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A Visit to Uncle Jim's Worm Farm on Saturday

dogofwar

dogofwar

CCA Members
If anyone will be headed to the CCY meeting on Saturday, I'm going to be dropping by Spring Grove, PA's own "Uncle Jim's Worm Farm" to get a fresh bacth of some red wigglers for the new bin...before the meeting.

Happy to pick up additional pounds (approx 1,000) of worms for anyone who will be at the CCY meeting. They're $20 per pound, unless we get a bunch of people who want them.

Matt
 
mchambers

mchambers

Former CCA member
Eisenia fetidia

dogofwar said:
Yes - Eisenia fetida = red wiggler or composting worms

He also sells: Mealworms and night crawlers (and assorted supplies, bins, etc.).

Matt
Click to expand...

There's an interesting thread at PlanetCatfish saying that many fish won't eat that species and that you should use Lumbricus rubellus/castaneus, which is what I think is in my compost bins. I'm not trying to argue with you, I'm just genuinely curious about the apparent contradiction between your fishes' enthusiasm for red wrigglers and this thread:

http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=40827&p=277906&hilit=eisenia#p277906

I do sometimes feed my fish worms from my compost bin, but not that often, as I mostly keep smaller fish.
 
Localzoo

Localzoo

Board of Directors
Hey Matt, they will eat them, my fish go to town on them. My experience has been the older worms are not really liked as they are harder to eat, unless you got big guys or chop them up (which I some times do)
The smaller worms in the bin seem to be easier to wrassle and chow down on. The only guys I have that will take on a full sized worm are the Jack Dempseys, full grown peacocks, parachromis, and the occasional time the full grown Mbunas get them as a treat.
I guess if that's the only good they eat they also may get bored.


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chriscoli

chriscoli

Administrator
mine haven't turned their noses up at my red wigglers, either.

The other thing to consider is that the type of worm is important if you want to keep them in an indoor bin vs. outdoors in the compost.

Most worms are not social creatures and don't tolerate a high density of other worms around them. Red wigglers are convenient because they are social, like to be with other red wigglers, and therefore prefer to stay in the bin rather than wandering around looking for greener pastures (very important to your marital harmony if you have a bin inside the house).

I suspect they are not the only social worm, but I haven't done the research to find out what the other options are.
 
mchambers

mchambers

Former CCA member
I have tons of worms in my two compost bins. I assume they are not red wrigglers, because of the winter temperatures. I'm guessing some sort of Lumbricus, perhaps rubellas, but I don't really know. They certainly tolerate a high density of worms and tolerate very cold temperatures.

I sometimes feed the smaller ones to my fish, although since I keep smaller fish that are mostly not aggressive, I worry that they don't all get eaten.
 
dogofwar

dogofwar

CCA Members
I'm not certain of the true name. Perhaps Lumbricus rubellus/castaneus are being sold as E. foetida (or red wigglers).

The ones I culture (and have received from 3 different sources over the years - an organic farmer in VA, Veterans Compost in MD and Uncle Jims) don't have noxious fluid when broken and have been eaten by every fish I've offered them to (including Apistos and catfish).

Has anyone locally actually found the noxious strain of "red wigglers"? Maybe it's something in England.

Matt

mchambers said:
There's an interesting thread at PlanetCatfish saying that many fish won't eat that species and that you should use Lumbricus rubellus/castaneus, which is what I think is in my compost bins. I'm not trying to argue with you, I'm just genuinely curious about the apparent contradiction between your fishes' enthusiasm for red wrigglers and this thread:

http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=40827&p=277906&hilit=eisenia#p277906

I do sometimes feed my fish worms from my compost bin, but not that often, as I mostly keep smaller fish.
Click to expand...
 
dogofwar

dogofwar

CCA Members
My red wiggler bins are in my (unheated) garage and have survived several winters. I've had to break an ice crust off the top of the substrate to get to the worms a few times...

Matt

mchambers said:
I have tons of worms in my two compost bins. I assume they are not red wrigglers, because of the winter temperatures. I'm guessing some sort of Lumbricus, perhaps rubellas, but I don't really know. They certainly tolerate a high density of worms and tolerate very cold temperatures.

I sometimes feed the smaller ones to my fish, although since I keep smaller fish that are mostly not aggressive, I worry that they don't all get eaten.
Click to expand...
 
mchambers

mchambers

Former CCA member
I have worms in my rotating, above ground, outdoor compost bin that survive in winter, even when it gets below zero. I have no idea what kind of antifreeze they have in their bodies, but I'm always amazed to see them alive in winter.
 
dogofwar

dogofwar

CCA Members
Visited Uncle Jim's and picked up worms for myself and for CCY folks. They gave us a special of $15/pound for 2 pounds and (of course) no shipping.

I asked the person helping us (Jim's daughter) about the species of the red wigglers and she wasn't sure. She said that they have thousands of customers and lots of them feed them to animals of all kinds. She had no idea about them being noxious or unpalatable.

She said that culturing European Nightcrawlers (much bigger than red wigglers and thus more often used for fishing) is similar to red wigglers but requires much more space and cooler temps. They culture those as well.

The "farm" is less than 5 mins from where CCY meets. Ironically, several CCY folks have ordered worms through the mail from them!

Matt
 
mchambers

mchambers

Former CCA member
Thanks for asking. Maybe they are not Eisena fetida. All very confusing.

If anyone wants earthworms for a compost bin, I've got thousands, of some unknown species, probably of European origin. Maybe I should sell them as Old World earthworms?
 
dogofwar

dogofwar

CCA Members
Sure

It's literally 5 minutes or less from the regular CCY meeting spot in Spring Grove, PA.

Seems like quite a family. I bet the guy in the newspaper article packed my worms :)

Matt

Prince said:
Hey will you post here if you do this again?
Click to expand...
 
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