demand among fisherman via bait shops, wholesale or direct.
  • Worms are needed by farmers for the enrichment of soil and for aiding in the processing of compost.
  • The “tea” produced as a by-product (waste) of worm farming is nutrient rich and is an excellent liquid fertilizer for organic gardening.
  • Worms are even sold in some pet stores (as food for pets or as pets themselves)

A worm composting system can create enough naturally reproducing product to bring you a steady profit if the time and care is taken.

Starting a worm farm (also known as a worm composter) is not difficult and it is a project that can involve the kids as well as the adults.

The classic method is stacking bins made of any material, but the plastic ones that are found at the supermarket are ideal.

Make sure that the bins are of a dark material and not see-through. Worms do not like light at all, so keep things as dark as possible.

Constructing Your Worm Farm or “Worm Composter”

The bottom bin, also called the sump, should have a 15-mm hole drilled on the side directly above the base. Inside this hole, a 12-mm diameter plastic barrel or a tap with washers should be placed and sealed tightly with lock nuts.

Fill the container with water to see if any leaks out (none should).

This tap will provide the fluid that will come down from the two upper bins.

Holes should be drilled in the bottom of the two upper bins for draining the dirt and worm castings into the bin below as well as migrating worms to crawl through.

These holes should be about two inches apart across the base.

Drill two more rows of holes about four inches from the rim of the bin all around as well. This will allow air to get through.

To set up the sump (bottom) bin, there first needs to be a layer of bricks placed on the ground so that the composter will be slightly elevated. This will allow the fluid or “tea” that develops to drain freely.

This “tea” is extremely nutrient rich and an excellent liquid fertilizer for organic gardening.

The second and third bins are identical and should have packers at least six inches and no more than eight in height (sealed jars will do nicely). These packers should be placed throughout in the upper bins with smaller ones of four inches in the sump bin. These will keep the accumulation of compost from building up.

 

By Shafi hasni

PhD Scholar