Worm Farming Side Hustle: Vermicomposting for Profitable Income
Needing extra income and willing to look outside the box?
Are you looking for ways to earn extra money, and are open to unusual ways? This might be a great option for you!
Vermicomposting, also known as worm farming, produces a nutrient-rich end-product known as vermicast or vermicompost.
You might be thinking, “Ya right, worms are gross”, but hear me out.
Freelancers, and people needing to increase their earnings that are open to side hustles or small business startups, really should consider this as a viable option, if you have a yard or a small amount of property. You don’t need a lot.
Why Start a Worm Farm?
People might start vermicomposting or worm farming to enhance the soil condition of their gardens while reducing waste.
Some pursue worm farming to supply fishing bait for themselves and their fishermen friends.
Others may start worm farming for profit, creating a home-based business venture.
Some include their children to get them into the action of business. It's an excellent way to teach business practices while equipping them with a good work ethic and many life lessons.
Gardeners value worms for soil health
Worms are important in the gardening world because gardeners know how they contribute significantly to soil health and the bottom-line harvest. Worms enhance soil structure, promote aeration, maintain soil balance, and attract bird visitors to gardens.
Worm castings act as an organic fertilizer for gardens, including for potted plants, and container or raised bed gardening.
In worm composting, worms accelerate the decomposition of compost piles, outperforming compost bins without worms.
Some gardeners brew a worm tea from these castings, using it as an organic fertilizer for their plants and gardens.
Using worms to decompose plant waste is a great solution for sustainable living and offers ways to reduce and recycle yard waste.
Many gardeners buy worm castings, the finished compost made by worms, to put in their gardens and compost piles.
Product Recommendation: — Red Wiggler Worm Farm for Fishing, Red Worms for Composting Bin, Red Composting Worms for Garden, Farm Soil
Fishermen use worms for bait
Hobby fishermen and professional fishermen who rely on fishing worms represent a specialized niche market for a worm farm.
Entrepreneurs may find opportunities to become suppliers for retail outlets or directly to fishermen by offering worms as bait.
A worm farm typically sells worms by weight, neatly packaged in brown paper bags accompanied by worm bedding or specialized containers designed for bait.
Farmers and ranchers can use worms to compost farm manure
Farmers and ranchers benefit from having a worm farm on their farms.
This helps in sustainable agriculture by breaking down livestock manure into composts that gardeners find valuable. This can easily be sold to gardeners.
Rabbit breeders need worms
Rabbit breeders find worm farming very compatible with raising rabbits.
Rabbit manure is one of the most complete food for worms. It’s also a cold fertilizer (meaning rabbit manure doesn’t burn plants even if it's not aged) for gardening, rich in nitrogen.
Many rabbit breeders buy worms to help break down rabbit waste faster. If you have a worm farm, you could offer to haul off the rabbit manure to your worm beds to feed the worms while helping the rabbitry owner reduce their waste.
How to Set up Worm Beds
There are many ways to build your worm beds. I’ll post a YouTube video later showing one homemade option.
When considering ready-made worm farm, or homemade, consider the cost of supplies, your available time, and skills.
Critical points to remember are maintaining a moist environment for the worms without over-saturating them.
Ensure proper drainage of worm beds, cover them to keep them dark, and create a system for harvesting the worms and/or worm bed castings.
You’ll need to create the worm bedding materials, which can be a single type or a combination of:
Cardboard cut up
Newspaper shredded
Straw
Rabbit manure
Vegetable and fruit scraps
A small amount of soil
Consider initially using aged livestock manure, well decomposed as compost for your worm farm.
Layer the chosen materials into the bottom of your worm bed and gently moisten the area.
The goal is to achieve a moist, but not soggy, environment.
Aim for a texture that resembles light, crumbly soil.
You’ll now add your worms. It's important to use the correct type of worms.
Red wiggler worms are a popular choice for your starter population.
Introducing red worms to their new home
Add your worms to their newly prepared home with bedding.
Add a variety of kitchen scraps, including fruit, vegetable remnants, and manure (only cold types or aged manure), to serve as their food.
To create an ideal environment for your worm farm, cover the top with moistened burlap or whatever lid you use to maintain darkness and moisture.
Resist the temptation to check on them for a couple of weeks.
After that period, uncover the bedding and add more organic food regularly.
As the worm population grows, keep up with their appetite by providing ample organic matter to feed on.
Harvesting worm castings and worms
After several months, it’s time to harvest worm castings from your worm farm.
This process involves separating the worms from their bedding and castings.
There are various methods for this, and you’ll likely discover your favorite based on your system’s setup.
A widely used technique is to shift all the materials and worms to one side of the worm bed. Then, prepare a fresh worm bed in the vacant space next to it, introduce more organic matter for food, and cover it.
After allowing the worms to naturally migrate to the new bedding area for approximately two weeks, you can uncover and clear out the old castings.
You can lay fresh bedding in the cleared space or expand the two-week-old bedding into it.
You are now ready to sell the worms, worm castings, or both. I’ll post below a couple of videos for you.
I’d love to hear your comments about this idea!
All Rights Reserved by Val Garner.
How to Make a Functional Worm Bin
Harvesting Worm Castings | Highly Effective Method For Separating Out The Worms!
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Thank you Susan, really appreciate that.
This is great information, thank you!