Worm Farm Series – Part One – The Benefits Of A Worm Farm

This is the 1st article out of 6 in our recently published Worm Farm Series.

To begin the series, we’re going to look at the benefits of having a worm farm.

Are these little wriggly creatures really worth the effort of keeping?

The short answer is yes, but let me explain why.

Worm Farms are more than just a novelty, another way to compost and an opportunity to introduce a load of new pets to the family : )

Worms naturally enhance soil by conditioning it through their digestion process, and now many gardeners are taking advantage of nature’s wisdom, by capturing this process in a more condensed format with worm farms

The benefits are many for our households, gardens and for the environment.

Less Waste

I don’t know the statistics for other parts of the world, but where I live, over 75% of the waste put into landfill is organic waste, meaning food scraps, perishables such as paper, cardboard, natural fibers etc.

Now that might seem a good thing for the environment, but the fact is that even though much of the landfill is perishable, it still takes time for that process to occur, especially with all the non perishable waste added to it. Meanwhile, the landfill stations are filling up, and councils are on the hunt for more land to section off for waste that takes many years to break down

With a worm farm (and a compost heap) you can dramatically reduce your contribution to landfill sites. Simply by choosing to split out your waste into perishables and non perishable, you can make use of that which will easily compost, and only get rid of the products that won’t decompose easily or naturally.

Reduce Greenhouse Gases

Organic waste processed in landfills produces methane, one of the worst of the greenhouse gases that takes more than 10 years to dissipate.

Using a worm farm to process your organic waste instead reduces the production of methane, increasing your contribution to a better environment for everybody.

Financial Savings

When you reduce the amount of waste you need to dispose of through the local councils, it is possible to reduce your household costs with savings on rubbish bags, wheelie bin collection and cartage costs.

As a family, we have just 1 standard wheelie bin collected a month with non-organic waste. This costs us just $16 per month.

As well as saving on rubbish removal, you can also save money on purchasing fertilizers for the garden. With a healthy worm farm, you will have as much fertilizer as you need.

Natural Fertiliser

Not only will your worm farm allow you to decompose many organic waste products from your household, but as mentioned above, it will turn those products into the richest, 100% natural fertilizer you could ask for.

One worm can eat it’s own weight in food every day, and a well functioning worm farm will produce two by-products of its digestive process – vermicast and worm juice.

Vermicast is a dark, rich, compost product that can be used around the garden to boost the nutrients of your soil and also to spot fertilise plants.

Likewise, worm tea can be used to feed plants and soil and dramatically improve growing rates and quality.

Following The Natural Cycle

Food is grown – you eat it – organic waste is produced – the worms eat it – fertilizer is produced – it is used to grow food – you eat it – organic waste is produced – and so on and so forth.

Using a worm farm means that the waste from the food products you grow and consume are directly helping you to grow more food for consumption in coming years.

Plus, with using your natural worm fertilizer, you know what’s going back into your garden, and you can choose to reduce the number of chemicals being introduced into your environment, and your body, keeping things a lot closer to how nature intended.

Fishing

Got a fisherman in your family?

I do, and while I personally don’t like him taking my well loved worms for his fishing, they are a great bait for those who are less attached to their helpful friends.

Your worms will naturally multiply as they need to, to handle the load of the worm farm so if you do decide to be generous and let some of them go, you can be confident that they will be replaced by new offspring in time. In fact one worm, and it’s offspring, can produce 1500 worms in a year!

For The Kids

Kids love to see creepy crawlies when they are contained but visible. Worm farming allows you to not only indulge this cautious fun, but it is also a great teaching tool for explaining to children how food can be naturally processed and re-purposed.

The more our children learn about how nature should work, the better in my opinion.

Getting Rid Of Doggy Do

If you have dogs, and want a better way to get rid of their waste, then a worm bin could be your solution.

You can set up a dedicated doggy do bin, and use the by-products of this bin for non-edible crops. They work in the same way as your normal worm bin, but need to be kept for the single purpose of dealing with your dog’s waste and not used for your other organic waste.

As you can see, worm farms have a number of benefits and really are a great addition to any home.

If the benefits above have convinced you to go ahead and start worm farming, make sure you read Part – 2 : how to set up your worm farm with options of types of worm farms, ideal farm locations and what you need to get started.