Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption
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Londonworms
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Almost time to start selling wormsIn a few months time, Im aiming for May/June, I want to start selling my worms.
So, time to pick your brains.
Price: I've been looking around the net and most suppliers I've looked at have a range of prices from £12 per pound (500g) to £19 per pound.
These are for both fishing and composting and are dendros - as are all mine.
Typically you get the worms in a small amount of bedding mix, and need to have your own bedding and bin set up before ordering.
There are problems with this approch as worms can be very sensitive to the medium they grew up in and need a settling in period, and some have experienced losses when the worms were transferred to their new homes. (Some loss is almost always inevitable as we're dealing with living entities here).
My idea - rather than selling a set weight of worms, or a set number of worms (some sellers out there sell by the number count not weight) I was thinking about selling a starter kit mixture.
By that I mean, I'd sell a kilo of original bedding that would have a minimum weight in worms of half a kilo but probably more, but would also include loads of juvies and cucoons ( (worm eggs) along with other helpful composting creatures.
This would give the buyer a flying start to their composting and the worm numbers would multiply quickly because the adults will get to it, but also the cocoons will hatch, and the juvies will mature in a matter of weeks.
I was thinking of selling this at £12 plus postage.
I want to price at a point that will encourage people to try worms for their composting - or get into composting if it's new to them, so making money isn't really the objective but will be a nice byproduct.
I might at some point look into making and selling my own worm bins, or reselling some of the models out there, but I was thinking initially on the website to show people they can use just about anything as a bin, and in fact, don't even need a bin, to compost with worms. I'm much more interested in getting people to look around and see what they can reuse. I've used draws from an old chest, and currently one of my bigger bins, is an old wardrobe
Thoughts?
I have three seperate bins that live indoors for adults that go on a special beefing up diet for sale to anglers.
These would be sold by the number, not weight: £1.50 for 50 large fat dendros, £2.50 for 100 plus postage.
Thoughts?
Packaging - I've been collecting pots, tubs and gord knowns what else over the past year. I intend to use these to ship the worms off in to customers. This is in keeping with my aim of reusing and recycling as much as possible. For example the large empty tub of Clover with a few air holes is a perfect home to post off 50 or 100 large worms to an angler.
But will that put people off? Do people want and expect to get their worms in new, labled packaging? I can get new tubs sorted and lables printed, but that will add to the cost.
Thoughts?
Website - I'm about to purchase a domain name for this.
What would people like to see from a website?
Obviously the worms and compost and prices (I'll be selling verrmicopost too) but how about a blog, a how to section, a problems page ... what else?
Wormworked compost - or vermicompost (as opposed to pure worm castings) - this is a premium product compost. There's a ton of scientific information and studies out there that demonstrate how a 20% mix of vermicompost as a soil amendment produces better, healthier, stronger, bigger, more succulent, more disease resistent plants. Claims that fruits and veg grown with this amendment taste better also abound, but I'd have to take others word for that as I'm an obligate carnivor
What would people pay for this? I've seen prices of £5.00 per kilo (roughly 2 litrres). I was thinking of selling in the region of £3.00 per kilo plus postage, mostly to get rid of the stuff as my main focus is on selling the worms.
I realise you can get a ton of basic compost for a shilling, so I'm interested in your thoughts about this.
Any other income streams you can think of? I'm thinking about treats for chickens but what else?
Lastly (if you've got this far well done and thanks!) I want to get into schools to talk about vermicomposting. I can see how teaching about reusing, recycling and composting with worms falls nicely in with PSHE KS1/2 and also Science.
Who works with schools? What's involved?
I'm going to stop there but I'm sure I've more to pick your brains about - I'd love to hear your thoughts on the above.
Cheers.
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NorthernMonkeyGirl
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Thoughts, in no particular order:
I like the bedding/worms/eggs/mix idea - but you might need to make your reasons and advantges crystal clear.
Most people would expect shiny new packaging. Perhaps you could say "will be shipped in upcycled containers unless buyer specifies new" - so if someone was giving a wormy gift it would still look good?
Other ideas - dehydrated worms for bird treats/wild bird food?
Improvised wormeries - I made one from 3 mineral buckets if that helps (the buckets have now been nicked for another project now). Perhaps have a reader submission page for wacky and wonderful ideas?
Vermicompost - if you can get links to the sciencey stuff, put up a references/resources page for the geeks amongst us Nothing sets off my woo-radar like "Studies show that xxx will cure cancer and reverse baldness" (you get the idea )
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Londonworms
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Thoughts, in no particular order:
I like the bedding/worms/eggs/mix idea - but you might need to make your reasons and advantges crystal clear. |
Yup.
Quote: | Most people would expect shiny new packaging. Perhaps you could say "will be shipped in upcycled containers unless buyer specifies new" - so if someone was giving a wormy gift it would still look good? |
Good thinking. Worms as gifts! I can see it now - give a worm a home this Christmas. I see your point. Right then - I'm going to have to give some simple, compostable packaging and design some thought.
Quote: | Other ideas - dehydrated worms for bird treats/wild bird food? |
Good thinking again. Is that how people buy treats for birds? Dehydrated? Any attraction in buying live worms?
Quote: | Improvised wormeries - I made one from 3 mineral buckets if that helps (the buckets have now been nicked for another project now). Perhaps have a reader submission page for wacky and wonderful ideas? |
That's pretty much what I'm thinking. Once the website is up, I'd love a page where people can submit pics of their home made bins to give others ideas and inspiration and share experiences.
Quote: | Vermicompost - if you can get links to the sciencey stuff, put up a references/resources page for the geeks amongst us Nothing sets off my woo-radar like "Studies show that xxx will cure cancer and reverse baldness" (you get the idea ) |
I didn't put the links up here because I didn't want to bog the thread down or derail my own thread lol. But they'll all be up on the website for people to read. I take your point.
Here's something to chow over in the meantime:
Earthworms and collembolans
Soil microorganisms dominate mineralisation processes and compete with plants for nutrients
(Kaye & Hart 1997, Hodge et al. 2000). Soil invertebrates affect the soil microbial community
and functioning directly by grazing but also indirectly by changing nutrient availability and
soil structure; both direct and indirect effects are known to affect plant performance and
ecosystem processes (Scheu 2001, Brown & Doube 2004, Bonkowski 2004). Results of the
present study suggest that both earthworms and collembolans increase plant performance
through enhanced nutrient mineralisation and an accompanying increase in plant nutrient
acquisition. Incorporation of surface litter material into the soil was highest in earthworm
treatments and less pronounced when only collembolans were present.
Earthworm casts have higher available nitrogen,
phosphorus, potassium, and calcium contents than
surrounding soil, as well as a higher cation-exchange
capacity. Some micronutrients, such as zinc and
boron, are more available in the excrement of
earthworms through chelation of the micronutrients.
http://www.wellowgate.co.uk/Files/uc182.pdf
We have successfully experimented with the first four technologies for management of “municipal solid wastes”, treatment of “municipal & industrial wastewater”, remediation of “PAHs contaminated soils” and production of “wheat & corn crops” by use of vermicompost at Griffith University, Australia, with excellent results. Wastes are degraded by over 75% faster than conventional systems and compost produced are disinfected, detoxified, richer in nutrients & beneficial soil microbes; BOD loads & TSS of wastewater is reduced by over 95%; PAHs from contaminated soils are removed by over 80% in just 12 weeks; and crops growths are promoted by 30-40% higher as compared to chemical fertilizers. Earthworms are both “protective” & “productive” for environment and society.
http://www.scirp.org/Journal/PaperInformation.aspx?paperID=2490
I have tons of links to research, and am collecting peoples own pics of their plants grown in 20% vermicompost, which consistently show bigger healthier plants, with more shoots, buds and flowers.
I've got scientific papers from mostly American Universities but some from The Open University here.
They'll all be on the website when I have it up and running.
And my worm tea will put hair on your chest, whiten your teeth, make your legs look longer, and help you speak a foreign language fluently in just three weeks
Thanks for the imput.
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