Vermiculture or earthworm farming has been practised for centuries - a thriving local industry exists to breed earthworms for fishing. Apart from being used to bait these versatile creatures can also:

• Process vegetable waste into compost and rich potting soil. As the worm ingests solid and organic matter its worm casts return nutrients to the soil including phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium in soluble forms for plants.
• Create good drainage in soil with the tunnels they build, making it easier for roots to spread in the ground.

• Be used by farmers to convert manure into good soil and compost to be used else where on the farm, and can be fed to cattle and pigs as protein supplement.

Where to find the worms?

Earthworms occur naturally in most gardens and compost heaps, or in moist soil near rivers. There are some 300 species of earthworms in South Africa, one of the common worms used for fishing being the Tiger Worm. They can also be obtained from fishing and bait shops

Reproducing Earthworms.

Each earthworm carries both male and female productive organs. Two earthworms lie next to each other and are temporarily fused together by a muciod substance which is secreted by glands of the individual worms. Each worm then deposits a quantity of sperm cells into the other.

The body of the earthworm has a collar called the clitellum, usually situated along a third of the length of the worm away from the head. Once copulation is completed, this collar slides off the body of the worm. The fertilised eggs are deposited inside this collar and as the collar becomes detached from the body of the worm the two ends are sealed so it becomes a capsule.
Three weeks after the formation of the capsule, the worms eat their way out and start feeding. On emerging they are about 2mm in length and white in colour but after a few days they assume the typical reddish colour.

Starting a Worm Bin

Use either a wood (a crate), plastic(a bin), or metal (a drum) container - provided it will give the contents adequate drainage.

Make holes at the bottom and in the side walls. Stand the container on bricks to allow air circulation and drainage inside the container. Place a layer of sand or gravel in the bottom so that it comes up to a few centimetre's above the drainage holes. Lay a wooden board on top of the sand/gravel to give a firm base for your bedding, leaving space between the board for excess liquid to drain away. Line the base of the wooden boards with shade cloth to prevent the worms escaping through the drainage holes at the bottom of the container.

The worms should be placed in some moist (not soggy) bedding material on top of the wooden boards. The best material is half-shredded newspaper and half of either mature compost or mature manure. A good medium is also one third manure, one third vegetable waste and one third compost. If no manure is available the two thirds vegetable proportion with a third compost and and a little garden soil would be adequate.

If you us manure (either pig or cattle) treat it before putting it into the container:

• Spray the manure with water and turn with a fork. Repeat daily for four days.

• Let the leached manure stand for 10 days while the temperature of the pile increases. Don't use this until the temperature drops to a lukewarm feel - about 20 degrees Celsius

• Mix the cooled manure with lime (calcium carbonate) to neutralise the acid. Use 1kg of lime to 1 cubic metre of manure.

Feeding the Worms

Cover the bedding material with a thin layer of kitchen waste and leave the worms undistributed for a week. This will give them time to colonise the bedding and begin to work on the waste.
Gradually add small amounts of waste to the bin. By about the fourth week the worms should be able to deal with the amount of kitchen waste produced by most households.
Cover the container with hessian to prevent it from drying out and birds eating the worms. Earthworms are also photophobic - they don't enjoy bright light. Ensure the contents of the box remain damp.
Every week the container contents should receive additional aeration. With a fork turn over the top half of the container contents. Leave the lower half in position. When "turning" work in some crushed egg shells to assist in neutralising soil acids which are detrimental to worms.
If the surface becomes infested with fruit flies or maggots, burn it with a blow torch. A bottle gas braai lighter attachment available in hardware stores also works well.

Foods to Avoid

• Peel from citrus fruits, like oranges and lemons, in any quantity will make the bin too acid for the worms.

• Any meat, as this will attract flies.

• Too many grass mowings, as these heat up quickly and could harm the worms.

Where to keep the container

Don't keep it anywhere where it will get too hot (avoid direct sun) or too cold. Below about 15 degrees Celsius the worms slow down noticeably and if the temperature drops top freezing they will die.

How to Harvest compost

• The container contents will be ready for harvesting in about three months.

• A week before harvesting add some vegetable matter to the top of the bedding to bring the majority of the worms to the top.

• To harvest, place a sheet of plastic on a table in the open. Carefully remove the top half of the container bedding and place it on the plastic. Make into a conical shape.

• Remove the remaining bedding from the container. Keep half of this material for potting soil or transfer to your garden. Keep the other half for the new container.

• Clean out the container down to the wooden boards, place a new layer of compost on the shade cloth.

• Cover this with half the bedding of the last container. This will also contain worm capsules which will later hatch.

• Dampen the mixture.

• Wearing rubber gloves gradually remove the bedding material on the plastic sheet which can be transferred to the garden.

• Finally what remains will be squirming worms. Transfer them to dampened newspaper

• Put about half of the worms into the newly prepared wormbox and the cycle will restart.

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