Central Iowa Organic Fertilizer Worm Castings

Central Iowa Organic Fertilizer Worm Castings

Regular price$29.99
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  • Organic | Non-Toxic | Odor-Free

Worm castings are worm feces. The castings are rich with live biological organisms. The organisms include fungi, actinomycetes, beneficial bacteria, pseudo monads, plant growth regulators, yeasts, molds, trace elements and the famous NPK ratings used by fertilizers, to reference the nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium quantities promoted by the fertilizer industry.

The truly revolutionary thing about worm castings as compared to traditional NPK fertilizers is these microorganisms ability to make more NPK available to plants, while containing far less of these elements. The NPK is far more bioavailable to plants, so we need not spread toxic levels to achieve our desired results.

The result is an odorless, child and pet-safe application that improves plant growth, soil structure and moisture retention — supported by lots of scientific research.

Sold in 4.5, 15, or 30 pound bags.

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Who in their right mind starts a work farm?

I have asked myself that question many times over the past few years.  To find the answer, all I have to do is look in a mirror or glance at a family photograph. This is how we came to be Central Iowa Organic Fertilizer (CIOF).

It started at the Iowa State Fair (don’t all great stories start at the fair?).  My husband Michael, one third of CIOF, decided to buy a tower worm farm.  He began looking for worms to put in the tower.  We bought worms, put them in the tower, and killed them.  So, we did it again and killed them again!

In looking for more worms, we found a Hybrid African Night Crawler. These worms were bred to eat and poop and that they do! We then decided that we should raise worms on a commercial level.

Michael and I had both retired, but needed something new and wanted to produce something that was not only useful, but also eco-friendly. This seemed to be just the ticket. We found a commercial worm farm and, for my birthday, Michael took me on a lovely trip to tour the worm farm (romantic devil)! We were so excited after seeing what could be done, we called our son Colin (the third part of CIOF) and asked if he wanted to join us in this adventure. He jumped at the chance. We have been a small family owned and operated business ever since!

We bought a few thousand worms to get started and like many small businesses, started in the garage. We managed to continue our regime of killing worms, but were not yet discouraged. We knew that we were going to have to have a suitable home for the worms and built a large pole barn, insulated it, and put in radiant in-floor heating as African Night Crawlers have to be kept at about 75-80 degrees year round. Finally, we started keeping our worms alive, but were unsuccessful at making hatch (getting the worm eggs to hatch and raise more worms). Ultimately, we bought a ton, yes a ton, of hatch and figured out how to keep the little buggers alive. The ton of hatch arrived just in time for our wedding anniversary (another treat from my romantic devil husband) and I spent that very special day ankle deep in worm hatch. We started getting baby worms and we were officially off and running.

The first two years of CIOF were spent making product-OMRI Listed organic worm castings (poop). Once we knew we had enough product to offer to customers and fill re-orders, we started marketing the castings. We are now in retail locations from Western Iowa to Eastern Iowa and in many locations in Central Iowa. We sell wholesale to organic farmers and Aronia Berry growers. Because we are OMRI Listed, we provide documentation for growers who are in the process of becoming certified organic by the state. We also provide our product as a fundraiser for local churches and community groups such as the Indianola Lioness Club and the New Virginia Lions Club. We love being a part of our local community and enjoy providing a means to support our local organizations.

Currently we are the proud owners of approximately 800,000 worms and countless babies. We are in the process of doubling in size! By the way, our worms are fed a combination of grains-no garbage or waste products. This means there is no odor! We welcome everybody to come visit our facility. Meet the folks that make the worm poop and a whole bunch of worms!

Available at the Garden Center

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Customer Reviews

Browse the 1 product review posted by our customers. Or click the 'Write a Review' button below to post your own review. Write a review