Our Venture into Vermiculture – Two Weeks In

(click these links for part one and part two)

Well. We are into our first week of worm farmin’ and so far, it’s been both easy and interesting. Worms, just want to dig, eat and poop, it turns out. They make great pets.

So far, we’ve had one escapee. I found the little digger on the bathroom carpet the second morning of having them. Mrgillis thinks we may have had more, just they became cat treats.

We have fed them three times and sprayed the newspaper daily – I swear, there is no real smell unless you stick your face right down in the worm restaurant portion of the hut.

Really, there isn’t much else to report on the worm front. We’ve just been spending some time learning about our new little buddies. So here are some fun facts about worms to make up for the short update.

1. Worm capsules are like beet seeds. One capsule holds anywhere from 4-8 or more baby worms. Populations usually doubled every 90 days.
2. If you split a worm in half, it will most likely NOT grow two worms. Only certain types of earth worms can do this.. and you shouldn’t mess around with this because worms have feelings too.
3. 1 pound of worms can eat up to 1/2 pound of food a day. That means that a single worm can work thru up to 10 pounds of food per year.
4. Worms are not bugs- they are actually annelids. And they can move because each segment of their little bodies have bristles called setae that help them burrow thru the dirt.
5. Worms, have no lungs, and breathe thru their skin. That’s why you find so many on the ground after a rain storm. If they don’t surface, they will suffocate and die.
6. They also have no eyes, but they can sense the light, especially with their front end.
7. Worms can dig down to TWO MILES below the earths surface.
8. Depending on soil quality, one acre of land can have up to ONE MILLION worms living and processing in it. (our land has like 0- we have very poor soil quality)
9. There are over 2,500 different worms in our world.
10. Worms are integral to the food supply, either as a soil improver or a food chain participant- without them, we’d probably be nothing and nowhere. Much like a lot of other insects and arachnids and such that we take for granted every day.

So, that’s about that.

Until next time, have a wicked good day.