Why on Earth would anyone want to ‘grow worms’ or make pets of worms? It is a decent question. After all, you are not able to take them for a stroll and they will almost certainly never recognize you, because they are blind. However, there are decent reasons for setting up a worm farm.
Gardeners know that earthworms are useful for the soil. They also know that red worms will break down organic material in the compost heap. Anglers know that worms make decent bait for freshwater fish and teachers will bear out the fact that children like to observe a small home worm farm.
Environmentalists will also inform you that the worm population is declining in some areas because of the excessive use of insecticides and other pollutants such as acid rain.
Therefore, if you would like more than one or two worms to put in a glass case for children to observe, the best place to buy them is from a worm farm. And there is lots of money in it as well.
Obviously, I am talking about two kinds of worm farms here. There is the small worm farm glass box, like an ant farm, used for educational purposes in the realm of natural science and the large-scale, industrial farms meant to supply worms to industries and stores.
Who would spend money on a worm farm and why? Well, schools, parents and small zoos may do so for educational purposes. After all, it does not cost a lot to feed worms with a few dead leaves and they are not violent. Health and safety is not an aspect that relates to a table-top glass worm farm.
Industrial size worm farms do not have to be that big. You could have one in the back garden and produce millions of worms to sell. You could sell them to gardeners who have deprived soil; to fishing tackle shops; to a zoo for food and to apartment-owners with window boxes.
Large zoos probably already have their own worm farms to feed to lizards, snakes, birds and some mammals, but they would be happy to know where there is a back-up supply in case all their worms die for some reason or other.
Someone who keeps birds, reptiles or amphibians would also benefit from a small worm farm. It is so much simpler and cheaper to ‘grow your own’ than have to buy them from a pet shop, which almost certainly also has its own worm farm.
Farmers who keep chickens would also benefit from a worm farm, because the chickens could be fed on organically fed worms and a nearby supply would stop the chickens from wandering much from home, which means a better harvest of eggs for the farmer.
When you are able to see the advantages of worm farming, you can lift your horizon from the modest earthworm and think about cultivating special worms like the red ones in the compost container or the ones that foreign birds and reptiles like. The more specialist you are, the more you can charge.
Owen Jones, the author of this article writes on many subjects, but is currently concerned with how to get rid of pests. If you would like to know more, visit our website at Bugs Infestation.