Old fridge as a worm box

[T Rice]

When I was a kid growing up in Texas we used to go visit my uncle in Cass county. He had quite a worm operation going and raised them in old fridges laying on their backsides.

I just happen to have an old fridge laying out by my barn and was wondering if I could use it as a worm box and what modifications would be needed.

I assume it would have to be ventilated some how.

Anybody here ever heard of such a thing?

[Bearfootfarm]

I've done it before and it works very well. You wont need to modify it, other than drilling a couple of holes in the bottom for drainage.
I filled mine with a mix of manure and straw from a horse stable, watered it well, and just added the worms. Leave a few inches of space at the top and they wont crawl out. The lid can simply be propped up an inch or two for ventilation. Put it in a shady spot to help prevent it from drying out, and to keep it cooler. If you have problems with it drying out, cut a piece of plywood that will lay directly on top of the dirt, and that will prevent drying, plus it keeps the worms near the surface
You can feed them kitchen scraps or things like cornmeal or chicken feed.

[T Rice]

[QUOTE=Bearfootfarm;You can feed them kitchen scraps or things like cornmeal or chicken feed.[/QUOTE]

Thanks Bearfootfarm,

I was going to feed them my paper / boxboard recyclables and such.

I'm looking to make worm poo. My uncle David was making bait.

[Bearfootfarm]

Originally Posted by T Rice

Thanks Bearfootfarm,

I was going to feed them my paper / boxboard recyclables and such.

I'm looking to make worm poo. My uncle David was making bait.

They will pretty much eat anything organic, so your plan should work fine.

I'd soak it well before adding it, and then squeeze out most of the water so it's just damp

[missysid]

Mind if I ask a side question here? How many worms would you start with? We have explored the "trench" style worms set ups but have not started one yet. Our son is in 4-H and wants to take a new project next year. There is one for sales and ag industry that might work well for bait sales. Our local town is just setting up a farmers market and starts in July. Maybe next year we could be set up to sell bait this way.

We are already set up to sell eggs, fresh chickens, and fruit (pears and apples).

[Bearfootfarm]

Originally Posted by missysid

Mind if I ask a side question here? How many worms would you start with? We have explored the "trench" style worms set ups but have not started one yet. Our son is in 4-H and wants to take a new project next year. There is one for sales and ag industry that might work well for bait sales. Our local town is just setting up a farmers market and starts in July. Maybe next year we could be set up to sell bait this way.

We are already set up to sell eggs, fresh chickens, and fruit (pears and apples).

Most places either sell them by the thousand, or by the pound. It depends on the size of your container, and how fast you want to have excess worms.

With a small bin , you could add a handful of worms and have a few thousand in a couple of months.
If you start with 1000, you could have 100,000 in about the same time period

Thats assuming the right soil and temperature conditions.

[T Rice]

Hey Bearfootfarm,

How do you go about harvesting the worm poop when its all done?

Is there some way to get a the old stuff without wiping out the herd and killing new cacoons?

TR

[Bearfootfarm]

Originally Posted by T Rice

Hey Bearfootfarm,

How do you go about harvesting the worm poop when its all done?

Is there some way to get a the old stuff without wiping out the herd and killing new cacoons?

TR

Most of the worms will be in the top few inches (as long as its moist), so you could scoop out part of it into a bucket, and the rest should be fairly free of worms. If you spread it out on a tarp in a layer a few inches thick and let it dry a little, any remaining worms will head for the bottom.

There will be so many eggs and cocoons, you wont need to worry about losing a few