How to Raise and Pick Earthworms

You love fishing, but you’re sick of scouring your backyard for worm bait in the middle of the night. If only there was another way... There is! Raise your own earthworms!

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• plastic bin or styrofoam box
• lid for the bin or box
• dirt
• organic waste
• earthworms

1. Prepare the container. You want to pick a container that is sturdy and that you can put outside. This can either be a disposable Styrofoam box that you can buy at Walmart for $2 or a plastic Rubbermaid bin. I like the Styrofoam box. You’ll need to drill holes in the top to allow air into the box and holes on the bottom to allow excess water to drain out. The nice thing about a Styrofoam box is you don’t need a drill and can pierce holes in it with a stick.

2. Prepare the bedding. Your earthworms will need something to sleep on. For this you want to shred some newspaper. Moisten it with some water and then place on the bottom of your bin.

3. Fill the bin halfway with dirt. Any dirt will do. Add water to the dirt to moisten it. You want the dirt to be damp but not wet. A good rule of thumb is that it should feel like a sponge after you squeeze the water out of it.

4. Give the worms some food. Dry leaves are great for this. Make sure you moisten the leaves once they are in the box. Organic food is also great for this. Coffee grinds, vegetable husks, fruit cores, banana peels, and other vegetable and fruit wastes are great for this. Make sure you stir the wastes into the dirt. This will help prevent fruit flies. Never put meat scraps in because that will just rot and make your container smell bad.

5. Add the worms. You can either catch the worms in your backyard or you can buy a few from a bait shop to get started.

6. Maintenance. Every two weeks you will need to stir the dirt around and add leaves, vegetable waste and water to keep your worms well fed.

7. Harvesting. When you need to harvest the worms, a good way is to drive a wooden stake into the dirt. Repeatedly hit the stake with a rock. The vibrations will cause the worms to surface.

Tips & Warnings

• Even though buying what you need from a bait shop is always an option, I find their supply is usually not very healthy. My initial batch of worms was from a bait shop and the worms I have now are much healthier.
• Earthworms are also a great food source for reptile pets.
• The dirt produced by the worms makes a great compost for your garden. It’s pretty expensive if you buy it and this is a cheap alternative.

[fishalot]

on 9/12/2009 is it a good thing to raise earthworms under my in a old refrig

[QueenofMisc]

on 12/28/2008 Never thought about this. Sounds great

[Wasatch]

on 12/27/2008 Good tips. Did this often as a kid to fish in local streams.