by Angilina

Created on: November 21, 2008   Last Updated: January 28, 2009

More and more people are turning to home based business to earn extra cash. Others get lucky; they earn big and make it their only source of income. They start with businesses that do not require too much upkeep, like a few hours a day. Choose trades that will not put additional pressure to your existing job. Since it will be home based, there would be no additional time spent for commuting. Start work when you reach home. Take for example vermiculture.

Vermiculture is the cultivation of earthworms to produce compost for plants. Vermicompost or vermicast is a very potent food for plants. It is a complete fertilizer preferred for organic farming. Utilize it as top dressing to prevent loss of moisture, sprinkle in your lawn as a soil conditioner, or mix in water to form vermi tea. Vermi tea is also used as a soil amendment it is even known to cure some plant diseases like leaf curl and tomato blight. Other vermi tea users add molasses and sea kelp to further increase the amount of beneficial microbes. You can sell this vermicast to gardening enthusiasts or to garden and plant supplies. If you have the capacity to produce more, sell it to organic vegetable farms. The earthworms can be sold also per piece or per kilogram. This could be used as breeders to produce their own vermicast or as high protein animal feed.

To begin your vermiculture project, buy the right type of worms for decomposing. African night crawlers and red wigglers are the type of earthworms for the job. These are not the same type of earthworms that are seen in your lawn. Prepare a bin for your worm. Bins of different types are available in the market. There are stackable bins, towering bins with drains to collect and feed to plants. Build your own worm bin if you like. Make a box out of wood, about 2 feet width by 2 feet length. Install hinges for the wooden lid. Drill small holes around the perimeter 1 inch from the top, this will serve as ventilation for the bin. Drill 2 bigger holes, about inch diameter along the length and at the bottom of the wall. Drill two more same size holes directly on the opposite side. A PVC pipe of the same diameter should pass through these holes.

Install mesh screen to cover the -inch holes. Drill several small holes on the PVC pipe. The purpose of this pipe is to introduce air from the outside into the bottom of the worm bedding. This will help in the rapid decomposition of the bedding. An alternative way to aerate the bottom pile is to turn it once a week, so that materials at the bottom are placed on the top. Once the bin is done, put bedding materials for the worm. Soak 2-inch strips of newspaper in water, wring, and fluff it. Mix with decomposing leaves or garden cuttings. Add crushed eggshells to neutralize acidity. The worms are now ready to be transferred to the bin. Feed the worms with kitchen scrap, vegetable trimmings, no meat, fruit peelings, but no citrus fruits. Cover each feed with beddings sprinkle a handful of soil to help the worms digest their food. Keep the beddings always moist.

This business is not time consuming, after setting it up feeding and keeping the pile moist will not take much of your time. After several weeks, notice small capsular castings. Scoop and sift it with a wire mesh, vermicast can be stored for a long time. Aside from being a suitable home based business it also provides a way for disposal of your waste.

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