In my last hub I told you how to build a worm farm that would one day rule the word. Now I'll tell you how to build up your army and keep them going strong. Maintenance is one of the most important things to a worm farm. Just like anything else that lives, you have to take care of it to keep it going. So here are a few things to take into consideration when trying to maintain your worm farm. Enjoy.

Food and Feeding: As I said in my last hub keep to natural garden trimmings, egg shells, coffee, and vegetables. You don't just throw it all in there and call it a day though. Worms like their food to be prepared too. Get some candles, a nice table cloth, romantic music, and hope for the best. But in all reality I like to get a metal bucket and just put everything in it. Then I like to get a shovel and just chop it all up into really small pieces, this helps spread it out better and also it's easier for the worms to deal with. When adding paper, try to use paper that has as little chemicals as possible. I like to get shredded paper and soak it in water, then I drain the water and let the paper try out, this gets a lot of the chemicals out and is better for the worms. I feed my worms about once a week, depending how much food is left, it's always a good idea to get it into small pieces then spread it all around the farm then use the soil to cover it up so the food is all covered and the worms can eat in peace. Try and keep the soil as most as possible without it being mud, moist is good but mud is bad.

Bedding: I don't know about you, but I don't like crawling around in my own crap. Worms crap in the farm that they also build, you should change out the bedding every month or so, when it starts to smell like crap, it's time to change it. You can prolong this process by every week or so adding fresh dirt and removing some. You should again layer the farm with dirt, paper, grass, etc. Make sure when you are removing dirt to be careful not to harm any worms or throw any away.

Harvesting worms: When you're ready to get some worms out of the farm there are a few ways you can do it. Some people make electrical probes you can stick in the ground and it electrocutes the ground and the worms come up. I find this very dangerous both for the worms and the person using it so I don't recommend it and will not be telling you how to make one. I prefer to just stick my hands in the dirt and start going through it. I recommend leaving the smaller ones and taking only the larger ones so that they have time to grow. One little trick I found was filling one corner of the rub with a lot of water, for some reason the worms are drawn to the water and will start to hang out right around the edge of the pool and are easy pickin. If you're looking to add more worms to your collection, I recommend going outside when it rains heavy and worms will literally just be crawling around on the grass, cement, and everywhere else.

So there you have it, basically you just need to feed them, clean their home and keep them happy. Worms are very delicate and it doesn't take much to harm them. Keep it simple and in no time your worms will turn into American Gladiators. When in doubt, drop a question and I'll let you know what I think as soon as I can.