How To Raise Your Own Worms for Fun, Profit & More!

http://wormstarter.com

Thanks for downloading! This is the basic starter manual for the various colony starter kits that I offer. It contains the info you need to get up and going. I also provide some extra tips andtricks to speed you along in your journey plus some other motivational content.

I’m always updating the guide. If you have any questions or suggestions email me. If you have a problem with your order contact me, I’ll resolve it for you: countitjoy5@yahoo.com

Check out my eBay listings for other cool deals. I’m always putting up new things...

https://www.ebay.com/usr/sparkleberrynursery

The manual is free to distribute anyway you wish. Just don’t alter the content. The last update was on 01.17.20 - Future updates are found at this permanent link at:

http://wormstarter.com/ basic.pdf <++++ This is the permanent link

This guide only touches the surface of what I have to say about vermiculture and otherpermaculture subjects. Be sure to join my Youtube channel by clicking the following link...

Click Here to Subscribe to My Youtube Channel

If you’d like to get a basic or deluxe kit directly from me you can get more for your money...

http://wormstarter.com/direct.html

The quick-start guide begins on page 11 . Hi there, my name is Timothy Campbell. I own a small business called Sparkleberry Nursery in northern Alabama where I raise Rex rabbits, worms, fig trees, goji’s and do other cool permaculture stuff.

If you’d like the companion propagation guide for goji’s you can get it for free, it has good info for propagation in general…

http://wormstarter.com/gojiguide.pdf

Goji’s were the first thing I really got into and carved a small niche for myself before I got into vermiculture.

I first took interest in worms because I needed quality soil. Premium soil is always scarce and expensive if you’re into growing things. I needed a way to generate my own. I could not envision myself doing a business with vermiculture but as time went along I saw how well the vermiculture and the nursery fit together.

But before we get cranking along, let’s preface a few things and get the gears of thought greased up...

In this quick guide I want to help you get your colony starter kit off to a good start.

In this guide you will find links to resources and other material to help you out. On my Youtube channel I have tons of great videos pertaining to the subject at hand. Someof the individual videos are linked in this guide.

A lot of the videos can only be found at the channel itself...

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVSAkJRM5XjTm9_Y0aIQ9iQ/videos

Be sure to subscribe because I’m starting to get some real good ideas and I look forward to sharing them. Plus I have some new equipment that will really improve the learning experience.

Now I’d like to get you motivated because vermiculture is incredibly fun!

What the Colony Starter Kit Is…I try to be clear in my descriptions what the colony starter kits are but invariably peoplehave misunderstandings and expectations that aren’t met. Hopefully I can describe for you what you will be getting so you will see it’s value and uniqueness.

So let’s discuss briefly what the product is...

First of all, this is not worms by they pound. I can’t compete with those guys on that level – they have huge land and labor resources. I work from an unfinished basement and raise some of my stock outdoors. And it’s just me.

I plan on staying that way, I really don’t want to manage people and take on all theextra overhead, even if could make more.

I’m sure you don’t want to spend a ton of money buying worms if you don’t have to. People that are just getting into it and want to minimize risk. I have a guarantee that covers everything. If you follow the instructions and fail I will help with a replacement for the simple cost of reshipping which $5, I stand behind the transaction.

People want a deal and something fun, without the risk… and that’s what I try to offer. A way for you to get into vermiculture without burning a hole in the old pocketbook.

While at the same time sending out a good count.

The larger outfits sell worms by the pound or by the count. Really they never count the worms they just send out an estimated count based on weight of straight worms without bedding… they then pack this in dry peat a you pay heftily on the shipping end. And normally the worms are in an unhealthy condition.

In all fairness, it’s not the simplest thing to do, nature, the postal system and other forces are continually conspiring against worms in transit.

In brief, I send you an adequate population with their living habitat with all the beneficials like the nematodes and wisps. That is combined with relevant “how-to”information to help you succeed in starting your own colony.

All this at a good price that the bigger guys can’t offer because of their overhead and shipping methods.

They all say that you can’t ship them like I do in the moist living habitat reliably, whichhas all the cocoons, threads, nematodes and other bacteria the worms live with.

But my worms arrive healthy and rarely die unless they are microwaved in a hot mail-box or Godzilla somehow gets a hold of the package.

My shipping method works well enough to ship packages around the world. Even to Saudi Arabia. The packing method is cheap, orders are quick to do and it keeps the worms viable under almost every circumstance.

I once had a package returned to me after a month in the mail system… the worms were still alive! They had eaten the cloth bag and were living in the plastic bag that the cloth bag sits in. Strange but true.

I now use a synthetic material so I don’t have that issue anymore.

Now ideally this doesn’t happen but sometimes there are hiccups in the USPS system causing delays and the worms almost never are harmed. First class and Priority are roughly the same transit times – the latter are insured and as result treated more nicely.

My supplies fluctuate throughout the year but my goal is population density and I’m getting better at it. The information on “How-To” do what it is we’re doing gets betteras I gain experience and sit down and write the guide and do videos. As always your input and questions are appreciated.

My goal is to develop this ebook into one of the most powerful companion guides that you can find in this endeavor. A guide that is free that you have permanent access towith the updates and free to distribute.

In the orders I send, especially with the African Nightcrawlers, it’s not uncommon for me to send out units that have 500-1000 worms and sometimes more if threads (hatchlings) are counted. They mature fast so to me they count but you must develop a good eye to recognize them. Sometimes people confuse them for potwormsbecause they can look similar, but the wisps are there unless it’s a very cold time of year and then their numbers can be down.

I strive for high population density, this also has the effect of keeping critters in the habitat at a minimum. That doesn’t mean I always reach it, it is a constant challenge butI’m getting better. They more worms you have tilling the bedding around the harder it

is for other bugs to get together en masse and do what they do whether it be eat or procreate.

When you order from the larger operations you will pay hefty prices. One notable fellow sells a pound of African Nightcrawlers at $40 per pound not counting shipping which will be another $7- 10. So I hope you can see the value of the colony starter kits. The main thing you are paying for is genetic material, the DNA of the thing you seek to have replicate itself in your bin/bed.

You don’t need pounds of worms to start your own endeavor whether it be forcomposting, fishing or whatever – you need a simple population with all thebeneficials that the worms coexist with and you need the information on how toeffectively grow the populations.

I started with 50 small African Nightcrawlers, hardly visible, and within six months I was selling them online and locally. You don’t need a lot to get started – you need about2-3 months under the right conditions then your populations will begin to expand rapidly.

When I keep the unit weight under a pound I can get the package to you quickly andcheaply. With the colony starter mix the need to spend large amounts of money onworms is alleviated. The larger operations need much higher cost per sale rate to stayprofitable.

My operations are indoors. This limits my space but it allows me to go year around and it also allows me to raise the African Nightcrawler because I can control temperatures. Because of this I raise my worms in a bin environment which brings us to the second point…

The size of the worms is immaterial. People sometimes are put off by the size of the wormsI send. On average they are small. Yes there are a fair number of breeders but most are onthe small side… but this is hardly an issue.

Cocoons and wisps are sometimes impossible to see unless you know what you’re looking for and you’ve had some practice at. Loads of small worms is a good thing. Worms grow fast – very small worms will be breeding size in a matter of weeks. Small worms ship better and higher numbers can be sent. The bin environment tends to overpopulate but this is good news because it means that even if the weight of material is under a pound you will still get good counts.

Lastly, I’m going to teach everything I can to make your vermiculture journey successful and enjoyable. The larger operations aren’t too concerned about helping you get your own colonies established because they want you to come back to get more worms – they also don’t want to create any competition. The last thing they would do is tell you is how to earn some cash with this if you wanted.

I want both – if you want to make money with this, I will help get you started. If you want

your own permanent colony for whatever reason, so do I and it is part of my guarantee.

With this product if you follow my instructions I will never see you again unless you want to increase the rate of population growth of your colony, start other colonies or want one of the other species of worms.

You will have permanent access to a manual that I will continually update as long as I do this product and there will be all sorts of things to go over. This manual will be free to distribute anyway you wish – that means free reprint rights as long as you don’t change anything. You could make your own product and bundle this information with it.

So please, please don’t confuse me with other outfits and what they offer, it wouldn’t be fair. This is probably the main reason people have unmet expectations when they buy thecolony starter kit.

In this manual I won’t tell you everything all at once about how to make money with vermiculture but I will begin share a few basic ideas and if you’re discerning it will become clear to your how to do it.

I tell some of my story at the end of the manual. In brief I am a Christian and I believe in JesusChrist and that He died for my sins. I feel compelled to share that because we all need that hope that there is more to this life and that there is God’s grace for us and eternal life.

I prayed earnestly to God for quite some time to give me something that would work well enough to help me get off of disability.

God gave me this product idea to help me get off disability and it has led in a large degree to my being economically independent. I feel like that is something that He can receive honor and glory for and that’s they only reason I bring it up.

I still have to work but the product is solid and there is an incredible demand for it, much greater than anything I can meet… I have listings on Amazon, eBay, Etsy and I regularly have to turn the listings off in order to catch up on orders. So I leave all sorts of money on the table with this project.

I feel like he wants me to pass the business concept for this on to someone else out there in same situation of difficulty I was in. I’m not worried about the competition, I will eventually move on to other things and my readers will take up the torch.

So let’s begin!

For me personally worms are just fun to watch. I'm always fascinated at the waythey can recycle waste material, something most people consider worthless, and break it down into the richest earth imaginable. It’s a thrill just to run your fingers through the finished material they produce. It’s like having your own personal pot of gold that never runs out.

It’s like having your own army of inexhaustible soil engineers working around the clock. Heck, that’s what it is!

Once you get around the "ick" factor you will be in for quite a surprise. People I talk to get queasy when I tell them what I do… that’s too bad because it’s all in their head. Besides being great entertainment there even better benefits they can provide:

* MONEY - that's a big one for most people. It's up to you with how far you want to goin that direction but yes, the worms will produce somethings that will be of value. In this guideI will go over some ways you can get started making some money locally. We won’t get too farinto depth here but I will tell you people will buy worm products from you locally or online – and once you get the hang of if you will generally produce more demand for your product thanyou can fulfill…

* The Most Fertile Soil in Existence – are you a gardener or grow things like me?Then you know how important rich soil is for growing things. In fact, when itcomes to soil fertility absolutely nothing will beat worm castings. I got into doingthis initially because I am a nursery grower and I noticed that one of the plants wasresponding really well while the others were dying.

* Education – we can really learn a lot from God’s soil engineers – children are especially fascinated with these creatures and parents could have a wonderful time helping a young person set up their own small colony… some people get these for science projects for a schoolage kid but you don’t have to be young to learn the from the treasures of wisdom found in the soil. In fact, this is killer science project material.

* WORMS – uh duh, right? A lot of people fish or need feeders for pets such as aquarium fish,reptiles, chickens and so on so the demand for worms is always there. But wow they areexpensive; ever tried to by these at Walmart? And if the container says 25 worms that's whatyou will get and not a worm more. People wanting their own colonies want worms too. Ifyou're a fisherman it really is a no-brainer to raise your own.

* Great for the Environment – many people just toss organic waste into the garbage...what a shame! All food comes from the soil – why not use the waste to create more fertilesoil to raise more food with... makes no sense to throw organic waste into a landfill. Feed it to your new army of soil engineers! This will give you an excellent way to start going green and doing something proactive about ecology

* Fertilizer – worm tea is some of the most potent fertilizer in existence and if your set your bins up like I show you will be able to make plenty of it… the casting are pure gold and the best organic fertilizer in the world.

...and there are other great benefits for getting into vermiculture on some level which you willdiscover as you go.

What’s New!

12.19.18 – Things have changed a lot and business has grown, I am thankful to God! I’m getting good at discerning the types of worms I’m dealing with in the bins. My inability to nail this down at first allowed for some mixing that I’m clearing up presently, hopefully you can learn from my mistakes. Mixed populations aren’t always bad, it just depends on what you’re trying to do...

My biggest set back this year was cooler than normal indoor temps. The slower regeneration rates of the cocoons forced me to establish outdoor bins for the first time. In some of the new videos I talk about how I bug proof the outdoor bins which is the critical component for outdoor worm-bin setups.

Because of this new development of using both indoor and outdoor bins I felt compelled to write the guide Secrets of Making Money with Small-Scale Worm Farming . The guide is free to download until I get it finished, afterwards you will have to pay for it. The new guide incorporates both indoor and outdoor approaches.

Also, new videos are going to be done on a GoPro 7! My camera work is not the best. My old camera was making everyone sick – the slightest movement and the screen went crazy. Those days are gone. I will be doing a lot of new videos and my hands will be free.

There are different species of worms that I note that are good for raising commercially on a small scale in a bin environment. I offer five of these breeds, they each have a purpose and a value. I will list those here in a moment.

A new colony starter kit I’m offering is the Indian Blue or Malaysian Blue worm. They had beenin my bins for a while and I couldn’t decide what I was dealing with. I had always heard about them but never imagined that I had them. I always wanted a batch to see what they were like, turns out they were under my nose all along.

I thought they were European nightcrawlers but they bounced like Alabama jumpers – they even resembled the African’s, they confused me royally. This worm is an incredible compost worm with a rate of reproduction that dwarfs the other worms. Some see them as a nuisance but I do not know why, they do what they are supposed to do very well.

It’s tendency to roam has never given me any trouble. Also, I’ve discontinued sending out Alabama jumpers due to time constraints. The 5 species of worms I now have available are as follows:

* Wigglers (Tiger worms) or Eisenia foetida – I have the kits for these.* Reds or Eisenia andrei – I have the kits for these...* African nightcrawlers - I have the kits for these.* European nightcrawlers - I have the kits for these.* Indian Blue worms – I have the colony starter kits for these.

Quick-Start Guide

Remember to consult the video section later in the manual for more “visual” informationabout getting set-up. Here I’m going to give you some easy instructions and make it simple because I know I have all levels of expertise reading. You’re more than free to go off the beaten path but if you follow along with how I do mine you will be much pleased with the results.

So you’ve receive your colony starter mix and you’re ready to go. It’s important to get the littleguys out of the bag into some fresh moist bedding as soon as you can so they can breath and regain their senses as shipping can be a stressful time for worms.

Bedding is not dirt by the way! We will discuss bedding as we go but don’t make that mistake. Don’t use anything, “hot” as in fresh manure, high nitrogen – that happens quite often. The compost and manure I recommend isn’t hot. Bedding needs to be high carbon.

First Principle: Setup a “Pop-Bin” in a protected areaThink of your colony starter batch as a small fire that you have kindled before you – you must go out of your way to keep the fire going and build it. The first thing I recommend is getting a good, protected, starter population going – THEN you can export excess population from there.

Recently a good friend did a Youtube review of the colony starter kit and I noticed he was using a really good method to start his colony. Please have a look at how he is doing his because it is ideal to begin with…

https://youtu.be/MgvqtJT53cM

I usually just place mine straight into the bins but for someone who is just starting a colony this isthe best approach. It keeps the worms together for breeding and it allows you to easily observe

them. Plus it give you time to set your larger bin up and keep you worms warm which is key for reproduction and activity.

Many time people like to put these straight into an outdoor bed or some other hostile situation.

One time someone put them in a composter/tumbler that is designed to heat up. Es no Bueno, bueno...

Worms have a heat threshold very much like humans and they aren’t invincible. Don’t put theminto an unlivable environment. My unfinished room stays between 60 to 80 degrees 99% or theyear. Don’t place your bins in the sun and keep them somewhere where it will stay below 100 max.

If it is possible for you to maintain a bin in a protected area like a garage or some othersuch place this is ideal. I raise mine in an unfinished part of the house. The first year at this Ihad a bunch of outdoor bins – I go invaded by ants, black soldier flies and other opportunisticcritters. If you must do this outside place the bin in the shade and expect some competition.

On the other hand don’t put your setup in your direct living space… unless you are either reallygood at eliminating bugs or just don’t mind them buzzing around the joint.

I know some people like that, but for most people bugs are a true nuissance. Try to find them a happy medium.

A simple storage tote is all you will need and to start. It need not be too big but eventually you will want to have one that is at least a 30 gallon one as populations rise. You can also use five gallon buckets, they work well to a degree but are not a good long-term approach if you want good results.

Worms are going to want good surface area crawl space, bedding volume and air flow – buckets lack all of these things but they are convenient and that gives them an advantage. You ever tried picking up a 30 gallon worm bin? It aren’t happening!

This bin will need a few small drainage holes on the bottom, front and center – you can see thisin the videos. I sit my totes up on concrete blocks with about five small holes on the bottom of the bin, front-center. Under these holes I put a coffee can to catch drainage.

Second Principle: Good BeddingThere are all sort of great bedding material for worms. Bedding functions as a food source and aliving medium for the worms. I won’t get into all the different thing people use for bedding – but Iwill share what I use pretty much exclusively and you can hash out what you want to do.

First a warning, bedding needs to be something that will NOT heat up. This will make for many dried dummies. A dried dummy is a worm that crawls out of the bin and dries up on the floor. I used to collect the pet store used buss bedding - it’s great bedding but it will heat things up quick.

On the same note, it’s okay to mix shredded paper and cardboard into the bedding medium. It won’t cause too much problem in terms of heat and the worms absolutely love it. So much so that recommend you have a paper shredder around, they are fairly cheap.

I once made the mistake of dumping a full bag of coffee grounds in my bin. Needless to say theworms didn’t like it. Only put small amounts of material that will heat up.

You will typically spend the first year in vermiculture learning what doesn’t work.

So for bedding I use compost and manure from Lowe’s at $2 a bag – once the bins are doing well I add in peat moss as I remove material… but really peat moss is fair pricey and I find a good population of worms will break the cheap stuff down quick.

There’s you a money making tip there: you can turn $4 of compost and manure in to $40 of casting material fairly easily. People will buy the 5 gallon buckets of castings all day for $25 on Craigslist.

You could do a bin of straight peat, it’s a little pricier but the worms seem to really like it. Some people like to use coconut coir but I’ve never tried it.Something else, I mention this up top... soil is not bedding and it doesn’t work at all for that purpose – don’t use soil for bedding.

Don’t use woodchips. Don’t use anything rough and irregular that will make working the bin a painin your sassafras – this another life lesson I had to learn. If you’re doing this stuff indoors be wary of introducing leaves or compost from outdoors. Will the worms break it down? Yes. But you will make the bedding hard to work and you will introduce creepy crawlies.

Your first inclination it to go crazy adding in a bunch of stuff that just doesn’t work at all. Make it easy on yourself. Use a uniform bedding that the worms will enjoy, that you can work, aerate and harvest.

Make certain to wet the bedding down real good in conjunction with having good drainage holes.

Third Principle: Add GritIn case you haven’t noticed worms don’t have teeth to they rely on a gizzard to help digest their food, kind of like a chicken. The compost and manure I recommend has gritty material in it so if you’re using that it’s covered, otherwise you will need some grity.

In nature worms actively seek out gritty material. If you have ever done this you will noticethat worms are crazy about egg shell and I’ve noticed the bins I add egg shells into far excel the others… and it’s because egg shell supply grit.

Most bedding material will not have enough gritty material so you will want to add a half cup or so fine sand or similar material. It will make a vast difference in how your worms grow. If you don’t add it you may see slow growing populations or you will worms get sick and die and it won’t be apparent to you what is going on.

Fourth Principle: Add Food Sparingly to Begin WithSo at this point you should have a nice protected “Pop-Bin” with drainage and moist bedding. So what do you feed the worms? Well whatever you do, don’t add a lot in to begin. Just a smallamount of fruit and vegetable waste – let the worms consume that then add some more.

The main way that bug issues form is by over feeding. When you add food try to add no more than it take the worms to eat in a few days. If it sits in there too long bugs will set up shop.

Worms will dang near consume anything you throw their way – I won’t tell you what to feed them because it would be a large list; I will tell you a couple of things not to feed them because the rest is fair game.

I will tell you how I typically feed my worms here in a moment and if you want to follow my approach it will work well for you.

As stated, don’t add too much of anything unless you have no concern with feeding bugs well and they will find the excess uneaten food.

I learned this the hard way – I would get the local food waste from Subway and they tend to throw out tons of bread, perfect worm food! Not! Worms adore bread but if you add large amounts of doughy sugary material to your bin you will attract bugs. Bread doesn’t tend to decay like vegetative matter giving bugs plenty of time to get to it.

If you shred it up real fine sprinkle and mix it in and wet it down the worms should get it pretty quick but be careful how much you put in. I’m very cautious about putting large amounts of doughy material in anymore, the red mites and mini-beetles go cray cray over it.

I trained my dog to eat the Subway bread, he only seems to like Parmesan cheese bread – usually he doesn’t seem to want it but I tell him, “Rudy, chomp-chomp, Rudy, chomp-chomp” and that usually persuades him.

One of the main principles of feeding worms is it need to be able to be broken down rapidly in an indoor setting.

Don’t feed them grease – meat is generally not a good idea but they will eat it. Don’t put things in the bin that are overly pathogenic. I will let you use your imagination on that. Don’t be afraid if a little bit of this stuff gets in there they won’t have any trouble breaking it down.

Don’t feed them too much dairy and flour - the worms don’t complain, or at least they haven’t said anything but typically it causes conditions in the bin you don’t want.

I have cats and dogs and my general rule is what ever they don’t get in the worms get. If I give my dog some leftovers and he turns his nose at it, I tell him I’m going to feed it to the worm-worms and he usually eats it… also, if I act like I’m going to feed the food to the cat all the sudden he wants to eat it.

Later on we will talk about feeding the worms in relation to bug-control; I used to use rabbit food but I’ve found that the chick layer crumbles work better and more cost effective. The rabbit food was about $13 for 50lb. And the layer crumble is a more desirable consistency and it is $9 for 50lb.

I don’t expect you to go out spend money on food for worms, kind of defeats the purpose doesn’t it? But as your populations expand you will run out of if you scale up to any degree for whatever purpose. You will need to find cost-effective supplies of food.

I began simply try to process household waste and there is nothing wrong with that even if it attracts a few bugs. When your worm populations get high enough they will get most of it.

Last Principle: Give Me Some O2!I see these videos where people drill millions of holes in a tote lid and put it on the top to keep worms from escaping. In my experience that is the only time my worms tried to leave en masse. It’s because they don’t get good air flow and they think it is dark… and the walls of the bin steam up make it perfect terrain for a slimy worm to crawl on. The lids give worms every incentive to leave the bin. It’s a nasty mess that I won’t get into.

And how do people have the patience to drill all those holes!

Don’t put a lid on the bin – I have over 35 large bins and very rarely do I see a dried dummy. And if some dummy wants to run away from home let ‘em! Bins with lids heat up, steam up, don’t get good air flow and are dark. If you do these things, they will crawl on you, that’s a promise.

If you provide a good environment they will be happy. Use a layer of newspaper and use a lightto begin with if you are worried about dried dummies.

I personally leave a light on them at all times with a layer of newspaper on top – they don’t crawl on you if do this, nor will they try. Unless something bad is going on.

Six Types of Worms

There are the 5 types of worms and colony starter kits I offer. Each species have theirown unique characteristics and function: Redworms (Wigglers and Reds), African Nightcrawlers, European Nightcrawlers, and Indian Blues. I do mixes as well.

Redworms (Wigglers and Reds) – these are two separate species though they are hard to differentiate and somewhat symbiotic. They reproduce and lay dummy cocoons.

They are the ultimate compost worm and great for brim fishing and other small fish. Unlike the nightcrawlers they live in the first 6 inches of soil primarily.

They are heat and cold tolerant and are the ultimate worm for breaking down nitrogenous material. Breeding rates are great – they reproduce quickly. The Reds in particular have a chemical that attracts fish and they get good size too.

European Nightcrawlers – they can get pretty big, in fact my largest worm ever was anENC; they will look small like a wiggler but then they will stretch out like elastic. Great fishing worm, very tough – very cold hardy…

Their reproduction can seem sluggish compared to Africans and Reds but all in all a great worm. They are probably the best all-around fishing worm. Their activity will slowway down when it cools.

African Nightcrawlers – the largest of the worms getting up to a foot long; they are tropical and do best if you keep them warm.

They can endure brief period of cold in shipping but they need warmth. Their cocoons don’t even seem to survive freezing temps.

Cocoons normally hatch off at a warmer temp so this could be an issue in a mixed bin where competing species cocoons hatch sooner.

I did actually have this issue where Eisenia andrei out-populated the ANC’s. As a result I had to restart my pure ANC’s – it took me a while to notice them because they weren’t striped like the Wigglers.

On the other hand, ANC’s reproduction rates are phenomenal during warm periods probably outstripping the reds during hotter times.

Great, tough worm, good for cat-fishing. Number one for casting production and have voracious appetites. You must raise these in a temperature controlled environment during cold seasons.

That having been said, they are still the most active during the winter where I’m raising them and the soil are currently pretty cool.

Alabama Jumpers – I leave these guys on the list. I am blessed with them here but I had to quit offering them due to time constraints – I am unable to get them to thrive in a bin environment.

They are the second largest worm and have a reputation for being crazy; actually they are more massive than the African. When I’m the garden at first glance they sometimes look like a snake.

When you pick them up they jump and bounce around and if you’re not careful theybreak in two. For this reason they are not really a good worm to fish with. On theother hand they are the ultimate clay busting gardening worm tunnelling deep downinto hard soil.

A powerful worm indeed. Their diets are high carbon – primarily they go for leaf litterand it’s this characteristic that leads some to call them invasive. Their diet andbehaviors also make the bin environment somewhat problematic. Very suited to outdoorsetups. Very cold hardy due to their ability to tunnel down. Large outdoor leaf beds aregood for these.

Indian Blue Worm – this is a new worm I isolated into a pure stock – I don’t knowwhere it came in; maybe when I started my Euro’s? After some time my ENC binswould deplete and all I would see were these Blue worms – I thought they were babyjumpers.

I like them a lot. Some frown on them because of their propensity to roam but I haven’tobserved this habit. I don’t cover the bin with a lid so it doesn’t steam up and keep alight on nearby. Plus I never go over half way with bedding, this discourages theroaming trait. The most voracious, aggressive worm that I have oberserved.

What Happens When You Mix Worm Populations?

A question I get is can you mix worm populations. Under most circumstances it won’t hurt at all and can be beneficial. The two species of redworms and Euros do well together.

In fact they all do good together targeting different levels of your system. I have a product called the Worm Zoo that puts them all together in one package that people seem to like.

One thing I have found however is that the African nightcrawlers will take over a bin as tempsincrease. The African’s have an amazing ability to do well in exhausted bedding. The Indian Blues will do well in exhausted bedding as well.

The Euro’s absolutely have to have fresh bedding more than the others…

I have found that ENC’s and Wiggler tend to get outbred by the others.

Usually after a while the bedding will completely exhaust and you will notice some species will start to take over.

I’m learning this the hard way. In my own business I strive to keep breeds separate but mixing happens. Eisenia andrei in particular because it is a cooler weather worm took over myANC bins. I was very disappointed when I discovered what had taken place. ANC cocoons hatch off at warmer temp and I thought the Red was a small ANC!

Usually when I’m restarting a bin I will reset it with fresh bedding a pure population.

The mixing issue snuck up on me this year for the first time. The little hatchlings easily stick to gloves and get transmitted. I never suspected they could take over a bin like they did!

So if one of your goals is to keep ‘em separated then learn from me and pay extra special attention to what you’re doing. It’s not so much the ANC’s contaminating redworm and Euro’sbins but Eisenia andrei getting itno the nightcrawler bins...

Here’s a brief video talking about this…

https://youtu.be/BNzP1JGtP7U

As of this writing I’m getting everything under control with species. The main thing is to know what the worm is you’re looking at. I reset the suspect bins and am in the process of changing out any that pop up.

Dealing With Common Vermiculture Pests

When dealing with PCC’s (Persistent Creep Crawlies) simply chanting the mantra, “everything has a purpose, everything has a purpose” does very little to help. Let’s face it, a worm bin is bugs fantasy come true. I have one bin that seems like a roly-poly factory and I can’t displace them.

Other bins seem like a sally-walker magnet. What is a sally-walker you ask? Some call them cave crickets and they hop right on you almost intentionally. The first thing I do when doing a bin is do a bug check. I’ve found frogs in bins, blue-tailed skinks, spiders that would give Superman the heeby jeebies and more...

I always come away scratching my head saying, “How did that get in there?”

Some bins are simply a dream, hardly a creature other than a worm can be seen – other bins will have red and white mites. There are a lot of factors that determine the makeup of the life in your bin… and as creepy as it can get the worms seem to always keep chugging along.I have never lost worms due to mites, black soldier flies, etc. But who wants them right?

Occasionally you will see red mites eating a worm but it is usually in a disease states. The problem isn’t the presence of these other creatures it’s the imbalances that occur from time to time and it can become nightmarish but usually there is a way to correct it.

If you are setting up camp outside prepare for the worst, mites, black soldier flies, ants, flies of every sort, you name it. You are one your own if this applies to you. But be encouraged, no matter how bad it gets the worms tough and if it gets too bad for them they will simply tunnel down where the bugs are not. They will still be able to thrive.

As far as this manual is concerned we will be addressing bins in a protected environment (like a garage, somewhere in your house or some other such environment).

If you want to raise them outside that’s fine, but don’t concern yourself too much about pests because you will get plenty of them despite your best intentions and your worms should be able to fend for themselves.

Good news for my buyers I culture beneficial predator nematodes SF and HB – these smallcreatures attack many of the PCC’s and from what I’m noticing they are dispersing almosteverything except the mites but it’s hard to tell at this point. I will say this, some of thebins have no mites at all and I don’t know how to account for it.

So here are some of the more notable PCC’s you will regularly encounter...

Red Mites - of all the critters that invade and have the most fun in your ecosystem are mites. White mites are fairly harmless and help with the break down of organic material BUT red mites can be a nuisance.

They are prevalent in new bins with a lot of organic material but in my experience they don’t like mature bins with high percentage of worm castings. Some of my older bins don’t have any red mites – some of the younger ones are infested. But once again, they serve afunction and come and go. It is almost impossible to get rid of them – main thing is to correct any imbalances.

If you notice a lot of them concentrated on the surface of the soil put some melon, or other fruit on the surface and nothing else in the bin – they will draw to that en masse and you can eliminate thousands very easily.

Fluff your bins regularly this helps as well as they do not seem to like the mature casting material. One thing I do lately is let the bins fast for a week or so, put a piece of bread in the center of the bin on the surface and all mites will go to it. They will be underneath the bread primarily and I just scoop them all out and put them in a bucket.

If there are worms in what you scoop don’t worry to pick them out. Just continue to clear yourbins in this way and put the worms and mites in the bucket until you have a full bucket. Starvethe mites out after that.

Following this practice you begin to notice less and less in the bins and eventually the wormsand their castings will push them out.

Various Fly Larvae – as mentioned earlier beneficial nematodes are in your mix. They willneed time to multiply but they are in there… they are especially suited to attacking insect larvae. Fungus gnats, fruit flies, black soldier flies and other flying pests will find a way to invade.

You can bury the food for your worms under the surface but even so it doesn’t completely eliminate the problem – the larva themselves aren’t really an issue, a cloud of bugs going upyour nose would be. I used to have that issue but not anymore because of my special BUG TRAP.

Also, don’t turn me in to PEBA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Bugs) for saying this but Iinvite bugs into my bins now because with the nematodes I know my bins are like Hotel California for pests.

More Good Ways to Put the Hurt on Pests

Bugs are going to challenge your claim to vermiculture Utopia. I have some good ideas to make them suffer. With the right knowledge you can have your own version of the Spanish Inquisition, for unwanted pests of course.

Obviously nematodes are an important weapon to deploy, the three species commonly offered are SF, HB and SC. You want all three – I add these yearly but I’m culturing them with Waxworms in the next season.

So you’ve got these bugs flying around everywhere. You’re probably wondering, “how do I annihilate them?”

First I suggest go to Lowe’s and grab a roll of fiberglass screen. Cut it to the length you need and simply cover the bin. Then there is one more step...

If you watch any of my videos you will notice my obsession for five gallon buckets – particularly a Firehouse pickle bucket. What can’t be done with a five gallon bucket?

In the cooler parts of the year fungus gnats, soldier flies and fruit flies won’t be too much of an issue but as it warms up watch out. When a bug flies up your nose while you’re eating dinner you will probably curse my name.

Get a Firehouse pickle bucket for $2 – I like these because they are cheaper and bigger than most five gallon buckets and the lid with rubber seal is free. Coincidentally you can also make some good worm buckets from these – just drill some 1/4” holes in the lid and you will never lose sleep wondering if your worms are crawling out in the middle of the night.

Put your trap near where your bins are – invariably it will be fungus gnats and fruit fliesyou will be dealing with. Put your fruit waste and other materials they seem to be drawnby – let them all fly into the bucket then WHAM-O! Slam the lid down on em’ quick and laugh as the you hear the rubber seal pop into place. Then say, “It was nice knowing you”.

What you do with them from this point I will leave to your imagination but you the point: Nematodes + Screen + Bug Trap = Sayanora Insecto!

Another counter-intuitive way of getting rid of excess vermin are to let bins rest or fast.

Most people once they build a good population of worms think, “Oh yeah, it’s time to fill this thing up with all the slop in the house!” The first inclination people have is to overfeed and this is where the bug issue arise. I should know because it took me a whileto get a handle on this.

I don’t want you to think that way. Yes, worms are great recyclers but I promise you, this approach will attract bugs you don’t want.

I was continually taking worms out to ship so my first thought was to feed the bins heavily… and the worms loved it, so did the bugs.

I started getting these small brown flying beetles that LOVED bread material. Coincidentally, after adding a new species of nematode called SC my beetle issues seems resolved, I don’t see them anymore.

I was at my wits end trying to get rid of them.

Then it dawned on me – LET THE WORMS FAST! No food – just bedding materialand water and you know what it worked. Once all the food was eaten up in the bin the bugs began to die off. The worms didn’t seem perturbed either, they seem to grow even when I wasn’t feeding them and they were laying a lot more cocoons. The moisture, bedding and undecomposed food kept them going while the bugs famished.

So there’s another thing – if you want to induce your worms to lay more cocoons let them fast.

When I resumed feeding I used only enough rabbit food as they could consume in a couple of days. Bug issues are related mostly to feeding so if you need to reset your bin let the worms fast and use a mix of starving the bugs out with luring them out with bread and fruit – the worms come out on top making it more difficult for them to re-establish.

High population densities of worms keep the bedding so unsettled that bugs have a hard time congregating. That plus thoroughly aerating and fluffing bins should solve a lot of your problem.

Question and Answers

If you have questions about vermiculture or the colony starter kit you received or will receive send me an email at: countitjoy5@yahoo.com – if it augments the guide I will add it in.

Q. - How many worms roughly will I be receiving in my colony starter kit?A. - This is the main question I get. It is very hard to quantify and varies depending on the bin environment, season, etc. Though every order varies I make certain I put in a good amount – if you received a kit and think there should be more I’m always happy tosend some more.

Taken altogether, in the 13 ounce kits, cocoons (have 2-7 worms), wisps (tiny hatchlings hardly visible can be very high at times), small worms, medium to larger breeding size easily 200-300 worms but sometimes much higher. In bins with high wisp density it be between 500-1000 and even higher – that’s the exception and not therule.

A lot of what will be in the mix will not become evident until it matures so please factorthat in. In the 16 ounce kits counts are even higher – the 3 ounces makes a big difference. Please don’t overlook the habitat which contain numerous microorganisms that help make your new bins familiar to them. Also, the species of worm plays a part inthe counts as well because of overall size of the worm.

Q. - How long until I begin to see my populations increase from my original batch?A. - To begin with, you must be patient – I offer a deluxe version of the starter kit with 3lbs. of material if you want to get rocking faster but if you go with the basic realize that all the worms you received will need to reach maturation and begin laying cocoons. Once that second generation matures you will begin to see population spikes. This will vary according to time of the year, temperature, food, moisture, worm species etc. but I would say if all you variables are good then a good 3 months on average.

Q. - I’m not seeing any results, what do I do?A. - Here’s the good news, I am as interested in your success as you are. Consult with me – if after that initial 3 months you are not seeing some type of positive result contact me for a reshipment.

I have a one year guarantee on all my kits – I will reship simply pay the shipping cost and I will send another out. Always though, I will want to correspond with you briefly by email or phone what might have taken place so we can correct the issue.

Q. - What do you feed your worms?A. - Quite literally almost everything. Around the house whatever the cats and dogwon’t eat minus grease. Outside of this I get a local Subways vegetable and breadwaste. Be careful with too much bread waste try to dissolve in liquid and divy it outamongst your population.

Coffee shops and pet stores offer great possibilities. In terms of extra food I use tosupplement I use wheat bran, rabbit food, chick crumbles and dog food even works. Q. - HELP! How do I get rid of mites in my worm bin – are they harmful?A. - Have you ever seen a mite up close? They truly are hideous – the microscope ushered in a new era of the heeby-jeeby’s.

Good new is mites and other critters in your bin serve a beneficial purpose. Bad news isthat as with any ecological system things can get out of whack. The most troublesome PCC (persistent creepy crawlies) are the red mites. There are ways to combat these, please consult the section on bin pests.

Q. - Can I contact you by phone to ask you a question?A. - I’m one of these anachronisms that still uses a land-line. You can call me; leave mea message if I don’t answer and I will call you back – my number is (205) 683-1210

Vermiculture Videos Section

Since I started this guide I’ve got some better equipment that keeps the screen from jumping around. Bear with some of the videos because they are done with anolder recorder and I’m steadily adding better vids to the channel.

If you're receiving the colony starter mix from me and would like to know what I will be sending watch this short video to get some idea of what to expect…

https://youtu.be/K1vH7zP6NuE – Worm Colony Starter Mix

This next video will give you a visual on setting everything up…

https://youtu.be/39lvXVwpIUk – Getting Started (Introduction)

And here's some more videos just showing you around and sharing some basic tips for success…

https://youtu.be/cTPAiBNXYyY – More Tips and Information to Get Going

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwZ1F9wwIk8 – Using EM1 in Your Bins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdjgHG_s-p4 – Tips for Building Up Your Bins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPfUVw7kmqs – Setting Up a 50 Gallon Bin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Yg83qfI3xM – How to Make EM1 Cheap

Making Money in Vermiculture

I’m really excited about starting this new section. I think it will really increase the value of the information you have received. While I’m not going to share everything I know here, I will share one proven way for you to get started bringing some money in.

Maybe in the future I will put a more comprehensive guide together but I definitely dowant to share some ideas I have about starting your own small business and sellingonline, especially as it relates to permaculture.

Now the good news is if you live in my area you won’t have to worry about any competition because I no longer sell this way and it’s not because it doesn’t work, it does but I have delegated elsewhere.

This technique has to do with selling your worms locally using Craigslist. By the way, this is how I got started with my nursery business. I started selling popular plants and plant cuttings based on Mike McGroarty’s back yard nursery concept and moved up from there – look him up on Youtube.

Aside from plants, there are huge local markets for your worms and if you’ve ever beento Walmart you know how ex pensive bait worms can get. Almost $5 for about 25 or so European Nightcrawlers.

Initially I began to post my worms to Craigslist and I just sold it as worm habitatwith eggs, small worms, etc kind of like the colony starter kit – but 5 gallons? Comeon, there are more worms in 5 gallons or worm habitat than you can imagine.

If you’ve never used Craigslist you should. It’s not hard at all. Just sign up for an account and start running free ads and generating leads. Make sure to instruct them to leave you a voicemail, email or text you. The texting option is huge, a lot of people will want to contact you that way and if you don’t accept texts from your potential leads theywon’t contact you any other way.

Needless to say you can generate a ton of leads with Craigslist. My product was simple – I sold the habitat with worms which was an incredible deal but you generate a lot of excess population so there is no sense in hoarding it; $25 for 5 gallon bucket (give a small rebate if they bring a 5 gallon bucket), $10 for a large gallon size nursery pot, it was probably more like 2 gallons – and 8 ounces of worms for $5 for people that just wanted to fish.

Offer as many different types of worm as you can and you will get sales on that too. Plus something I quit doing but it worked phenomenally well was meal worms and super-worms. Also all of the people who came out for worms got the super-worms ormeal worms.

Like I said, I discontinued local sales because the product is worth a lot more to me online. It got to where when the online demand got to a certain point it made no sense to sell locally anymore.

People will buy all of your 5 gallon buckets of worm habitat with worms. As youwork your bins just slowly add material to the buckets and have it ready to gobecause they will buy it, guaranteed.

And what you will find is that in most areas you won’t have any competition for hundreds of miles. As mentioned earlier a good population of worms will turn $4 of compost and manure into $40 easily.

My Vermiculture Journey

I’d like to tell you a quick story about how I got involved in this, maybe you can glean some inspiration from it – at first I had absolutely no intention of dealing with worms.

I had a pesky next door neighbor who wouldn’t quit trying to show me his creepy collection of worms and his seemingly never-ending supply of rich worm-castings.

At first his obsession was a little overwhelming but I soon became envious. I had a small nursery and was trying to raise the different varieties of a highly sought after plant called goji berry. Worm castings were something I definitely wanted.

This quest all began with a plant so rare (black goji) that you could only attain the seedsfor it at the time. There were no bare root plants, no cuttings, nothing… just seeds. Andas it turns out the seeds were some pain in the rear to grow.

If you looked at them wrong they would damp off...

I gave some of my seeds to Keith. Low and behold he sprouted them. I came by one day and noticed a seedling thriving in castings – it was the black goji! Sure enough it was a vibrant and healthy seedling was growing far beyond the point any of mine had made it.

I begged Keith to give me that plant!

I concluded it was the worm-castings that prevented the seedling from damping. That plant did well but needless say it ended up dying due to my own negligence but it didn’t negate what I witnessed… the worm castings were superior to any soil available!

So I began to barter with Keith.

Keith had some outdoor composting bins during the winter filled with redworms. Theylived in that composter and continued their job while the temps dropped into the twenties – I would get nursery pots and fill them with compost and worms in exchangefor helping Keith with various things.

Before long I had three or four stocked redworm bins in an unfinished part of our house.Frankly it was just a ratty junk storage room but it was underground and the temps stayed warm.

I slowly began to clean and transform this room into a new business to go augment my plant nursery.

When I was young I was diagnosed with severe mental illness.

I won’t go into it here but I will give you a link at the end of this guide and you can read more about what I experienced and how I pulled out of it.

I had to undergo prolonged hospitalization on several occasions. It was bad. Everyone wrote me off for good. I began to collect disability. Though I did not want to be on it the state eventually had me put on it because I was put in a boarding home.

I soon just accepted that it was the way things were. I didn’t like mental illness and dependence upon the state but it was the new reality given to me.

At one point in early 1999 my parents were kind enough to let me come back and stay but those were depressing times indeed.

That year I recall a relative giving me a book on internet marketing by Cory Rudl – thatwould be an important event. In August I would start selling on eBay and putting information products together in an all out effort to break free from dependency.

I began to do well enough to move back out on my own but my life continually fell apart, not so much due to mental illness – mainly because I had no faith in God at that time in my life. I was very upset with God due to what had happened.

I would vacillate between extreme atheism and cultic false religion.

I would go through phases of varying degrees of employment. I struggled for many years with work and finding something sustainable to get off disability. I would try, then fail, then fall back into dependency – this happened many times.

The disability created a disincentive to work as hard as I knew I could. I was dreadfully afraid of failing at making on my own and not having any support.

I prayed earnestly for God to show me a way to make enough money through self-employment so that I could get off disability. God gave me the faith because for a long time I didn’t believe I could do it.

I was terrified of giving up disability benefits only later to find out I could no longer sustain gainful employment.

The first thing that the Lord impressed upon me was the nursery concept – this was backin 2012. I was on my own then, working some but not generating much income apart from disability. In February 2012 I decided to move back home with my parents for financial reasons.

My dad had always been a gardener and every year we would have some of the best tomatoes known to man. We had terraced property and the soil in the terrace rows was phenomenally rich, unlike anything you can imagine.

My father hated to weed – he would earnestly start a garden every year then just let nature take over.

I never really paid his activities much interest but this particular year I was overtaken one day as I went out and noticed all these beautiful plants being run over with weeds and tomatoes spoiling everywhere. I went out there and began to weed and go through the plants, pruning and picking everything before it went bad.

It was that year that I decided that gardening and agriculture would be part of my life until I die. Nothing can quite describe the enjoyment of being in contact with nature, the sun, the soil.

God created Adam put him in the garden and commanded him to till the soil. There’s something to that – it’s part of our spiritual DNA.

Problem is, we didn’t have much good agricultural land but in 2013 I run across Mike McGroarty’s channel on Youtube. There he demonstrated how you could set up a backyard nursery with very little land and make decent money.

And that’s what I needed – a way to generate money not having to work for someoneelse where one day the work is there, the next day it’s gone.

I NEEDED SOMETHING THAT WOULD BE THERE if I was going to get off disability. The job market is cruel and it doesn’t care if have been out of the workforce due to disability.

When the employer finds out you’ve been in the psychiatric system you get a red mark on your app. The jobs I could typically find paid minimum wage and never gave the hours you would need to survive.

I began to sell Forsythia, Gardenia and other plant cuttings on eBay and put ads on Craigslist… it was working!

It was not a lot of money to begin with but it was a start. I was looking for ideas on whatwould work and in 2013 I knew I wanted to do the goji berry plant – I wanted to establish an orchard on our property but I didn’t know what I was getting into.

My first impulse was to buy seeds… I purchased my first batch of goji seeds…absolutely nothing came of it. Wow, what a disappointment – the year came andwent, not so much as even one plant and I had never even tasted a berry…

In 2014 I decided I was going all in. In April I found a couple of local nurseriesthat had the plant and I bought them out. I made my first row of plants at the verytop of the hill in some our poorest soil. In May of 2014 I purchased $1800 (myentire savings almost) worth of rootstock from Phoenix Tears Nursery – roughly500 plants.

Of those only about 200 survived. I contacted the nursery for a credit and he laughed at me saying I had broken the record for most plants killed. The bad news is I lost out up front – the good news is God taught me invaluable experience about the plant and plant propagation so I rapidly recouped my loss.

My plan at first that May was to raise the plants in small planters and sell them locally but as the heat of Summer set in the plants began to die and couldn’t survive in the cupsI had them in– at this point I panicked and began to put them into the ground in rows when I had no intention.

It was much too late in the year to put rootstock into the ground but I didn’t know...

It was a wild mess of dead plants and frustration. I was depressed, I was angry, I wasfuming at God. Most of the plants that I put in the ground were succumbing to the summer heat – others seemed to thrive one day only the next day to assaulted by flea beetles. Everyday in 2014 from May until September was a battle to keep those plants alive…

But by September of that year I began to see promise as fruit began to come in and new growth began to shoot up from the roots of the plants. The heat broke and the plants began to revive. The orchard was beginning to take shape but there was a lot of work to be done.

That disaster gave birth a money making orchard!

At the beginning of 2015 I began to sell packages of cuttings and rootstock locally andonline with a propagation guide.

In 2015 I began to do business as Sparkleberry Nursery. A Sparkleberry tree is a common tree on our property – it is called Vaccinum Arborem, or “Blueberry Tree”.

In early 2016 I had a vision where I saw the distinct words in my mind, “Vermiculture Journey: Day 1”. Was this from God? I believed it was.

This was an answer to a prayer – I had no intention of making a business of worms but this was a signal to me from God and I acted on it. It was the beginning of a winning business concept that I previously knew nothing of.

I had been making money from the nursery but not enough to break free from government dependence. As it turns out this would be the critical factor in earning enough to come off of disability.

In March of 2016 my disability was discontinued due to a review but by November of that year I was back on it.

So that year my venture into permaculture would expand to include worms – by fall of 2016 the idea for the colony starter kits began to take shape.

I had a space indoors to raise African Nightcrawlers – a hard to find tropical worm that needs a warm environment and everyone wanted it. This gave me another small niche,and just enough money to break away…

In March of 2017 my disability came under review again and I was required to go in fora medical exam to continue benefits… I chose not to go into the review topermanently bring an end to it! God gave me the faith to work with my hands and tohonor Him with it. I am now making enough money to support myself, save a good bitof money and give generously. I can’t tell you how happy I am.

I am very thankful to God for these opportunity. To Jesus Christ be the Glory.