Early Retirement Extreme Forums

I started a vermicomposting project a few years ago when I lived in a much warmer year-round climate. For those that haven't heard the term previously, that is composting with worms (usually some type of red worm or "red wiggler").
Red wigglers are a valuable commodity. I literally started out with 1 lb. of them in my spare room and multiplied them into roughly 25 lbs. Note: This was done in a subdivision with 100 homes, not on a rural farm or large residential 1/2 acre lot.
In terms of money, that's like turning $20 into $500 in a couple of years. If you scale that up a few notches, it's like turning $100 into $2,500. I also sold them in 1/2 lb. amounts for $17, so I really earned more than $500, but it's a nice round figure for demonstration purposes.
I am still vermicomposting today, but after my relocation to Michigan I am doing it on a micro scale compared to the only slightly larger "small" scale that I used to earn the $500 in Florida. I am no longer selling worms to earn money, but after some hardcore brainstorming this weekend I think I need to re-start this project soon. I sold them on Craigslist and quickly received referrals from the local Worms Way retailer.
Based on my seat-of-the-pants experience and rule-of-thumb calculations 500 lbs of red wigglers would generate more than $10,000 in cash not including sales of the 100's of lbs of vermicast that would be generated. Of course there would be some minimal expenses that would reduce net profitability slightly, but nearly 100% of the inputs for this type of operation can be obtained at zero cost.
I am sure there are other ways to do it, but I personally haven't thought of an alternative way to turn an extremely small investment into something so substantial.
I am interested in other ideas from anyone that wants to share them.

Pet rocks... oh, wait, that's been done

Interesting, how exactly do you breed them ? (scissors??;)

@George the original one It's funny that you mention pets. I am a member of a few vermicomposting forums and many of the members do treat their worms like pets. I'll admit that I have been guilty of it too at times.
For me it was a challenge to read some of the science on the subject and then try to duplicate the #'s. I did a bucket experiment where I put 20 worms in several 5 gallon buckets with appropriate bedding material (shredded newspaper, small pieces of corrugated cardboard, and a food source) and checked back a few months later to count the results. My best bucket yielded 120 worms or so. It was like a junior high science experiment.

@chenda Mother nature takes care of reproduction. With proper food and bedding material (some type of decaying food material or manure along with shredded newspaper, cardboard, leaves, etc.) a pound of worms will multiply very quickly. If conditions are near perfect they will double in mass every 1 1/2 - 2 months. If a worm is cut into two pieces it will die.
I kept my worms in small Rubbermaid storage containers and in 2 x 3 plastic utility mixing bins. The key to getting multiplication that is predictable was splitting them into a fresh container every 6 - 8 weeks. For me this worked pretty well.

@Toska - LOL, if only my wife & I _liked_ mushrooms! It's amazing the quantity & variety of fungus that grow at our retirement house near the Oregon coast. Pieces of freshly cut wet wood tossed into the barn sprout all manner of growths. My neighbor is lusting after the bed of oyster mushrooms on our property and I told him to go ahead and have at them...

@Toska I love the suggestion. It's funny you mention mushrooms. I have been researching some lately. Mushrooms also will work well in my climate. Here's a link to the possibilities: http://youtu.be/NGi6cVYtgeg

@Toska I did some more research on the mushroom possibilities. It seems pretty labor and financially intensive as compared to vermiculture. Land availability, affordable water supply, labor, and the risk of drought are all considerations.

Ginseng is another very viable option, but it takes several years to realize ROI and there is risk of theft if the crop is not monitored closely.

Thought of the idea before but i didn't have much market for it other than some gardeners around town. Another idea was to start up a feeder worm/ insect company for reptile owners. Super worms, crickets and hissing madascar roaches all reproduce fast and in great numbers, if you have the space and weather for it.

@aptruncata I am not sure where you live, but if it's anywhere close to a town of any substantial size you might be surprised on the size of the local market for red worms. You can also easily ship worms through the U.S. mail. It's done every day all day long.
But your idea about cricket and hissing madagascar roaches is something I will definitely check out. It's always good to diversify and keep an eye for new possibilities.

Thanks @aptruncata. I really appreciate the suggestion. I this this is right up my alley. I see it as similar to vermiculture, but from the videos I have looked at it's actually cleaner and probably needs much less space.

Seedlings (mentioned a couple of times around the forums).
Alcohol (unfortunately requires significant licensing to sell, but making your own to replacing what you'd otherwise buy is dead-easy).

A friend bred feeder gold fish and other various tropicals. I really don't know exactly how the economics worked out, but he definitely made some money at it.
I'd rather play with fish than insects that could easily get out, though breeding some wigglers for composting and the garden sounds kind of interesting.

@bbqguy, i'm in usda zone 10b. so anything that is not watered or cooled will petrify in the intense dry summers and will come close to freezing during winters. Those red wigglers will not like the heat in my area and will mean i need to tend to them more often.
if you like raising chickens and selling their eggs, you can also do so by feeding them your worms or black soldier fly pupae which can run off the waste from your kitchen sink.

@aptruncata African Nightcrawlers would tolerate up to 100 degrees pretty well. They are actually better composters. They do not tolerate cooler weather at all though.

I am obsessed with the idea of raising this type of bait and exotic pet food. All it takes is a little imagination and creativity. I am beginning to think these are better than red wigglers, but you need a warm climate. I wish I'd have known of this when we lived in Florida. I might still live there now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpCMh0ojMaM

@thebbqguy: This seems perfect as some sort of side venture. Can you point us to some resources you found useful (like a good vermicomposting site/forum/blog)?

@Felix I am a regular reader and contributor at http://vermicomposters.ning.com/. There is a wide range of worm experience on that forum from beginner, to novice, to serious hobbyist, to professional level from around the world. In other countries, vermicomposting and vermiculture is not just a hobby, it's a matter of public health and is used by municipalities to control garbage and landfills (i.e. on small island countries).

For my current situation, I think mealworms are a perfect compliment to my vermicomposting efforts (since my wife vetoed hissing cockroaches). The uses for them are surprisingly wide and varied. A few years ago there was actually a nationwide shortage of them.