Raising Earthworms for Fun and Profit

By Daniel C Merrill and Daniel C. Merrill M.D.

COMPOSTING YOUR KITCHEN WASTE AND NEWSPAPER WITH EARTHWORMS IS EASY AND FUN.

MORE IMPORTANTLY
IT IS THE ENVIRONMENTALLY
CORRECT THING TO DO

-TURN YOUR HOUSE HOLD WASTE INTO
VALUABLE ORGANIC FERTILIZERS.
-TURN YOUR HOBBY INTO A
MONEY MAKING OPERATION
-LEARN A SURE FIRE WAY
TO SELL THOSE WORMS
-DO YOUR PART TO SAVE
THE ENVIRONMENT
-START ON A SHOE STRING
GET THOSE WORMS FOR FREE!

The amount of quality information in this book is astonishing..
- Andy Robins
There never was an easier more satisfying way
to supplement your income, Doc tells you how to do it.. J. Smith
Everyone should be doing this... - Cherry Littlefield

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Apr 20, 2011
• ISBN: 9781462852932

Book preview

Copyright © 2011 by Daniel C. Merrill MD.

ISBN:          Softcover                                 978-1-4628-5292-5

                   Ebook                                      978-1-4628-5293-2

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without the permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review without prior consent by the author.

Disclaimers and/or Legal Notices

The information presented herein represents the view of the author at the date of publication. While every attempt has been made to verify the information in this report to make sure it is accurate, neither the author nor any of his affiliates/partners assume any responsibility for errors, inaccuracies or omissions of any kind. This book is for informational purposes only.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

[e-mail]

97496

Contents

About the Author

About this Book

1 Why Raise Earthworms?

First, because it’s fun!

Second, because it is the right thing to do!

Why not just compost your garbage?

The third reason to raise earthworms is because they produce a valuable organic fertilizer.

Commercial Vermiculture

2 Earth Worm Biology

Is there such a thing as a hybrid or super worm?

The earthworm’s digestive system.

3 What do Earthworms Eat?

So, what can you feed your earthworms?

Larger scale earthworm farming

What should not be fed to earth worms?

4 Organic Fertilizers Derived From Red Wiggler Composting Earthworms

Earthworm Castings

How to use worm castings.

Worm tea

Worm tea is easy to make.

Leachate

5 How to Build a Home Wormery

Commercial stackable bin home wormeries

A Simple cheap outdoor in ground home wormery.

Covered windows

Supplies needed to build a 4 x 8 foot worm bed 2 feet deep.

6 How to Make an Inexpensive Stackable 3 Bin Indoor Wornery

7 Monitoring the Environment of the Worm’s Bedding

The Moisture content of the bedding.

Bedding temperature.

Maintaining the proper pH in the worm’s bedding

Aerobicity

8 Trouble Shooting

Mass escapes

Hunger strikes

9 Where to Get Your Earthworms

10 How to Harvest Earthworms

11 Growing Earthworms For Profit

What not to do!

A sales plan that will work!

What else can be learned from this venture at Farmers Market that might be of benefit to you?

12 About The Mount Diablo Worm Farm

About the Author

Dr Merrill’s families were pioneers of the Seventh Day Adventist Colony in Eel Rock, California in 1933. Eel Rock is located in the center of the redwood empire above the banks of the majestic North Fork of the Eel River, about 20 miles upriver from it's junction with the South Fork at Dyersville.

Because of the educational limitations of this sparsely populated rural area, the Merrill’s ultimately moved to Myers Flat on the more populous South Fork of the Eel River in 1948. Dr Merrill was one of only 72 graduates from the South Fork High school in 1955. He subsequently graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with honor and a degree in Physiology four years later. When Dr Merrill graduated from the University of Southern California Medical School in 1963, he became the first graduate from South Fork High School to become a MD.

After completing his internship and a year of surgical residency in California, Dr Merrill moved to Minnesota where he performed his Urology Residency under the late Don Creevy at the University of Minnesota Health Sciences Center in Minneapolis. After completing his residency, Dr Merrill performed a NIH special fellowship in Urology at the University of Minnesota and subsequently joined the staff of the Urology department at that