Worms, gaud I dislike them! It’s not that I can’t stick them on fishing hook and catch a fish with them. Or grab one out of my garden and toss it towards a watching Robin.
Ok now that I just turned you off from worms. I found a great site all about “Worm Farming”.
Since, by no means am I an expert on this. Let alone a beginner. I’ll leave the facts to the pro’s.
But an interesting fact, tid bit, is this is so popular, profitable, that Amazon has pages on these products.
From everything like; worm huts $75.00, worm factories $119.00, to any amount of worms you would like. But what caught my eye was worm castings.
It did give me a giggle when I saw, curtians, coffee mugs, and such. Mixed in the list of things I scrolled through. “WHAT the Hell!!! …. Lol….
If your house is anything like mine. The local trash service gives you that grumpy look when your getting rid of garden trash. Heck we have specific, Garden Recycle Centers, that take that stuff. “But!!! They don’t pick up!!!” do they???
So like me you just play nice as you can with your trash guy, and he will pick it up. But I do wan to play nice. And obey the playground rules. So Here I go!
Ok… Doing the math. I have a total of 57.5 sq.ft. of garden. (Yes, again! Start small, and see if it is still in your blood!) You can always expand!
So, from what I read. It seems to translate to 1 cup worth every month.
So, hypothetical if I get.
I should get 2 cups a month to start with. Which over the spring, summer, fall. I should get more like 16 cups by end of fall, or more. (Taking sugar as a measurement guide. 2 cups = 1 pound!) Pleanty of castings for my whole flower gardens. And some for my grass.
Just from putting my non-meat/diary food in another container. Let alone a place for my grass clippings. Oh, and yea! The horrible fall leaf droppings.
Now that we have a natural fertilizer system out of the way. What! You say! I haven’t covered the start up cost!!!! Ok, let’s do that!
$1.74 A layer of horse fertilizer
$6.38 Grass clippings, or hay
$15.00 for 250 worms!
$0.00 Trash from your trash
$10.77 Peat moss
$6.98 And any container. I’m sure you have one. But just in case.
$19.97 Let’s not forget! A container to put your vegetable matter waist basket.
Small 1.2 gallon bathroom trash can
That’s about $60.70 dollars start up. And years and years of fertilizer.
But to purchase worm castings. Enough for half of all my gardens.
That is (rounding up!) $20.00 per month. And in a very little past three months. It would pay for it’s self. And the rest of the year would be totally free.
Ok… I ran the numbers…. I thought out the harvest potential…. Figured in the extra smelly work….
But! Thinking it over… I really need to do this. My son needs help in his garden. My lovely neighbor next door could use some…. And the money maker is started!!!! With nothing to do with vegetable’s. Well eating of such. You can just take the leftovers….
But the question still stands. How much waist material do I throw away? Hence! The first purchase should be the bathroom trash can.
For your bigger worm farm!!!
Lol…. Good eats, start with good ground. (Dirt is ground without neutrients.)
The Backyard Farmer 