MARKLEVILLE – Marie, Marie, quite the contrary, how does your garden grow?

Well, if Mary uses worm droppings, her garden is growing pretty well.

Worm casts are a nicer term to describe what it really is, worm droppings.

If you add it to your soil, it is a very healthy way to grow a garden.

Kevin Ginder and Buck Evans did the research and started a business, Heartland Worm Farm, located at 2370 East US 36 in Markleville.

“I garden a lot and try to find different ways to get a little more organic. I started doing research and heard about the worm casting, ”Ginder said. “I bought a bin (of worms). You feed them from the top and what they eat and the compost goes from the bottom and then you harvest it.

Leaves, sawdust, crushed eggshells and coffee grounds are some of the foods hungry worms feast on.

“I started doing this and the stuff was remarkable. It adds microbes and worm enzymes to your soil. It is not fertilizer. It’s a floor enhancer, ”Ginder added.

Longtime friends have known each other for 45 years. They went to school and played on the same sports teams growing up. They went to elementary and middle school in Markleville and were part of the final eighth grade class in Markleville. They graduated from high school in Pendleton Heights.

Ginder knew that Evans was also a gardener and might be interested – not only in using the worm casts – but possibly in starting a business by selling the ingredient and educating people on using a a more natural and healthier way to improve their gardens.

“The real story is that he walked up one day and said, ‘Where are we going to put these worms? Evans joked.

“It’s all about microbial life,” Ginder added. “I started doing this and it works really well. I started doing research and there are companies doing it. There’s one in Texas, one in Michigan, one in Wisconsin, and not much in that area. “

Ginder and Evans have been in business for approximately nine months.

They said the natural fertilizer additive is intended for healthier plants, including fruits, vegetables, and even newly planted trees.

“We mainly try to educate people. It’s about education and soil health, ”Ginder added.

To begin with, Ginder bought two bins, which contained approximately 16,000 worms. The worms reproduce every three months, and if conditions are favorable for factors such as temperature and food source, the population of red-wigglers and African nocturnal caterpillars will double.

“It’s a natural and organic way to have a healthy garden. That’s really why I started it, ”Ginder said. “It was more about education. We want people to try to be more organic while still being a natural way of cultivating your gardens. We can show people how to do this.

Heartland Worm Farm now has 39 bins.

Ginder and Evans sell the compost in buckets and quarts, as well as worm tea with a molasses additive. Worm casts cost $ 10 for five quarts, $ 20 for 10 quarts, and a five-gallon bucket can be purchased for $ 35. The tea, to be poured over the plant you are looking to grow, costs $ 7 for a gallon jug.

Worm growers said that in their gardens, among the plants they have seen improvements in are their tomatoes and peppers.

“Your harvest, the actual number of tomatoes on your plant, is more important,” Evans said. He added that the plants are not only bigger, but also healthier.

“Some of the people we sold to said, ‘I didn’t notice my plant was getting much bigger, but there were twice as many tomatoes on my cherry tomato plant,’ added Evans.

“We told a lady to put it on one plant and not another,” Evans explained. “Sure enough, she said the plant looked the same, but the number of tomatoes was double or more than the other.”

Ginder added that another customer bought casts for his orchard to put around his trees. “She said it saved her sins.”

Ginder started using the casts for his garden for a year before contacting Evans with the idea of ​​going into business.

Evans is retired from IMI (Irving Materials, Inc.) and now operates farms. He is also a member of the school board of the South Madison Community School Corporation. He said in addition to ordering the product from their website at heartlandworms.com, they plan to make their worm casts available on eBay in early 2022.

There is also more information about their company on the website.

Ginder graduated in business management and special education. He is currently working as a teacher at CIF (Correctional Industrial Facility) in Pendleton.

He said that in addition to selling produce, they would like to enter schools and educate people on how to harvest a healthier garden and a better environment.