There are three questions I get asked often at Denju Worms when considering the idea of starting a worm farm. The first question is, “Why use a worm farm kit?” The second question I get is, “What do worms eat?” and the third question I get is, “Are worms better than nutrients added directly to my compost heap?” In this article I will answer all the above questions and explain why I use a worm farm kit to get started with worm farming.
Worms eat organic waste matter and because they live in the soil, they ingest organic matter such as leaves, wood and garden waste which are high in nutrients and contain carbon. Worms also eat bacteria, algae, other worms and slugs so you need to make sure that your compost piles are not full of these kinds of waste materials and have good aeration if you want your compost to have good bacteria in it. Adding worm castings to your compost will help improve the aeration of your compost pile.
If you use manure from animals, sheep, or cows you will want to make sure that the animal waste is worm free because there will be active worm colonies in the compost when the worm farmer starts releasing the castings into the compost. This is why I prefer using a worm farm as opposed to making my own compost bin. Using a worm farm kit allows me to control the environment in my compost making it a closed system where the worms are happier and healthier, the worms eat well and the result is a healthy natural product that my garden plants will thrive on.
