WHO WE ARE

We are long time devotees to agriculture and living off the land and its production. We’ve been in all forms of the cattle business and have also done ag by-product recycling by processing cotton gin trash into dairy cow feed and bedding.  We had slowed down to semi-retirement with a few horses. Inspired by a segment on the TV show “The Texas Bucket List” I looked into the possibility of raising earthworms to produce worm castings which could be used as a natural fertilizer. That brings us to today. 

 

WHAT WE DO

We raise red wiggler earthworms (Eisenia fetida).  We feed the worms a ration that is teaming with beneficial microbes for the worms. The ration consists of aged horse manure, wood shavings, cow manure, spent mushroom substrate and a special mixture of protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals.  The worms consume the microbes that are in the ration and excrete most of the ration contents as castings. At the appropriate time we harvest and process the castings for use in our home gardens and for selling to the public for their use to renew their soils. 

 

WHY WE DO IT 

With our agricultural background we have an attachment to the land and a concern for the environment. We see the production of worm castings as our way of giving back to the land and a way to help others improve their soils. By providing a natural form of soil amendment we will in a small way help to replace the use of commercial fertilizers and help stop the degradation of the earth’s topsoil. 

 

OUR PRODUCT

We produce a natural soil amendment in the form worm castings that is very beneficial to all types and stages of growing plants. Besides the nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and other minerals the castings contain microbes, enzymes and hormones that help plants absorb essential nutrients required for their growth and production. 

 

OUR PROCESS

We raise the worms in continuous flow bins. In the beginning about 6” of food and bedding is placed in the worm bin. A pound or so per square foot of bin space of worms are placed in the bin. Over a period of 12 to 15 weeks the worms are fed their ration till the bin is full.  At this time a cutter bar is pulled from one end to the other of the bin to harvest castings from the bottom of the worm bin.  The castings are allowed to dry till their moisture content is 40-50% at which time they are sifted and packaged for sale. After the harvest the bin is fed with more feed and bedding. Afterwards, the harvest and feeding process is repeated weekly.  

 

BENEFITS OF WORM CASTINGS

Worm castings provide nutrients to the plant for their growth and production. These nutrients are the macro nutrients of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium.  Also, the castings contain micronutrients like iron, manganese, and zinc.  The benefit of these nutrients in worm castings is that they are slow release compared to other fertilizers. Additionally, worm castings provide the plant with disease suppression and pest resistant properties.