Caffeinated Worms!

by Les Albjerg
(Caldwell, ID)

This is a report on my last Red Wiggler experiment. I think I am pretty much done playing with worms! Red Wigglers are so easy to raise. Just to recap a few of the other lessons from the past before the details of this experiment. Most important, as long as Red Wigglers are kept in a moist environment, the don't have to have any food for 6 weeks. They are tough. Their natural environment is horse manure. This last experiment was an attempt to see just how lazy I could be and have a healthy worm bin.

I enjoy two cups of coffee in the morning, and my wife has two cups as well. In this experiment, I started with a bin of just moist peat moss. I put about 200 Red Wigglers in the bin, and just added coffee grounds and water for the last year. The end result is I have thousands of Red Wigglers in that bin, and some very nice compost. The Wigglers are as nice and plump at the ones I grow in the "Park Avenue" luxury environment for well pampered Wigglers.

Since I am growing worms for fishing, I don't care about composting that much. I am not growing them for protein. Yes, worms are processed and made into protein powder. Having a Red Wiggler bin is so easy and convenient. Less than 5 minutes playing in the dirt and I have a couple dozen wigglers ready to go! I Red Wiggler fish about half the time now. I still enjoy variety in my fishing. There are times when Wigglers just out fish everything! If you have never tried "Ultralight Worm Fishing", (You can find it under the side-bar under "Worm Fishing.) you are missing some of the most fun fishing out there. It isn't just for streams either. A red wiggler, size 2.5 level line cast between or next to a weed bed in a panfish pond with Daiwa Sagiri 45MC is just pure fun!

Keep them moist, give them some food at least every six weeks, and you too can have plenty of Red Wigglers on hand to enjoy some "Garden Hackle" fishing.

“The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten” - Benjamin Franklin

"Be sure in casting, that your fly fall first into the water, for if the line fall first, it scares or frightens the fish..." -
Col. Robert Venables 1662

As age slows my pace, I will become more like the heron.