You could do that and it would probably be just fine.
I'd be interested to here how long it takes you to collect a pound and how much you value your time?
Seriously, many worm bins are very successful using native worms. I am at the moment beginning an outdoor experiment using native reds. These worms are interesting in that they are definitely reds, but stocky and much shorter than my EF's. I have them in a sterlite bin outdoors along with some soil dwelling worms. I'm curious if I can vermiculture either.

Seeing that you're in MA, your weather is pretty close to what mine is. I have bunny poo and hay piled in my garden as a thick mulch (small composting windrow) it's got lots of worms at the bottom. Since this is where I want the nutrients and soil to go- I let them do their thing right there (caught 2 doing the horizontal bop yesterday when I was digging up a snack for my oscars). They do the decomposing and it all leaches where I want it to.

And oh boy is it leaching out right now. Much needed rain.

Do nightcrawlers work just as well? I seem to have those the most, under the leaves. Some sites say nightcrawlers work while some say they do not. Who do I believe?

any soil dwelling worms will aid/add to the composting process, but the usual red worms are 'kings of komposting', consuming more material faster and breeding faster than others - I wouldn't expect nightcrawlers to be resident right in the leaf litter, rather just visitors, as they like to burrow deep, and they drag their organics down the hole

Bill

I have been digging about 50-60 worms a day and adding to my plastic worm bin. They are thick in the spot where the geeese congregated and packed the poopy soil all winter. I used a mix of shredded leaves, peat, and shredded miscanthus leaves, addding some finished compost and a bit of soil from where I dig them. So far, about 2 weeks all is well. I hope to transfer some to beneath the rabbit pens as they grow in numbers. There must be 2 pounds in the box now, maybe more. If I could quit using so many as fishing bait I could have more in the bin. I added some rabbit manure and a bit of garbage waste, small amount so far. I hope this is sucessful, time will tell.

You can save some time by just pitchforking up a spot about 2 ft square every so often in the area to loosen up the soil and keep it a little damp and put a cup of laying mash on top of the "bed" and cover with a piece of cardboard or a piece of plywood. replace the feed as it is consumned and you will have a ton of worms in the "beds" in a month or so. Then go out about dark and just scoop them up off of the top of the "beds" You will be able to get worms easily all summer as long as you keep it damp and feed them. A worm trap I guess.

I am in mass also.

you can and can not use wild worms.

Nightcrawlers do not work.

but you can find compost worms in the wild in mass. I find some. the best place to find the compost worms is at a cow farm. they will have manure everywhere and if you dig anywhere on the cow farm you will find some compost worms. of course the best place is in their compost pile. just get a few worms.

you can also get worms at any bait shop. you should wind up with the correct worms.

there are 2 types of correct worms. they are about the same size. the red ones and the banded ones. the banded ones are easier to find in the wild. their are large red worms closer to the night crawlers. these are the wrong red worms for composting.

basically trout worms are what you want. the people who sell trout worms are using compost worms.

even when you buy worms you will get a mix of red and banded worms. they are always mixed. it is a waste of time to worry about the differences.

what I call banded worms are not the correct name. but you can recognize them because they have bands around the worm.

If you want to multiply your worms fast. I recommend you get a can of pumpkin. this is wet and they love it. just dump on the top and they will come up under the mush and sit there until they eat it all. you will see great worm activity all around the edge of the mush.

nothing wrong with getting some nightcrawlers and trying to keep them alive for bait. but they will not multiply. You can not give them the proper conditions that they need to multiply. they need to be out in the wild. your best bet with nightcrawlers is to get a huge pile of leaves. they dig them up in the leave bed when you want some. works great for fishing. you can also use bales of hay. but I think leaves work better. or mix them. both of these will keep the worms nice and moist.

Here's one for those who intend to become hydroponics advisors in the less developed parts of the world.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1333698}}

If you put twenty different kinds of worms in your bed the correct ones will multiply and take over the beds and the "wrong" ones will just live and eat and eventually die off or just stay out of the way. If you have good compost worms they will let you know by eatin and multiplying like crazy! You won't even be able to find the "wrong worms" after a while. As far as I know there are not any "worm eating" killer worms out there that might mess up the bed. Good Luck!

wfike, could you please explain what "laying mash" is?

Laying mash is chicken feed for egg-laying hens. It's small crumbles.

Get it at a "feed store" that sells horse and livestock feed. Look in the yellow pages or ask someone who has animals.

John
worms are the intestines of the earth. -- aristotle