My grandson Kyler and I were going fishing almost every weekend. Bait was sketchy and getting very expensive.

Kyler and I were fishing one day when I decided I'd grow some worms for us after finding no good bait.

So I took one of the cups of worms and threw them into a bin I had made.

That was the start of Meme’s Worms!

I started thinking about how I could make some money and start a company for my grandson. He was 10 at the time. When he got into high school, he could have a job, and then when he graduated, he would own the company.

I started researching the worm world and saw an opportunity, so I started Meme's Worms from my laundry room.

Before I knew it, I had outgrown my laundry room and had to move to the back porch. The following spring, I built our first 'hoop' house.

I was still working my corporate job so I could only spend a few hours a day with my farm. I would come home around 8pm, work till midnight on the farm and then get back up at 5am.

I did this for a long time.

As a fisherwoman, I knew there was a need for quality bait, so I started with European Nightcrawlers and... it was a hit!

Before I knew it, I had orders coming in. I needed to be able to grow the worms larger enough to get them to bait size but I wasn't sure how to do that so I joined L.J. Shier's “worm breeding” program.

Then I needed another building, so I build the second hoop house. Now I could start breeding worms and get the worms to bait size. It was temperature-controlled so I didn’t have to worry about them getting too hot or too cold.

I just kept growing and selling worms to fishermen. I was having the time of my life!

One question I would get frequently was whether I had red wigglers but at the time, all I wanted to do was grow worms to fish with.

Then the pandemic hit and my whole approach with worm farming changed. I knew red wigglers were the ticket. I started my red wiggler stock from a farm not far away where I could purchase in bulk and ship to my customers.

...but I wanted to grow my own stock so I decided to build another hoop house for them. I added some racks to use for breeding, especially in the wintertime. This rack holds about 110 mortar trays. It works great for breeder bins and grow-out trays.

From there I have added windrows, barrels, 4x4 plastic bins, crates, super bags, and feed troughs. Basically, anything you can put a worm in we have used or still use.

As you can imagine, I continually needed more space. In 2021, the opportunity presented itself to purchase a 22,000 sq ft warehouse and I leapt at it.

Today, my family and I run Meme's Worm farm. To think I came from my laundry room, I can only imagine what the future holds.