When you start a new European nightcrawler bin, these little fellas will do just as their name suggests and night crawl all over the place. On several occasions I have woken up to worms out of the bin. There is a simple little trick you can use that will help them stay put. Place a lamp or light source above the bin at night and they will be good girls/boys and “stay”. After a few days, maybe a week or so they will get settled into their new home and be “trained” to stay put.
Check out this link to see how to make a compost bin out of pallets. Pallets can usually be acquired for free and make a great bin for breaking down your organic matter before feeding your worms or your plants.
I am looking to have a storage building built on my property and called a local builder that I came across at http://www.bbarns.com. After talking a few minutes, we realized we had met earlier. Turns out a year or more ago, Robert got a pound of European Nightcrawlers from me. In addition to talking storage building construction, Robert talked all about how well his worm bed was doing and sent me this great pic. Not only does he have a great looking worm bed, but his vegetable garden is the envy of the neighborhood. Thanks for sharing, Robert.
(Insert your favorite state- Alabama, Texas, Carolina, Georgia) Jumpers are great for mixing and aerating garden soil. The only commercially available earthworm that is suited for introducing directly to the soil. Some soil types and raised beds with an abundance of organic matter can potentially support red worms and European NightCrawlers, but if you are dealing with sand, clay, or packed ground Jumpers are the only option. With that said, I still recommend raised beds or pit method to get your herd started rather than just cutting them loose. If you want to populate your yard or garden start with a sweet spot, and introduce them a handful or two at a time to other parts of your space.
Jumpers can also be raised in bins just like other species, and I have had a lot of success with this method. Jumpers tolerate the Summer temps better than red worms but don’t handle sub 40F as well. Keep in mind all earthworms are composters, will surface to feed and breed. While earthworms share these characteristics, what makes them differ is their ability and need to tunnel, the range at which they operate, and temperature tolerance.
I have included a couple of pictures of one of our Jumper Starter Farms. This is designed to ship and gives you a healthy way to start and takes the guess work out of starting from scratch. We take a sample of our beds (bedding and a few hundred worms of different sizes) to give you a solid start and something you can replicate as your population grows. When you see small worms and larger ones it’s a good indicator that you have a healthy happy environment that your worms are reproducing in. Depending on your needs and what you are trying to do, you will want to experiment and introduce worms in your soil to see which methods work best for you. I would encourage you to focus on one spot and expand a handful or two of worms and bedding at a time when you see your worms growing and reproducing from there.
TexasRedWorms will be in Boerne, TX this Saturday the 19th at 33 Herff Road, Boerne, TX. We will be there to talk about composting with worms, setting up, and other how to information.
We’ll be there from 10am-11am Saturday morning.
Solaris Ag Base from Houston, TX is producing worm castings from juice bars all over the Houston area. Anson Woods and his team are expanding their operation into a warehouse facility. Worm castings (black gold) the perfect fertilizer produced from nutrient dense juice pulp and coffee grounds by Anson’s worms. Instead of filling up dumpsters, this waste is being used to produce soil enriching and life giving worm castings packed with pH neutral and beneficial micro-organisms.
Congrats to Anson and Solaris Ag Base on their continued success, and thank you for choosing Texas Red Worms as your composting worm supplier.
Take a look at this pic from Anson’s original worm farm. What a gorgeous set up!
Today Tuesday, April 16th, from 6-8pm at the Alamo Heights Community Garden Texas Red Worms will be with Green Spaces Alliance at 403 Ogden St. Join us for instruction and discussion on worms, composting, and compost tea.
Spring is here and the worms are hungry. Cocoons, and baby worms are appearing by the minute. Here are a couple of pics from this week’s castings harvest.
From Mike in San Antonio:
“Bro thanks a million!!! Very excited about my worms. Almost turned around and bought more! LOL. Here are some pix.
Very excited about my Garden.”
Thanks for sharing!
The Spring Fever Festival is Saturday March 23, 2013 at 33 Herff Road, Boerne TX 78006. Kyle from Texas Red Worms will be speaking at 11 a.m. I will be presenting basics of worm composting and answering questions on worm farming. I look forward to seeing you there.
Upcoming events include an April 16th appearance in San Antonio with Green Spaces Alliance. Stay tuned for more details.
Texas Jumpers 