Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Whats in a name?

Hey everyone,
The title of this post comes from a comment that Terri (My neighbor) made the other day.
"Where did you come up with the title of your Blog"? She said that it made her feel "CREEPY". All she can see in her minds eye, is Worms Crawling around a skull (through the eyes and mouth! That is CREEPY!).
But when I started this Blog, I wanted the title to convey what my main idea was  and is for this Homestead.
I knew that I wanted more then just the Worms as livestock here. And I just added Rabbits to the mix! And I hope to add chickens this spring.
But as we all know, it takes time and money to take that leap to adding a new animal (s) to any Homestead! You have to provide feed and maybe VET bills as part of the mix! And it all has to start with the BUDGET! And if it's not in there, IT"S NOT!
I went with Worms because I already produced the FEED for them. KITCHEN SCRAPS! And I knew that I could find some place to pick up the manure I would need for FREE.
And Worms are a cheep way to get a HERD on the place. And if I could give them a good home (wooden box with lots of bedding and food material) they would provide me with the best Compost ever!
So, I started with 1 pound, approx. 1,000 Worms, for less then $35.00, mailed right to my front door! And they have reproduced so much, that I now have two beds full of worms! And I will have to build two more later this spring. And I use recycled wood to do that, No money spent!
And feed is not a problem! Because they eat just ABOUT ANYTHING!
Fall leaves
Grass clippings
Manures (All kinds. They do not turn up noses to any of them! Waite, Do worms have noses? NOPE, Not the last time I looked!)
Cardboard
Newsprint (not the colored adds, Please! They can not read anyway! Hell, they live in the dark!).
Anyway, You get the idea!
And there is one more thing I like about working with my HERD! Its down right FUN!! I open the bed and pull back the bedding and there are Worms everywhere! They hate the light and start to burrow back into the bedding below and vanish very quickly. And I'm amazed at how fast the food material is consumed!
I dump a half bucket of nasty Kitchen Scraps in each bed and a few days later, it's gone! No smell, just good BLACK Casts for the garden. Add a little water, food and a lot of bedding (REMEMBER, BEDDING IS OUR FRIEND!!!). And the herd does it's thing! Breeding, eating and breeding again (All tho, I think I saw an area in my # 1 bed, where there was a poker game going on, with little Eddy-bitty cards!).

So, I ask again, "WHAT'S IN A NAME"?
TOM

8 comments:

  1. Absolutely true! A herd, is a herd, is a herd, no matter what critter it is made of. I think that worms are fascinating and I would like to add them to the farm some day. I would just have to work around the subzero temps here in the winter. You are building your farm thoughtfully, which is always a good thing - for you, your livestock and your bank account.

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  2. See I never found your name 'creepy' or strange at all. Right away I figured you had a worm farm. Ah, but that is the homesteaders mind :)

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    1. Jane,
      That's what I though!
      But then again, If you think about it, "TOM STEWART" is kind of "CREEPY"!
      Oh, you mean the title of the Blog!?
      Silly Me!
      Thanks!
      Tom (Creepy!)

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  3. I agree with Jane. I knew your blog would be (primarily, for now anyway) about worm farming. And would be a place to go for information about keeping . . . what else? Worms!

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  4. Hugh. Never thought of the "worms crawling through a decomposing skull" thing. Actually, I had a vision of your little gang of worms all gussied up in straw hats and bandanas wielding teeny-tiny little pitchforks, ready to do farm work!

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  5. Tom, I asked Dan your question about the tobacco barn planking. Is it your walls or the cabinets you want to cover? Could you send us some photos of where you want to put them? Send them to leighsfiberjournal (at) gmail.com

    Love hearing about your worms! (That'll be us next spring)

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  6. Those crazy poker playing worms. At least they ate first (their day job) and played later! They are "creepy" by nature, aren't they? How else would they move - Creep! or Crawl. I guess you could say slither, but that would be creepy!

    https://emilysincerely.wordpress.com
    Emily

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  7. People think I'm mad but I've always fancied a worm composter though one in the utility room would be over stepping the mark in my family. Love the idea of a herd of worms.....you sure sound quite unique Tom!

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