Danny and Julie Fritts have a passion — green living. Eight years ago, they discovered they could minimize their waste by turning food scraps into compost using worms. Many a trial and error later, their hobby of growing worms and using their waste for natural gardening became so successful, they decided to go the commercial route.
The signature product of their business, 3 in 1 Worm Ranch, is a worm tea that can be used as an odorless plant food for both indoor and outdoor plants including for grass and vegetables. The product, along with their worm casings, is sold at Central Market in Poulsbo and will probably soon be sold at several nurseries.
The Frittses started out with a couple of worm factories with the idea of “recycling” their food waste. Now, their three incubators have an estimated 300 to 500 pounds of the wriggly critters . As their hobby grew, they found themselves with more and more extra worm tea .
“We had more tea than we knew what do to with,” Danny said. So they started bottling it for family and friends, and Julie started taking it to co-workers. One of them suggested one day that the pair should start bottling it for sale — and they took that advice to heart.
They have contemplated the idea of a business for a few years. Once they decided to start selling worms and the two products, things took off. “By the first spring, we were shipping 5 or 6 pounds of worms a week,” Julie said.
They pick the worms by hand because the machines cause about 25 percent loss of life, and Julie said that wasn’t right by her. But the process, for them, is relaxing. She said she’d often come home from her full-time job and could spend a few hours harvesting the worms even if she were exhausted. Danny, who also owns a sound business, has flexible schedule. They say it only takes them 10 to 15 hours a week to run the business , which is a great improvement — it used to take four hours a day just to feed the worms, a process they now have down to 30 minutes.
The couple get produce trimmings from Central Market and alpaca manure from a local farm to create a special mix for the worms. Julie said she can tell by the smell of the soil when their pH balance is off and what it needs to be balanced.
Recently, the businesses added one more product line — worm factories, which are tiered tours sold complete with bedding and worms. The couple will even come to set it up at a person’s home, educate the buyer about proper care and then provide technical support in case of any questions or problems. They started marketing the factories at trade shows, and say they are ready to go full-scale. To make their job easier, they are planning to build a special building with heated floors that will maintain the right climate for the worms . They’re hoping to get big enough to need hired help and to accommodate field trips for schools.
The couple said business has been going well since they decided to take the leap, and last year they made enough to cover all the supplies as well as the investment into the third incubator. They’re on track for recouping all their startup costs by the end of this year. The best part about their 3 in 1 Worm Ranch, they say, is helping people live green.
“It’s helping people to go green and keep our planet healthy—keeping food out of the landfill is part of it,” Julie said.
