Casting Call is now available in pdf format delivered to your email box (see below)

Casting Call is VermiCo's bi-monthly newsletter, keeping readers up-to-date with the latest developments in vermiculture. Every 60 days we bring you the biggest stories, events, book reviews, interviews with industry leaders, and news items to keep you informed. Our primary focus is upon vermiculture, composting, soil fertility and related issues of organic waste. To view a sample issue click here

Comments from our subscribers:

"...I am pleased to report that your package has arrived  and I am currently absolutely engrossed in the reading of your back issues of "Casting Call".  I soon discovered that the literature and videos are utterly bursting at the seams with incredibly valuable information. I've spent huge amounts of time gleaning vermicomposting information from the internet, and recently from academic resources, and have still found your Casting Call publication to contain vast amounts of new information and confirmation in areas I've been unsure about. And just FYI, I'm only as far as the June 1998 issue!!! I can only imagine how much I'll know by the time I finish reading ALL the information you sent me! Anyway, thanks again for some excellent products and helpful service. Now if you could only start up a Canadian branch of VermiCo!! ;) Keep up the great work! I'll certainly be in touch again. B C Waterloo Ontario Canada

Here’s what Worm Digest had to say about Casting Call:

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Casting Call is now available in pdf format delivered to your email box

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Some Highlights of Past Issues:

• Pathogens Removed Through Vermistabilization: "[Dan] Holcombe reported that tests performed on worm-worked material originating as bio-solids waste showed 'no detect' on such pathogens as E. coli and Salmonella as well as some enteric viruses. Not only is this report significant, but the process of vermistabilization (as Holcombe refers to it) means that vermicompost does not become inoculated with harmful airborne bacteria when exposed to unprocessed waste in close proximity." Casting Call, Vol. 1, No. 2
  
  
• "Compost Tea" vs. Miraclegro: "Results of the plant growth trials showed the compost tea outperformed both the commercial fertilizer and water only on both types of plants, The 1:1 dilution of runoff [compost tea] with water produced the best results with marigolds showing increased flower and bud production. Root growth on the radishes was seven times larger than on the control (water only) plants." Casting Call, Vol. 1, No. 3
  
  
• Rock Dust & Re-Mineralization: "Adding the [rock] dust to compost can accelerate the process of plant assimilation as the activity of soil microorganisms enchances the breakdown of mineral particles." Casting Call, Vol. 1, No. 4
  
  
• Interview with Mary Appelhof, Author of Worms Eat My Garbage: " [Q] Several notable vermiculturists have credited you with being a pioneer in the field. How does the 'worm climate' today differ from the days in which you were first starting out? [A] The interest now is just growing--more and more people are doing it. It's definitely changed, not only in my life, but now there are large-scale projects....At the time that I started I don't believe there was an industry. I believe there is a developing industry now...." Casting Call, Vol. 1, No. 5.
  
  
• West Coast Vermicomposting Operations: Low to High Tech Systems: "One of the trends now forming, particularly on the West Coast, and one that is sure to develop in the future, is that of joint ventures between vermiculturists and existing composting operations. Some facilities, successful in thermophilic composting, are considering the addition of vermicomposting to their methodologies in order to increase their product sales." Casting Call, Vol. 1, No. 6.
  
  
• Interview with Barry Meijer, Pacific Southwest Farms, Ontario, CA: "So initially we were taking in about 75 tons per day (now we're up to 100 tpd). If we were now where we would like to be, we would be receiving about 300 tons per day. We started with 11 rows of worms with the staff from my landscape company spending a couple days a week out here....Our plans for expansion include a 120-acre site in Bakersfield and tow other 50-acre sites." Casting Call, Vol. 2, No. 1.
  
  
• Interview with Jim Jensen, Yelm Earthworm & Casting Farm, WA: "We suspect and our customers believe that there are growth enhancing properties that aren't necessarily found in compost--that the worm itself adds something to this that is vital--that's why they're on the earth--they add value to soil. We should know more about what that value is and the economic value of it." Casting Call, Vol. 2, No. 2.
  
  
• Interview with Al Eggen, Original Vermitech Systems, Ltd, Toronto, Canada: "We've been working with a large steel corporation to do manufacturing, a a consulting company to build Vermi-Digesters. Pilot projects are proposed for a college and another Canadian Pacific Hotel in Halifax. The proposal speaks of a $12 million market manufacturing approximately 275 Vermi-Digesters at a cost of $43,000 each. The target is to process 16,500 tons of material which represents about 10% of the organic waste stream. We're looking at starting this in about 6 months or less." Casting Call, Vol. 2, No. 3.
  
  
• Interview with Larry Martin, Vermitechnology Unlimited, Inc., Orange Lake, Florida: "From the market research I've done, with $250,000 in start-up costs, with one full-time and 2 to 3 part-time people, you could produce about ten tons of castings per week. The first year's projected income is about $15,000 per week for the first year's spring and fall marketing. Within 3 years, still in just the greater Orlando area, you could generate about $250,000 a month in sales." Casting Call, Vol. 2, No. 4.

• Volume 1 No. 1

  Welcome to Casting Call; What'a a Worm Worth?; Where have we been? Where are we going?; IWGA "Worm Summit" Held in California; Commercial Vermiculture: How To Build A Thriving Business in Redworms; more.

• Volume 1 No. 2

  What Can We Do With Waste?; CRRA Hosts Over 700 in Newport Beach; Home Composting Pays Huge Dividends; Canyon Can't Make Enough Castings; Worm Tip: What to do About Heat; News Notes; Vermiculture in Cuba; Dr. Edward's Text Published; more.

• Volume 1 No. 3

  Expanding our Involvement in Vermiculture: Three Compatible Industries; "Compost Tea" vs. Miraclegro; A.O.R. Organics Session in Seaside, OR; Bette Midler: "Compost Queen" and "The Divine"; Successful Vermicomposting Businesses; Stabilizing Biosolids with Vermiculture; VermiCo Honored; BTI Soon to Release Vermitex Potting Soil; New Video; How to Raise Redworms Commercially; Worm Tip: Macerate For Better Results.

• Volume 1 No. 4

  Re-Mineralize Your Soil; Worms Produce "Class A" Biosolids; WWW Means World Wide Worms; Who reads Casting Call?; BioCycle Announces Vermi Workshops; Interview with Rick Best, Chairman of the International Worm Growers Association.

• Volume 1 No. 5

  Compost Workshops Teach Best Practices; Bette Midler & Compost Part II; East Coast Vermicomposting; Rock Dust & Soil Fertility; Florida's BMP Manual Supplies Helpful Information; Eco-Ag/West Comes to Sacramento; World Wide Worms; Interview with Mary Appelhof.

• Volume 1 No. 6

  West Coast Vermicomposting Operations: Low to High Tech Systems; Compost Operator Certification Course Announced; World Wide Worms; New Jersey's Leaf Composting Manual; There's More Ahead; Interview with Jack Chambers, Sonoma Valley Worm Farm.

• Volume 2 No. 1

  What Hath PSF Wrought? editorial; California Proposes Changes to Compost Regulations; Interview with Barry Meijer, Pacific Southwest Farms, Ontario, California.

• Volume 2 No. 2

  Manual on Vermicomposting Soon to Be Published; Vermi-Organic Digesters Process Food Residuals; Winning The Organics Game Is a Winner; Interview with Jim Jensen, Yelm Earthworm & Castings Farm, Yelm, Washington.

• Volume 2 No. 3

  Oregon Soil Corporation Contracts with Portland Metro to Vermi-Process Food Residuals; Scientific Earthworm Research papers Published; Earthworms & Recycling; BioCycle Announces Conference, Vermi-Speakers; Casting Call Interview with Al Eggen of Original Vermitech Systems, Ltd., Toronto, Canada.

• Volume 2 No. 4

  Worms Eat My Garbage Newly Revised; Vermiculture Beds and Organic Gardening; Earthworm Ecology to be Published in December; Montgomery County "Worms" its Way Into Schools with National Achievement Award; Interview with Larry Martin of Vermitechnology Unlimited, Inc., Orange Lake, Florida.

• Volume 2 No. 5

  International Earthworm Conference To Be Held in Spain; Vermicomposting in North Carolina by Rhonda Sherman; Q & A on Home Vermicomposting by Kelly Slocum; Interview with Al Cardoza, Rainbow Worm Farm.

• Volume 2 No. 6

  Vermiculture in Waste Management: BioCycle's West Coast Conference ["Earthworms, Vermicomposting Systems, and the Value of Castings," Dr Clive Edwards; "Jim Jensen: Developing Income Sources from Sales of Worms and Castings;" "Confessions of an Amateur Vermicomposting Researcher," by Robert Rynk]; Vermiculture Worms its Way into Western Colorado, by Carolyn Mountel; Vermi Speakers Headed for Kansas City, MO; Kelly's Korner: Earthworm Q & A from the Internet.

• Volume 3 No. 1

Australian Worm Scheme Comes to the U.S.;  Australiam Newsletter Hopes to Build Vermiculture Industry;  Compost Certification Course Offered:  Earthworm Ecology:  The Latest Volume in Earthworm Research;   The Lighter Side of Earthworms;  Examining the Soil Foodweb.

Vermicomposting Food Residuals in Portland, Oregon;  Manual on Vermicomposting on Editor's Desk;  Vermiculture Developments:  Topics Announced for Conference;  Compost Facility Best Management Practices Conference;   Casting Call Interview with Dr. Ed Berry.

BioCycle Conference Report:  Vermiculture Developments at Ohio State University;  New Horizons in Vermicomposting Workshop; Classroom Vermicomposting Projects Find Funding; The Earthworm Gourmet; Y2K Survival, and Earthworm Recipes; Letters to the Editor.

U.S. Patent Granted for Vermicomposting Rice Straw; What Happened at the New Horizons in Vermicomposting Workshop & Tour?'  What Others Have Said About This Workshop; San Jose Puts "Worms in the Classroom";  Portland Vermicomposting Workshop and Tour Coming February 6, 1999;  Plant Growth Trials Show Rapid Leaf Growth with Vermicompost.

Vermicomposting Lunchroom Wastes:  New Manual for Schools and Small Businesses;  Stockton Workshop Will Feature Top Vermicomposting Experts;   Workshop Speakers;  Schedule of Presentations.

• Volume 3 No 6

Stockton Workshop Brings Vermi Experts Together; California Non-Profit Builds Worm Farm; Interview with Mario Travalini, American Resource Recovery

• Volume 4 No 1

Permaculture Meets Vermiculture:  An "applied Ecologist" Promotes Vermicomposting in comprehensive Educational Program; Resource Publications on composting, Agriculture; Worm Farm Open House in Watsonville, CA; Interview with Dr. Clive Edwards Part 1

• Volume 4 No 2

Vermicomposting Progress in Nova Scotia;  Need an "Offbeat" Justification to Quit Your Job?  Start a Worm Farm; Interview with Dr. Clive Edwards Part 2; Summer Short-Shorts: Brief bits About Worms in the News

• Volume 4 No 3

Best Management Practices in Vermicomposting Seminar held in Medford, Oregon;  Soil Foodweb Analysis of Vermicompost; Interview with Dr. Scott Subler Part 1

• Volume 4 No 4

Earthworm Castings Provide "Biological Engines of the Soil"; Worms Eat My Garbage Translated to Japanese; Best Management Practices in Vermicomposting update; Interview with Dr. Scott Subler Part 2; BioCycle announces Vermi Speakers for San Diego, March 2000.

• Volume 4 No 5

Vermicomposting Biosolids:  Earthworms Reduce Pathogens in Sewage Sludge; Will Vermistabilization of Biosolids Make a Comeback?  A Brief Review of US Efforts; Interview with Bruce R Eastman Part 1; Best Management Practices in Vermicomposting Seminar coming to Portland, Oregon

• Volume 4 No 6

Insect Repellency Research Update; Interview with Bruce R Eastman, Part 2; Orlando Vermicomposting Workshop

• Volume 5 No 1

Orlando Vermicomposting Workshop & Tour Report, Part 1; A New Era for Earthworms

• Volume 5 No 2

Orlando Florida Workshop Report, Part 2;  Best Management Practices in Vermicomposting Seminar

• Volume 5 No 3

The Vermillennium; The Vermiculture Association:  This Time We've Got A Chance; Earthworm Taxonomists "Dance with Worms," and Laud Cartoonist Gary Larson; Portland Seminar Update

• Volume 5 No 4

Ecology Farms:  Multi-Million Dollar Worm Investment Scam Ends in Bankruptcy; Creating Jobs With Worms:  County Combines Recycling, Employment, and Landfill Rehabilitation; Iowa Couple Gets Funding To Raise Worms, Manage Waste:  Earthworms in Eco-Technology Conference & Trade Show

• Volume 5 No 5

Worm Tea Sprayed on Avocado Orchards by Helicopter; Point/Counterpoint: Is Vermicomposting a Dangerous Practice for Schools?; Interview with Darryl Neal; Earthworm Eco-Technology Event Update

• Volume 5 No 6

Earthworms in Eco-Technology; Portland Conference Draws 250 Attendees; Journal Publishes Study of Worms Reducing Human Pathogens in Biosolids

Welcome to Casting Call… the First 5 Years

            These first 30 issues of Casting Call contain a variety of information, much of which, we believe, is still useful.  Although there are, scattered throughout, announcements of events now gone by, there are also reports of events where the information conveyed is as relevant today as when it was first printed or spoken.  By re-printing these past issues, readers are provided with the convenience of a bound collection of newsletters published and mailed individually to our subscribers over a five-year period.

            An evolutionary process in reporting found within these newsletters is plainly evident.  Later issues are probably better in quality than some of the first issues as we progressed along our own “learning curve.”  Our industry has grown and we have tried to grow along with it.

            Early in 2001, we published In Their Own Words: Interviews with Vermiculture Experts, a book containing twelve interviews from past issues of Casting Call.  While the book consists of a useful compendium of information from leaders in vermicomposting, it represents only a fraction of what may be found throughout the entire set of 30 issues.   Also within these pages are book and journal reviews, as well as reports from recycling, composting, and vermicomposting conferences and workshops.  News of vermicomposting projects conducted by municipalities, schools and non-profit organizations from around the United States has been reported. 

            There are some things about a newsletter that might by learned by discovering what kinds of persons subscribe to it.  We don’t know a great deal about our subscribers, but we do know that they represent a variety of interest groups.  Casting Call subscribers include teachers, master composters, worm farmers, city and county Recycling Coordinators, compost facility operators, professors, libraries, research institutes, producers and sellers of worm castings, students, authors, entrepreneurs and business owners, worm bin distributors, homemakers, non-profit organizations, scientists, as well as individuals from many other types of backgrounds.  Subscribers are found throughout the United States and in countries on nearly every major continent of the earth.  We’re grateful to our readers for their continuing interest in our coverage of news about vermicomposting and related issues of composting, waste management and soil fertility. 

Vermicomposting, although it has been around long enough to attract worldwide attention, is in many ways, still in a stage of infancy.  A dedicated corps of individuals continues in its efforts to bring the good news of vermicomposting to those concerned about organic waste management (better known as resource recycling) and to those interested in soil fertility.  We look forward to reporting about their achievements in forthcoming issues. 

Earthworms in Eco-Technology Conference Review-Part II; Potential of Castings As Greenhouse Medium; Pennsylvania Stops Sale of Worm Buy-Back Contracts

Interview with Dan Holcombe; Earthworms in Eco-Technology Conference Review-Part III; Speakers for Best Management Practices Seminar Announced

Planting Earthworm Cocoons with Crop Seed; Washington Orders Vermiculture business Cease & Desist; Interview with Dan Holcombe, Part 2; Opportunity for Vermiculture Consulting in Uzbekistan; Portland Oregon Seminar Update

Kentucky Dissects the Worm Industry:  State Agency Considers Funding Worm Farms;  What is the Value of Earthworm Castings?  (How much are they really worth?); Castings from Pig Manure Improves Growth of Marigolds, Tomatoes; Yelm Earthworm Farm Starts New Chapter; Vermiculture in Vietnam

Cardiff, Wales Site of September 2002 International Earthworm Symposium; OSU's Arancon Updates Seminar Attendees; Jack chambers, Sonoma Valley Worm Farm, Sonoma, California; Santa Monica College Installs Vermi Digester; Plant Growth Regulators and Earthworm Castings

California Dreamin': A Plan, A Vermi-System, and Money; An Interview with Tom Christenberry

The Casting Call newsletters in this bound edition consist of the six issues in Volume VI, starting with the first issue of June 2001 and ending with the sixth issue dated April 2002.

            Our plan is to continue publishing Casting Call as a bi-monthly subscription newsletter, sending each issue to our subscribers as they come off the press.  In addition, we hope to publish bound editions of completed volumes annually as they become available. 

            As you may know, the first 30 issues of Casting Call, consisting of Volumes I-V, are available in a single bound edition.  We began publishing our newsletter in June 1996 and have reached readers on every continent around the world.

            In the present bound edition of six issues, the June 2001 issue picks up with Part II of the review of the Earthworms in Eco-Technology Conference and Trade Show held in Portland, Oregon in March 2001.  Since the conference featured 14 speakers, we spread out the conference review over a total of three issues.  Part III of the conference review is found in the August 2001 issue of Casting Call.

            We’ve continued, in some issues, to interview major contributors to vermicomposting such as Dan Holcombe of Oregon Soil Corporation and Tom Christenberry of Vermicycle Organics.  You will also find in these pages reports of articles published in scientific journals about research conducted in using earthworm castings in plant growth trials.

            A frequently asked question we have heard over the course of several years is, Where can we get information about earthworm castings?  Access to scientific journals is difficult for many lay readers who yearn for a popular treatment of the subject.  We have tried, in this and in previous volumes of Casting Call, to provide readers with some idea of the contents of scientific studies conducted with earthworm castings, but published in esoteric journals.  In addition, readers may learn more about castings from reviews of presentations given at some of VermiCo’s seminars and conferences.  In the present volume, presentations by Dr. Scott Subler, Dr. Norman Arancon, Jack Chambers, and others shed light on some of the aspects of earthworm castings, including issues such as marketing as well as production.

            We hope that by gathering together a year’s worth of issues and binding them together, we make it possible for readers to sit back and assess the direction vermicomposting is moving. 

Vermicomposting Progress: Trio Addresses BioCycle’s San Francisco Conference; Interview with Tom Christenberry, Part 2

• Volume 7 No 2

Castings Tea: Panacea or Fantasy?; Michael Alms Talks Tea; October 2002 Seminar in Portland, Ore.

Dairy Manure Castings in Foil and Tea Bags: An Interview with Curt Hawley; The Worm Guide

Seminar Attendance Reaches All-Time High; The What and Why of Compost Tea; An Interview with Curt Hawley, Part II; Putting Worms to Work at theMedical University of South Carolina

US Patent Acknowledges Insect Repellent Properties of Worm Castings; Interview with George Hahn, Part I

Worm Compost, E. coli, and Compost Tea; Interview with George Hahn, Part II

            The Casting Call newsletters in this bound edition consist of the six issues in Volume VII, starting with the first issue of June 2002 and ending with the sixth issue dated April 2003.

            In this volume, the interview with Tom Christenberry of Vermicycle Organics, Inc., in North Carolina, is continued.  Tom retired from active involvement in vermiculture after a 20-year span of industry leadership.  Earthworm castings produced from his hog manure proved to be some of the best material ever tested at the Ohio State University.  Our interview provides some of Tom’s reflections on 20 years of experience.

            The subject of castings tea appears throughout several issues of this volume.  The interest in castings teas is becoming the “hot topic” among vermiculture enthusiasts and growers alike.  You’ll find much to ponder about this area in the newsletter issues found here.

            Curt Hawley, site manager for Dr. Scott Subler’s Living Soil products, was interviewed at length by us during the past year.  He provides insight into the day-to-day operations of a large-scale producer of earthworm castings.

            And George Hahn, founder of California Vermiculture in Cardiff, California, provides a fascinating description of his research in the areas of pest repellency and castings as fungal control agents.  He was awarded a US Patent for castings used as a pest repellent in November of 2002. 

            In all, this past year’s issues provide you with a number of incredible ideas from some of our industry’s “leading edge” practitioners.  We hope you find them as valuable as we have.

 

Back Issues of Casting Call Volume VIII

• Volume 8 No 1

Lawsuits Filed Against B&B Worm Farm; B&B Worm Farm Sued by Oklahoma Dept. of Securities; Practical Applications of Compost Tea for Nutrition and Disease Suppression

• Volume 8 No 2

Vermicomposting Technology Innovation:Sweep Screw Auger Harvests Castings; An Interview with Will Gehr; Practical Applications of Compost Tea for Nutrition and Disease Suppression, Part II

• Volume 8 No 3

Research News from Ohio State University; Vermicompost Research Updates; Worm Workshop Draws Record Crowd for Eastern US; Interview with Will Gehr, part II

• Volume 8 No 4
  
  Worms Deep in the Heart of Texas; English Bait Producers Consider Waste Management; International Earthworm Conference To Be Held in Russia

• Volume 8 No 5
  
  The Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms; Castings – From the Field to the Bank;  Research Underway at The Ohio State University

• Volume 8 No 6
  
  Marketing Tips from a Seasoned Pro Castings—From the Field to the Bank, Part II; An Interview with Amy Stewart

Back Issues of Casting Call Volume IX

• Volume 9 No 1

Earthworms and the Biosphere; Needs for Earthworm Research; An interview with Dr. Norman Arancon

• Volume 9 No 

Russian Worm Fest Draws Over 200; The Future of Vermicomposting; North Carolina Worm Workshop Offered in June; An Interview with Amy Stewart, Part II

• Volume 9 No 3

 "The Single Largest Producer of Vermicompost in the World"; Vermicompost Helps Farmers Make Good Money; Vermiculture in India: An American's Perspective

• Volume 9 No 4
  
  WormTech of Wales Wows Waste World-Award for Excellence in Recycling & Waste Management; Endangered Trees in California Denied Castings Tea Application-EPA registration, state licensing required; Pennsylvania County Studies Vermicomposting Yard Waste with Biosolids; Oregon Soil Corporation Worm Bin Reactors Used in Pilot Project

• Volume 9 No 5

 CBS Evening News Touts Teracycle;  Deserted Site of Former Worm Farm Still Trashy; The Pied Piper of Wormdom?

• Volume 9 No 6

 Canadian Vermicomposting Manual for Farmers;  Australia's Giant Gippsland Earthworm;  International Symposium on Vermi Technologies for Developing Countries

Back Issues of Casting Call Volume X

• Volume 10 No 1

Worm Woman Mary Appelhof Leaves Legacy;  Worm Castings Suppress Damage to Plants by Insects;  Vermicomposting on the Radio Contaminated Territory in Belarus

• Volume 10 No 2

Fifth Annual North Carolina Workshop Bigger and Better;  Persistence in Making a Dream a Reality;  Worms in the News;  In Memoriam of Mary Appelhof

• Volume 10 No 3

Washington State Agency Adopts Office Vermicomposting;  Persistence in Making a Dream a Reality Part II;  Mary Appelhof-- My Teacher My Inspiration;  USEPA Lauds Del Mar Fairgrounds for 75% Recovery of Food Discards;  More Than Book Publishing; A Patent, Videomicroscopy and Conference Convening

• Volume 10 No 4

Kracow, Poland--Site for 2006 International Symposium on Earthworm Ecology;  The Worm Chronicles

• Volume 10 No 5

Vermiculture in Belarus;  Production and Marketing Assistance Requested;  The Worm Chronicles Part II

• Volume 10 No 6

Ten Years of Earthworm News

 

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