Make your own Black Gold Cheap!
The Good Reverend Says, my worm whispering has yielded Black Gold…. How you can too
Last night, the good Reverand Brandon Baker over at Greenfaith Ministry came to give me some compassion herb. I was so grateful that I began searching my mind for a gift I could bless him with. We talked of the grow contest here at GP and got to discussing my worm whispering technique. I decided to give him some of my worms, of which I’m so proud. And some of the soil they’ve produced as a thanks for me keeping them alive. They would have ended up on a hook, or died in a fridge, but I brought them home and put them in a bucket of crummy dirt instead. Black gold’s what I got says the rev with a smile, all it really needs is some pearlite, best he’s seen in a while.
You can do it to, its cheap and its fun. Follow the instructions, it’ll be worth it when your done.Materials and cost estimates (compare to repeatedly purchasing wormdirt and other items necessary to make “black gold”)

1. 5 gallon icing bucket free from walmart bakery (most foodstuff locations have something that comes in buckets of this size and will do the same) just ask
1 Small bag of  organic soil (cheap by comparison to the outputs equivalent price)
2. 1 container night crawlers from any location carrying bait (I paid $3.00)
****Note make sure you look at your worms before purchase! They will likely be sluggish, as they are cold blooded and are kept in cold storage to slow their metabolisms, but they should be moving. They shouldn’t be too pale but a rich brown red color. If they look just a little weak, but are active, take those poor things home. If they look too far gone, leave them to be put on a hook and possibly provide someone with food.*******

3. A small amount of organic vegetable matter every few weeks…
Use what you’d usually compost or throw away. Bread crust too hard? worms love grains, just crumble it in. Blissful and can’t find your ashtray at the moment, if you don’t ash soon, your j’s about to make a mess? the ashes are great for the soil! Soil too wet and you just peeled an orange? Dry those pieces out over night and add to the soil, or add some pasta! Look at your soil’s issues, then find an organic, natural source of that nutrient and feed it to your worms. They will do the rest! It is that easy. However, do not overfeed your worms you will end up with a compost smell with my method. If you are already composting in a method where the worms will be able to survive (not cut to bit by mechanical blades), just toss them in there. The key is balance and variety with the feeding. something you will get the hang of if you just watch the behavior of your worms. They will go after what the soil is lacking first.

4. Perlite…
My worms have worked this dirt since about November 1 (as I post it is January 20, so nearly 3 months) Worms get fed at least every 2 weeks, and the earth gets stirred gently about 1/2 way down the bucket weekly. Careful not to hurt your worms, but if you do. These babies are amazing. Both halves have the potential to live. They have 10 hearts too! The microscopic good bacteria from their gut will further break down nutrients into smaller pieces for micro root hairs. Also worms are both hermaphrodite and asexual so just 4 worms can have a genetic hookup menu of

worm given numbers 1-4
1:2
1:3
1:4
2:3
2:4
3:4

With a relatively small number of parents you can have the genetic diversity necessary for a healthy population through generations. Also the worms can store some of the sex cells of their partner(s) after coitus for a long period, and use them to reproduce if left in an area with no worms. However I advocate they be given to your friends in breeding pairs or sets of pairs. They will be stronger with more genetic diversity they will survive and live through many generations, but higher possibility for genetic defects if only one worm is the parent… (inbreeding down the generations same as any other animal you might raise for fun and profit understand?)

I can find refrences on all of this information on worm life cycles for all those scholarly minded. Being in bed for a decade and a writer, I just laid there and devoured knowledge. I have an uncanny ability to retain “useless” information and re-purpose it. Got a problem needs solvin, at least ask, If I dunno the answer, I may know where to find it. Consider me the GP recluse librarian. LOL enjoy and redistribute with attribution (I’m a starving writer remember copyright Breezy Kiefair 2010)

Resurrection from: