Welcome To Foothill Worm Ranch!

You've come to the right place for all your worm and worm product needs. Here at FWR we raise only the finest bed run red worms (Eisenia fetida). These little guys work hard breaking down organic waste and turning it into the finest soil amendment known to man. Worm castings or "black gold" provide the soil with essential minerals and enzymes only found in worm castings.

We provide a full range of worm and worm products for the home composter or gardening enthusiast. See below for products and prices.  We are currently shipping red worms, worm castings and liquid fertilizer (worm tea).

                                                                 Why Worms?

      Worms have long been known to provide the soil with essential enzymes and nutrients.  They do this by consuming decaying organic matter and leaving behind their excreta or castings as they are called in the industry.  There are thousands of species of worms in the world, but most are recognized in one of three categories the nightcrawler , the earthworm and the redworm.  All three worm types are used for fishing bait with the nightcrawlers and earthworms being the most popular because of their size.   

The story changes when it comes to composting. The redworm, although being the smallest, is by far the most voracious eater of the three. Under optimum conditions it has been reported that a redworm can consume its body weight daily. In the real world they consume about half their body weight daily. A good rule of thumb is 1000 redworms/pound, therefore we can expect 4 lbs of redworms to consume 14 lbs of waste per week (2 lbs/day x  7 days). When used in a home composting system, a typical family could expect to divert 728 lbs of organic waste from the landfills each year!! This is just from using a 2’ x 2’ worm bin. It takes about 1 sq. ft. to accommodate 1000 worms. By using a 2’ x 4’ bin a family could divert over 1400 lbs of waste each year! Get the picture?

                                                    Why Worm Castings ?

     The great part of processing your organic waste at home is you get to keep the final product, namely the worm castings or “black gold” as some enthusiasts refer to it.  This is the finest soil amendment known to man.  They contain 5 times the available nitrogen, 7 times the potash and 1.5 times the calcium found in good topsoil.  Worm castings provide plants with the ability to ward off disease and in some cases certain pests.  Roses grown with worm castings have bigger blooms and no problems with aphids.

     Other benefits include a higher capacity to hold water, bigger blooms on flowers and better tasting fruit. There are more nutrients available over a longer period of time.  With more diverse and higher concentrations of microorganisms, there are more enzymes and plant growth regulators in the soil.  These are found only in soil treated with worm castings.

                                                                              This beauty is over 1.5 lbs. each and 7 in. long                      

Foothill Worm Ranch is a locally owned and operated red worm farm in Pleasanton CA. The main focus of the business is the production and sale of worm castings and red worms for composting.

Home and garden shows provide ample opportunity for FWR to get information out to the general public. It is our sincere hope and desire to make the world we leave for future generations a healthier and cleaner place to live.