Three weeks ago, I soaked some newspaper shreds, dropped in a dozen European Nightcrawlers, added some oatmeal to the top of the bedding, and walked away.

Today, I decided to check on the Nightcrawlers to see how they were doing.

The first thing I noticed was that the oatmeal had molded very badly. I had mold all over the top of the bedding. Did the Nightcrawlers care? Let’s find out.

I dumped the bedding, mold, and the Nightcrawlers onto a flat surface to investigate. The Nightcrawlers had not only survived, but they were quite a bit larger than when I had originally placed them in the bedding. The mold had not bothered the Nightcrawlers at all.

I put the contents back into the cup to see how they do long term. My goal is to find cocoons and/or baby worms throughout the cup given additional time.

If you enjoy fishing, raise chickens, raise reptiles, or have a use for Nightcrawlers that also compost, you need to think about this opportunity! Imagine NEVER buying worms from a bait store again! The nightcrawlers reproduce with less than minimal care! It’s perpetual bait!

What do you get when you put together?

1 Slightly used pizza box.
5 pounds of hungry Red Wigglers

Let’s find out! Stay tuned!

Have you tried European Nightcrawlers? If not, you are missing a treat!
1) Euro’s are very good Composting Worms! Excellent for recycling your scraps.
2) Euro’s large size makes harvesting a breeze!
3) Euro’s have a nice thick skin. They are a VERY durable worm.
4) Euro’s are VERY prolific. Everytime I look in the bedding, I find hundreds of cocoons.
5) Euro’s are great fishing worms. Just the right size for a large Catfish, Trout, or Bass.
6) Euro’s can be mixed in with other composting worms.
7) Euro’s are easy to get as big and fat as your little finger.

Want to have some fun? Order a batch of Euro’s today!

Does this look YUMMY?
You bet!
Does it look Yummy to a worm?
Not Yet!

I often talk about Red Wigglers eating less when it is cold than when it is warm. All cold blooded animals slow down when it get’s cold. Even so, Red Wigglers do a pretty good job, even in cool weather.

Often times people feed their worms in winter by just burying chunks of food waste in their bedding. That is perfectly fine, AS LONG as you realize that unlike summer temps when scraps break down quickly, wintertime temps basically preserve your food scraps, much like keeping scraps in a fridge.

Remember, worms are bacteria feeders, and have no teeth. Until the scraps start getting broken down by bacteria, the worms cannot eat them….even a nice, sweet piece of watermelon rind.

How do you get scraps mushy when the temps are cool?

*You can microwave your scraps.
*You can put them in the freezer, and when they finally defrost, the cell structure of the scraps breaks down nicely.
*You can chop them up, increasing the surface area of the scraps, as bacteria processes scraps faster given more surface area.
*You can blend your scraps(Be careful not to overfeed as blended scraps tend to pack a concentrated punch)!
*You can put your scraps in a slop bucket(A lidded bucket with some tiny air holes or a carbon filter).
or……
*You can put some pieces of scraps in your bin knowing that they will take awhile to break down in the cool bedding.

Things are not always as they appear. If your worms seem to be eating REALLY slowly during the winter…it’s probably not the worms!

When it comes to feeding worms, MUSHY IS GOOD!

Two quick stories!

Story #1:
I’m a very tough person to buy for. Every year, my family asks, “What do you want”? And every year, they get the typical response, “I don’t know”.

For Christmas this year, my oldest son presented me with the picture above, and told me to go outside to see my gift. Not only did he choose a really creative and appreciated present, but he even attached it to my car! Sweet!

My youngest son borrows my car all the time. As a 16 year old boy, he’s not super excited about the license plate holder, but he likes having a car to borrow, so he’ll get over it.;)

Story #2:
I’m outside taking the same picture of my new license plate holder with my camera so I can upload it to the blog. My neighbor across the street calls out…

Neighbor: “You selling your car”?
Me: “Nope”?
Neighbor: “You get in an accident”?
Me: “Nope”?
Neighbor: “Whatya doing”?
Me: “Taking a picture of my new license plate holder”.
Neighbor: “You selling them”?

I was cracking up at this point, so I walked over and chatted it up for a few minutes.

I guess when you sell worms, bins, clothes…even monogrammed underwear, it is not such a stretch to think that I may be selling license plate holders also.

Hey, that gives me an idea……..

It’s always refreshing to see people excited about the potential applications for using worms to solve real world problems! A college student/customer, and genuinely nice guy(Nathan), came to me for advice on a college project he was working on. Here is a transcript of our emails:

As I was talking about over the phone I have an Environmental Energy assignment where I have to analyze a conservation measurement used in my household. I am going to measure petroleum energy saved by reducing my trash poundage through worm composting, but in order to do that I need to measure the worms’ food supply poundage to their castings poundage. In other words the “x” amount of raw table scraps given to the “y” number of worms to produce “z” amount of worm dung. I would normally count the worms in my bin, weigh the initial bedding material, weigh the food input, and finally weigh the castings output over a period, but I only have a week+ to do this project.

Thanks for bringing up the water usage issue. It didn’t even register that I would have to weigh that consumption against my overall conservation in petro. I will note my water usage this next week.

The pictures above are actually from an Earth Day Demonstration that Nathan had put together!

Nathan, if you are reading this, please share your findings and your professors comments on your project.

I would also love to hear about any additional “Wormy” projects you are working on.

Some of the solutions to our environmental problems may indeed be….just under our feet!

It’s been 3 days since the newspaper article was written, and I’ve never experienced ANYTHING like this. 300 emails per day! I’ve been going short sleep, but I realize this won’t last forever. I want to enjoy it while I can.

It’s amazing how powerful a newspaper article can be. I’ve received calls from every corner of the United States. Apparently, once a story hits the wire, out of area newspapers also run the story.

Google search the word: Worms

As of today, there are over 40 MILLION results. The Mercury News article on The Worm Dude is on PAGE 1. I have no idea what the value of something like that is, but considering how expensive it is to buy placement, I’d bet the value of front page placement is astronomical.

I’m sure by the end of the week things will settle back to normal.

But…..

You never know what tomorrow will bring!

Are you a concerned parent or grandparent that wants to help educate children about recycling with Redworms?

Do you donate money to charity, but never get to see the benefits of your donation?

You deserve better!

Make a donation to the “Support A School Program”.

This program was developed to help teachers instruct students on the benefits of recycling with Red Wiggler Worms, without the out of pocket expenses that teacher’s often are forced to incur.

This 3 tiered program allows you to sponsor the school of your choice, and/or the teacher of your choice with private instruction on raising redworms and materials.

Program available in all 48 contiguous states.

Make a donation, see the results!

http://www.thewormdude.com/products-page/sponsor-a-school-program/

Children LOVE worms.

It’s a fact that holds true time and time again.

I was recently invited to give a presentation about worms to an entire pack of cub scouts. Normally, I’m not able to coordinate my schedule to work with kids, but because this meeting was in the evening, and close to my home, I agreed to come out.

We set each child up with a mini worm bin, some soaked newspaper bedding, a small piece of watermelon, a handful of worms, and for a special treat, each child was given their very own Alabama Jumper!

Although Red Wigglers are very cool, given the choice between a worm that “JUMPS”, and a Red Wiggler that slowly crawls underneath paper bedding, obviously the kids were focused on making their Jumpers…Jump!

After seeing the excited faces of each Cub Scout, I realized that Wormy Birthday Parties could be an extremely successful venture!

Because the venture was so successful, I’m going to be publishing my presentation so others can use it as an outline for teaching kids all about worms.

If you would like a free copy of my presentation, “Teaching Children About Worms”, just email me: TheWormDude@Comcast.Net

Here is a picture of one of the Alabama Jumper Worms that now reside in my clay soil. I captured about 500 of them, and tested them in captivity by setting them up in a plastic holding bin.

Two weeks later, I’m happy to report that they are doing great. They have adjusted fine to my damp newspaper bedding, and are producing castings pretty much like any other composting worm.

I’ve found a source to purchase these in bulk, which should greatly reduce my price on these worms.

So…for those that continually ask, “Do you sell any worms that I can put in my Garden”? The answer is, “You bet”!