Hi! I'm Shelley Grossman, certified master composter and author of the best selling book, Recycle With Earthworms and producer of its latest companion DVD. I own and operate Vermicoast inc., a North San Diego County redworm supplier offering ongoing email and telephone support. Read about our offers on the tabs above and keep in touch with the updates below. Welcome!
You’ve set up your worm bin, the worms are in, for the next few months all you have to do is feed them the right things in the proper amounts until it is time to harvest the casts. Is the right or wrong? I have found this to be true for the most part. What Read more »
I have had more than one request from those of you, who are new-ish to keeping worm bins, to write about the harvesting of your bin for the very first time. It is or can be a little unnerving, sort of like that first date 20 or more years ago. Like that, date it Read more »
The red wigglers I have here have over the years become accustomed to how much I fed them and how often. I have found ways to be away on holiday for up to a month and still have the worms doing well when I have returned. For all 90+ bins this is not always easy, Read more »
Which type of worms will work for my bin? That is a good question. There are many different types of worms on the market today for vermicomposting. Red worms, or red wigglers have always been the ones, I have used with great success over the years, as well as my clients. Now Alabama Jumpers are Read more »
Welcome Back! This will not be as hard as you might think, this keeping of worms and their bin. Worms are living breathing creatures. Caring for a pound or two of them is the same responsibility you take on with a family pet. They will need food, water, and the correct growing conditions in order Read more »
The conditions that control worm populations are the same as those required for them to survive in a contained space: 1) ample, but not excessive food supply 2) sufficient surface area 3) population density 4) nutrition for reproduction 5) moisture 6) ambient ground and air temperature, 55- 85 degrees F ( 13-27 C) What type Read more »
Cocoons: A cocoon is a small, yellow, lemon colored and lemon shaped object that is produced by red wiggler mating. It is about the size if the letter ‘O’. According to C. A. Edwards and P.J. Bohlen in Biology and Ecology of Earthworms: Eisenia Fetida can produce as many as 198 cocoons per year. Gestation Read more »
Reproduction dictates survival of a species. Organisms like worms which provide food for many others, must reproduce ample offspring to offset predation. OK, that is a mouthful, right? But it is true. All the creatures who live in the wild must have food. Worms are an easy target for them. Here comes a short anatomy Read more »
Looks and sounds like a heavy duty topic, right? OK, it is, but hopefully it will help you understand why using the worm’s casts in your gardens and on your house plants will pay off big time in the long run for them and you. There are many tiny organisms, bacteria, fungi, actinomycetes, enzymes and Read more »
Here is a little lesson in the worm’s body anatomy for you. I hope this will help you understand just how those kitchen scraps end up as worm casts for your gardens. Running through the worm’s body is the alimentary canal or gut. It starts with the mouth, called the buccal cavity, and moves to Read more »
