Click to Enlarge   Click to Enlarge 1. Rip or cut five or six sections of newspapers into strips and soak them in water. 2. Wring water from the strips and fluff them up. Add them to your worm container until it’s about three-fourths full. 3. Sprinkle loose dirt and crushed eggshells over the newspaper strips before adding worms. 4. Spread the worms over the dirt and newspaper. They will gradually work their way down into the bedding. 5. Feed your worms with vegetable peelings and other leftover food. Cover the food with dry shredded newspaper. 6. Cover the bedding with wet sections of newspaper to keep your worm farm moist.   Worm Ranching by Donna C. Linnenbrink, illustrations by David Besenger, photos by Jim Rathert A down-to-earth method that recycles waste, produces great garden soil and grows fishing bait. I love worms! I even have worms living in my basement. They aren’t freeloaders, either. My worms work hard. They recycle my garbage, turning it into nutrient-rich soil. They also make great fishing bait. Using earthworms to create compost from kitchen waste is called “vermicomposting,” or worm composting. Red worms or red wigglers (Eisenia foetida or Lumbricus rubles) are ideal for recycling kitchen waste. They thrive in a confined area as long as it is moist, dark, well-drained and contains lots of oxygen. Unlike other earthworms, which burrow deep, these thin red worms live and work near the surface of soil. Nitty, Gritty Facts Worms are not picky about what they eat. They love vegetables, and they eat the peelings of almost any fruit or vegetable. They also eat grits, oatmeal, pancakes (without syrup), tea bags, and coffee filters and grounds. Crushed egg shells provide the grit that worms need to process their food. It’s fun to learn what different types of “food” worms like and what they’ll ignore until they are really hungry. Mine don’t like dryer lint, for example, but they quickly consume torn up pieces of cardboard paper towel roll. Adult red worms are about 2-3 inches long. Young worms may only be one-eighth inch long. One pound of red worms (about 1,000 adult worms) will eat about one-half pound of food per day. Meat and fatty foods should not be used because they smell really bad when they decay. If cared for properly, a worm bin should produce no odor other than a pleasant, earthy smell. It’s also important that you not include items and materials that won’t biodegrade, such as plastic bags, bottle caps, rubber bands, sponges, aluminum foil and glass. Worm Hotel Red worms can be raised in a variety of containers. Some are designed just for composting. My worms live in a hotel tower consisting of a lid, a drain tray and three trays stacked on top of each other, with holes in the bottom of each tray. When food is added to the top tray and covered, the worms crawl up into that tray to reach the food. Opening the lid of the worm bin sends the worms diving for cover. It is amazing to see how quickly hundreds of worms can disappear. A dark, moist environment that stays between 59 and 75 degrees is perfect for red worms. Because worms “breathe” through their skin, their skin must stay moist. A layer of damp newspaper under the lid of the bin helps keep their “home” moist enough. Shredded newspaper also works well as bedding. To ensure proper moisture, try to keep the bedding material as moist as a wrung-out sponge. Wriggling at Home Here’s a simple way to get started raising worms at home. You’ll need: A 10-18 gallon plastic tub with a lid. It should not be clear plastic and should be about 11 inches deep. 6-8 sections newspaper.Two handsful of soil and fine sand or eggshells crushed into small pieces About one pound of red worms. You can buy red worms online for about $20 a pound. The price usually includes shipping. Punch 1/8- to 1/4-inch holes about 2 inches apart all around the sides in the top half of the container, and in the lid. You may want to ask an adult to help. Tear five sections of newspaper into strips 1-3 inches wide. Soak the newspaper strips in water. Wring out excess water until strips are damp, not wet. Peel the newspaper strips apart to fluff them up. Fill the container with strips until it is three-fourths full. Sprinkle soil and fine sand or crushed eggshells over the newspaper strips. Since worms don’t have teeth, they need something gritty to help them grind up their food. Add the worms to the prepared bedding. Gently spread out clumps of worms. Leave the lid open for a few minutes with the lights on. The worms will move down into the bedding away from the light. Add about one-half pound of food and cover it with 2 inches of dry shredded paper. Moisten two sections of newspaper. Place it on top of the bedding, and place the lid on the bin. If you notice excess moisture in the bottom of the bin after a few days, add more shredded newspaper. Always wash your hands thoroughly before and after contact with the worms. Once your worm composting system produces surplus worms, you can grab a handful of worms and go to your favorite fishing spot. If you can’t use them all for fishing, share a few with your friends. Better yet, show them how to make their own worm ranch. The Scoop on Compost Compost produced by worms can improve the soil in your garden, flower beds or potted plants. To separate worms from compost, remove the lid and place the bin under a light for 20 to 30 minutes. The light and heat forces the worms deeper into the soil. You can then scoop out several inches of compost from the top. Another way is to spread out a plastic garbage bag and make small piles of compost on the bag. Use a strong light (or sunshine) to move the worms to the bottom of the piles, where they will clump together. If you are really patient, you can push the compost to one side of the worm bin. Add new bedding to the other side and bury all food in the new bedding. After a few weeks, the worms will have moved to the new side, and you can remove the compost. Worm Tower Make a worm tower for more efficient worm ranching. You’ll need three containers and one drain tray. Punch holes in the bottom of each container, but don’t punch holes in the drain tray. It’s there to catch any extra water from the containers. Place wet newspaper sections on top of the feeding tray to keep everything moist. Put the worms in the bottom container along with bedding. Only add food to the top container. After they eat everything in one container, the worms will move up to the next one. Once the worms have left the bottom container, empty it into the garden and then place it on top of the worm tower. For more information about vermicomposting, go to the Web site of Mary Appelhof, author of “Worms Eat My Garbage.”<www.wormwoman.com> or visit the Michigan State University Extension office Web site at <www.msue.msu.edu/genessee/natres/compwor.htm>.