Get Ready for Colder Weather Now

Cooler weather is starting to head our way and now is the time to start thinking about winterizing your outdoor composting worms.

Our red wigglers are a hearty breed. They are fairly tolerant of colder temperatures, but they have their limits. Super Reds (European Night Crawlers) are a bit more cold hardy. If you live in an area of the country that gets cool in the winter, read these tips for protecting your worm friends:

Get Ready for Colder Weather Now

Cooler weather is starting to head our way and now is the time to start thinking about winterizing your outdoor composting worms.

Our red wigglers are a hearty breed. They are fairly tolerant of colder temperatures, but they have their limits. Super Reds (European Night Crawlers) are a bit more cold hardy. If you live in an area of the country that gets cool in the winter, read these tips for protecting your worm friends:

Molting mealworms – nature's wonder spa

Too often I find myself outgrowing my own skin, watching it stretch into an unsightly mound of folded flab, wishing I could simply remove it and grow and entire new layer of coating...

"Where in the world Can I find some delicious mealworms?!"

“Um, you want delicious mealworms? GROSS!”

Harvesting your mealworms

Raising mealworms is a delicate balancing act; the longer you feed them, the larger they will become. But, if you feed them for too long, then they will transform into the pupa phase, then into the darkling beetle. So this fight against time maybe be a little emotionally corrosive, however, corralling the appropriate balance will reward your efforts with fruitful mealworms that are everything your birds and reptiles are looking for.

The unorthodox excitement of feeding mealworms.

The benefits of mealworms are undeniable. They are high in protein, making an excellent feed for your favorite, neighborly blue birds, or serving the appetites of those exotic reptiles that lounge by the heat rock in their terrarium. Mealworms are easy to find, as most pet stores will offer them, or you can order mealworms directly from Uncle Jim's Worm Farm, where they are they come with a live delivery guarantee. Although bearing such great benefits and easy discovery, mealworms can often present a puzzling dilemma upon receival, as most people are unaware of how exactly to feed their mealworms.

Feeding Mealworms to bluebirds

Buying mealworms is often elicited from the desire to witness the breathtaking beauty of bluebirds. Bluebirds are enriched with a marvelous coating of powdered blue feathers that act as a stunning model of evolutionary aesthetics. But as joyous as it is to engage in the toothsome blue birds, it can be immediately overcome with anxiety of not knowing how to distribute the mealworms for the bluebirds. Although dealing with live and wild animals may be task-challenging, with a few subtle and simple suggestions, it can certainly be less taxing.

Storing mealworms

Mealworms are an excellent feed for all reptiles, birds, and exotic birds. Their nutritional value and taste make them an ideal feed, as they are routinely desired immediately after the first consumption. But, because mealworms are an holometabolic insect, meaning they have a metamorphosis phase, it may be cumbersome to contain the mealworms in their larva stage. If temperatures are too warm, then the worms can transition into the pupa stage, which then transforms into the darkling beetle phase. And if they transform into the darkling beetle phase, they loose their appeal to the reptiles and birds. If the worms the don't have enough to eat or enough water, then they can easily die in their habitat. So there are a few more obstacles presented with maintaining mealworms in their larva stage.

Mealworms: the circle of life!

You're probably considering mealworms if you are reading through this article, which isn't too surprising, considering their nutritional value. They provide a high portion of necessary protein for growing reptiles and birds. They also offer fat and potassium to the scaley consumers, which helps create an internally content pet. And not only beneficial for the pet, but they are typically less messy to handle than red wrigglers or european nightcrawlers.

 A lot of worm enthusiasts might ask how to vermicompost with nightcrawler worms? Well, there are actually two common types of nightcrawler worms, the European nightcrawlers and the African nightcrawlers. To know more about these two, let’s read on further below.

What is Vermicomposting?

Well, vermicomposting is actually a natural form of recycling organic wastes. You simply use worms to make this process run its course. These worms then turn these organic scraps into a rich black soil material, which you can later on use to supplement your plants and soil (amongst other benefits).

The European Nightcrawler

As previously mentioned, there are types of nightcrawler worms, and the European kind would be one of them. Now this nightcrawler type can still be used for composting. But it has been observed that gardeners prefer using red worms, over the Europeans worms, especially when it concerns vermicomposting. Although it can still be used for composting. They can still make for good composting worms by helping aerate and fertilize the soil. Other than that, they also help make burrows of tunnels, to allow air and water to flow into the system. They are also the best worms to make as fish bait. But other than that, they are also good as live worm food for a variety of birds, reptiles and amphibians.

African Nightcrawler

Amongst other nightcrawler types, the African nightcrawler is also a common one when it comes to composting. African nightcrawlers, also known as Eudrilus Eugeniae, is a very common commercial worm. It can be used as bait for fish, and also for composting. These African worms can be found in composting bins and worm farms; and can also produce its own batch of rich worm castings, just like Red Wiggler worms. It is through vermicomposting that worm composts are created. The worm composting process basically helps in the breaking down of decomposing organic materials (a blend of kitchen scraps and garden wastes). And just like the European worms, they too can produce an organic and nutrient-rich compost.
When raising nightcrawlers, you should know of their other contributions in the garden. You can simply rely on them to do the following things:

• They help in the breaking down of organic wastes into a very valuable (black soil) compost, which can be used as an organic fertilizer for your plants and soil
• They help improve the soil’s structure, as well as enhance the growth of plants
• They help aerate the soil, which allows enough air and water to flow into the system (of your lawn or garden)
• They also help a lot in the vermicomposting process by playing a big part in the recycling process

So, the next time you hear the question, how to vermicompost with nightcrawler worms? You should be able to supplement the answers soon after. And if you want to know more about the types of nightcrawlers, you may simply read on our previous article about it.

Uncle Jim’s recommends the European Nightcrawlers

You definitely won’t go wrong with our European Nightcrawlers! These Super Red Worms are easy to raise; and are heat and cold resistant. Other than that, they breed really fast; and are also great for using as fish bait. So buy your own batch with us today!
To know more about the product, check the European Nightcrawlers here.