My name is Ken Chiarella. I started Wormman.com in 1997. Prior to that we were R&K Trading Company. By 2000 we were doing about $150,000 in sales. Most were online sales for red worms, but we also sold 1000 count worms in the back of many magazines. This article in Boy’s live increased our business 5-fold. It is just a small article about how to build a worm bed but we had people calling us from all over the world. Those were the good ole days when the internet with young and I was too. 🙂
Use 3 Types of Worms and One Type of Fly Larvae to Compost your Food Scraps and Garbage
Learn how to make your first composting bin for $5.
Compost indoors or outdoors year round.
…and more.
My name is Ken, I own Wormman.com, and I grow and sell bugs. I started my business in 1995 after growing a large amount of red worms to fill my garden with worm castings. I love to garden and I bought some worms out of the back of a classified ad in a magazine. I grew those worms by feeding them our food scraps and the manure from our bunnies. I was soon inundated with worms, so I created more worm bins and expanded my garden. At one point, I had so many worm bins and beds that it was almost uncontrollable. I showed my wife, who does not share my passion for gardening or insects, and she said “you bought worms from a magazine. There has to be more people like you out there. Sell the excess worms.” Genius! Why didn’t I think of that?
The Internet was brand new back then, so I dialed into America Online and found that I could get 5 free websites just for being an AOL member. Those weren’t responsive websites like we have today. In fact, it was a 3 page site. The main page listed what I wanted it to say and the other two pages were for contact info and biographical information. No shopping cart, no Facebook links, no social media at all because it did not exist yet.
The last 22 years have been a roller coaster. I built the business to a million dollars in sales per year, and then crashed it, fought through a cricket virus, a mealworm shortage, 9/11, and my own stupidity. (Scroll down for more...)
Check Our Our First Site and What AOL Looked and Sounded Like in Memory Lane:
I have written a book called Profitable Worm Manual. The information above and much more is in that book We will have it available for download soon. In the meantime, I wanted to offer you something free that I wish that I had when I started.
Basic Worm Composting Free Ebook:
Learn the basics of vermicomposting with this ebook. I cover the basics on raising Red Worms, European Nightcrawlers and African Nightcrawlers. I also cover composting with Black Soldier Fly Larvae. This ebook is yours free. Please download it here. I will also update you when my much bigger AND FREE 🙂 Profitable Worm Manual is released. I will also send you periodic worm farming news if you want it.
Thank you!!
Ken
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Well, it appears that the growth of Amazon is also causing growth in the piles of garbage in landfills and recycling centers. Here is a link to the news story.
So, why is this newsworthy, especially for a blog about worms and invertebrates?
The simple fact is that red worms eat cardboard. If everyone kept a vermicomposting bin they could compost those Amazon boxes right at home and never have to send those to a landfill.
The process is simple. Cut the boxes into strips to increase the surface area once placed in the worm bins. Moisted the cardboard strips by soaking them. Then let the worms have at it. Aerate the bin by turning the cardboard every few days to get air into the layers and the worms and bacteria will do the rest. In a few weeks your Amazon boxes will be turned into worm castings which will be ready to feed your plants just in time for spring.
Please let me know if you need for me to make a video about it.
