Suppose you’re looking for something to occupy your spare time during your retirement years? Worm farming on a small scale may be just the thing to keep you busy, to give you an activity that keeps you close to nature, can provide extra income, and can be less demanding physically.

Worm farming could be a great interest to share with your young grandchild. You could try it as a way to gain popularity among your fishing buddies or with your gardening friends.

Shelter for your worm farm is important for several reasons. Shade from the sun, cover from the rain (you wouldn’t want your investment to drown or be washed away), and protection from reptiles and birds are important reasons to have good shelter.

Now that we’ve covered those aspects of Worm Farming, let’s turn to some of the other factors that need to be considered.

Worms go dormant in the winter. You’d have to keep them in a controlled environment to sell them year-round. Sheds, barns, or basements that allow for temperature control are some ideas.

Make sure you consider packaging costs. The right packaging for your worms, their castings, or the tea you can make with the drain water could help improve your businesses chance for success. Informative and/or attractive packaging can help spread your trademark to solidify your image in the public eye. But when you first start out, you’ll want to keep your overhead as low as possible, so choose your supplies wisely so your extra income will be more lucrative.

Plant nurseries, feed stores, or hardware stores are some ideas for places to contact about allowing you to sell your products from your worm farm. You may be able to sell on a consignment basis. You could rent a booth at a flea market to get a start on selling your products. To make extra income, you have to be willing to let go of some first!

You might try making a deal with a local livestock farm to trade some fishing worms for manure to help feed your worms. Just make sure there’s no residue left in the manure that would kill your worms. If the animals have been wormed recently, or if they have parasites of the wrong kind, it could wipe out your stock. Chicken manure may be the least attractive manure since it tends to be “hot”. Also, remember not to use fresh manure. It’s better if it has aged for a few weeks.

Some people enjoy worm farming as a way to manage their stress levels. They find it relaxing to harvest the worms. Just as people find relaxation in gardening or bird-watching, worm farming can relieve tension and give you an outlet to focus on. It may even be a way to help your child make new friends with the kids on the block!

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his Perpetual20 affiliate site for great bonuses: Perpetual 20

Advertising can be the most expensive part of many small businesses. But without the proper advertisement, your business will struggle. Although word of mouth is and will continue to be one of the best sources of advertising for a worm farm or any business or service, you must consider other options as well.

Air time for radio stations can be expensive, as can newspaper or magazine advertisements. You may be limited in how often you can invest in either one. Start-up costs can be demanding in any business.

The sign for your worm farm business should be colorful, easy to read, informative, large enough to readily notice, and in the right place to be seen easily. Although a plain, small sign can still work, it is the bigger and more attractive one that will draw more interest. Think about it from the consumer viewpoint. If you saw a small, plain, black and white sign on one side of the street, and a big, colorful, sign on the other side of the street…….which one would be more likely to snag your interest? You want to be welcoming to the public with your advertisement.

See how much you can learn about Worm Farming when you take a little time to read a well-researched article? Don’t miss out on the rest of this great information.

Another means of advertising your worm farm is flyers or bulletins. Many people will make up a huge stack of them and place them on every car they see until they run out. But you want to get the most out of every cent you invest in your advertising. So, before you run out and start shoving those flyers under windshield wipers, consider placement. Is the mom shopping with her two year old child in the toy store as likely to buy your fishing worms or your fertilizer as the person shopping in the hardware store or sports store? Grocery stores, Laundromats, your local Wal Mart, convenience stores, and even large construction businesses may be better places to distribute your flyers. You could ask store owners about posting your flyers in their windows. Try the local video stores, flower shops, and so on.

You could consider holding a demonstration about the benefits of your worm farm at the local library. They have story times and guests visit during the summer months to entertain the children. These children have parents and grandparents who garden and fish and own reptiles or birds who might need worms. Be sure to hand out color pages or bookmarks or something similar with a small bit of information for your business, including your phone number.

Magnetic signs that attach to the sides of vehicles have become more popular in advertising. There are thrift newspapers that have lower cost advertising. A booth at your local farmer’s market or in the local flea market may help get your worm farm noticeable with the public.

Make sure you check out your tax laws and your business license requirements for your area. Even if you have your worm farm at your house, you may be required to get a permit to sell your worms or the things you are able to produce because of your worms (like the tea, compost, fertilizers, etc.).

That’s how things stand right now. Keep in mind that any subject can change over time, so be sure you keep up with the latest news.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO

When starting a business venture, we often ask ourselves how to we benefit from it? How do our prospective customers benefit from it? So in this case, the same thing applies for worm farming. What are the advantages of worm farming?

Worm farming or vermicultivating is a way of producing healthy, organic compost goof for the soil and any kind of gardening. With this kind of business, you do not need a big amount to start and operate it. There are numerous worm farm stores where you can get your basic supplies. Worms reproduce quickly, so if you have 2000 worm in the beginning of your business, it would reach as much as 8000 after 6 months.

Aside from small overhead expenses needed, consumers also get to use organic soil for their plants and gardens. While, fishermen can also get their bait from you. Worms cam also be used as pet food. There are numerous advantages of organic farming.

With organic farming consumers:

? Get better nutritional value from the food they eat. Organic food has more vitamins and minerals compared to fruits and vegetables grown using chemical fertilizer and pesticides. Organic fruits and vegetables are free from chemical contamination specially from those with harmful effects like pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides.

? Have lower risk factors of diseases associated to chemical exposure.

? Eat better tasting food. Organically grown food tastes much better than those which are conventionally grown. The taste of fruits and vegetables are related to its sugar content, and the sugar content can be derived from the kind of nutrition the plant gets.

? Store food longer. Organic fruits and vegetables have higher cellular structure compared to those plants grown with current methods. Thus, organically grown fruits and vegetables can be stored longer and less vulnerable to rotting.

For those who plant fruits and vegetables, organic farming is a better option since:

If you base what you do on inaccurate information, you might be unpleasantly surprised by the consequences. Make sure you get the whole Worm Farming story from informed sources.

? Plants raised in organic soil is more resistant to diseases and pests.

? Using it is less expensive than agriculture chemicals.

? Plants organically grown are more resistant to drought.

? There are a part of the market who are willing to pay premium prices for organically grown fruits and vegetables.

Aside from these consumer and grower benefits, organic farming is also environmentally friendly. Worm farms use most of your kitchen wastes. Worm farming and other kinds of organic farming produce lower greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, these kind of farming methods are climate friendly.

The use of soluble fertilizers has different detrimental effects to our ecology. Once fertilizer is poured to the crops, much of the fertilizer are washed off the soil and gets into the water. Most of the times, it would seep into groundwater making it contaminated and unfitted for human consumption.

For fresh bodies of water, evidences of contamination are showing with the abundance and overgrowth of algae. Algae interferes with the system of coral reefs and sea plants. It blocks the sunlight, causing the sea plants and corals to die.

How does this affect us? In a lake in Florida, USA where a major pesticide spill happened, researchers and wildlife specialists discovered alligators with distorted sex organ development and function. There are also studies that showed the link of reproductive problems like reduced sperm count and breast cancer to chemical farming.

Worm farming and other forms of organic farming have numerous benefits. It just like you have the both of best worlds, you get to help environmentally and you get to earn.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, proud owner of this top ranked web hosting reseller site: GVO

Worm farms are in effect in different states all over the United States. Because of the interest in recycling and the eco-system, these farms make sense. Landfills get less bagged waste, crops are improved, other animals are fed a natural food, and the worms provide natural bait for fishing.

Worm farms can provide many things besides worms. Worm gifts, worm candy, worm flour, worm breads, worm cookies, books, dvds, cute worm songs on cds, worm-related toys, fertilizer teas, compost, potting soil, cupped fishing bait, and hands-on activities for youngsters are some ideas.

Worm farming is technically known as vermiculture. It can be a lucrative business, but it is not a way to make a lot of money quickly. It takes patience, education, money, space, and marketing skills. You can’t just toss a handful of worms in your yard and expect them to go to work and make you rich!

If you want a different kind of worm farm, you first would want to research the other worm farms that are in the market. If you make your worm farm unique and fun, you’ll draw families. Families spend money on souvenir type items and knick knacks as memoirs of their adventures. Kids like games. Maybe you could create some playground equipment for your little visitors with designs that are based on worms. Demonstrations can make your worm farm different.

Those of you not familiar with the latest on Worm Farming now have at least a basic understanding. But there’s more to come.

You can make your worm bins decorative as well to help maintain public interest. People like “eye candy”. Things that are brightly colored and designed catch the eye. A person dressed in a worm suit to chat with the children would be a fun addition to make your worm farm different. A small worm farm museum would be interesting for school groups to visit, which would increase public interest and make your worm farm different.

You might want to figure out how to have a worm festival on your worm farm. Provided you have enough room for parking and someone to direct traffic, this could provide advertisement and fun for you and for your visitors. Worm contests such as who can eat the most worm cookies or design the best worm poster, the most creative worm art made with playdoh, or races in worm shaped cars are some ideas.

Educational benefits exist as well. Your worm farm can be used as a way to enlighten the public on how important the worm is to our natural environment. It can teach people about other worms besides the earthworm and the worms that cause harm.

If you want a different kind of worm farm, it takes a good imagination and some ingenuity. Creating interest and a public need is a good way to succeed. It also means you’ll have to stay “on-your-toes” to maintain that interest. Of course, it means more of an investment, too. But in the business world, it takes money to make money. You just have to “worm” your way into the public eye and get noticed!

Now that wasn’t hard at all, was it? And you’ve earned a wealth of knowledge, just from taking some time to study an expert’s word on Worm Farming.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO

There are many different types of worms that are both good for you and bad for you. You must first know the difference before you choose which you invest in for your worm farming adventure. Worms such as tapeworms, ringworms, and pin worms are not good investments for worm farming. The types people raise to sell and use are those they can sell for fishing bait, food for birds and reptiles, or those used to help benefit the soil and their by-products.

Worms have no exoskeletons and are not created the same inside as humans and other animals. A worm has one brain and five hearts. Earthworms breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide. They can’t control their own body temperatures and can’t maintain a body temperature. When they’re in captivity, they must depend on you to help them survive in the right temperature.

Some people grow worm farms for their own personal adventure. Kids use them for pets. Gardeners encourage their growth to gain healthy crops or flower gardens. They create excellent natural compost and fertilizers! Some people eat worms, although it isn’t something that is a big hit in the United States.

I trust that what you’ve read so far has been informative. The following section should go a long way toward clearing up any uncertainty that may remain.

Composting is encouraged to help the environment and to keep the waste down that is hauled to landfills daily. Worm farming is one small way to help. Small ways add up to big benefits when enough people join together in their efforts. If you have complaints about the environment, if you’ve thrown away food scraps, newspapers, sticks and grass clippings or leaves, if you want to be involved in a positive way to help then worm farming may be just the right adventure for you to take!

Earthworms, red worms, catalpa worms, and grub worms all make good fishing worms. If you want a variety of worms, though, you need to know that not all worms are raised the same. Not all worms make good bin partners because of the different temperature requirements.

Not all vegetables or food scraps make good food for your worms either. Strong foods like onion, garlic, and hot peppers are not as readily welcomed. If the worms don’t want to eat them, they’ll eat everything else first. That leaves a smell to your worm bin, which can ruin your new adventure really fast! It’s not like your own mom making you eat all your vegetables when you were little. These are not children and shouldn’t be tortured to endure foods they don’t want. If you feed an animal something that isn’t good for it or that it doesn’t like the taste of, it can starve itself to death and will just end up resenting you or trying to escape to get to the better food source. Meat products are not a good idea for your worms either since they can contain diseases, poisons from the animal’s system created by the medicines you must give your pet, and also a bad smell when decomposing.

Check out what the other worm farmers are doing. Their prices, shipping methods, growing bins, advertisements may all come in handy for helping you plan your own adventure in worm farming.

As your knowledge about Worm Farming continues to grow, you will begin to see how Worm Farming fits into the overall scheme of things. Knowing how something relates to the rest of the world is important too.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, proud owner of this top ranked web hosting reseller site: GVO

So you’ve decided to take the plunge and set up your own worm farm. Perhaps you’re looking for a natural way for composting waste, are interested in the nutrient rich fertilizing substance produced by the worms, or are looking to provide a constant supply of live bait or live food for exotic pets. Regardless of the reason, you’re going to need to set up a bin.

Various models are available for purchase at worm farming supply companies and garden centers. These come in different shapes, sizes and colors and each have their own benefits. The frugal approach is to build your own.

The first thing to consider is how big of a container you’re going to need. To figure this out, you’ll need to first measure out approximately how much waste you are going to need to use for feeding. For each pound of waste, you’ll need one square foot of space in your bin. Depth should be at least six to twelve inches.

A plastic tote or container works well as do wooden boxes. Metal containers should not be used as irons and chemicals can leach into the soil, harming the worms. Many worm farmers prefer wooden boxes over plastic as wood is more easily aerated. Plastic can cause more moisture to build up than wood, which can be both good and bad.

Once a container of the appropriate size has been chosen, it’ll need to be prepared. Holes should be drilled or punched through the top of the container to allow for air flow. There are two ways to address the bottom of the container.

It’s really a good idea to probe a little deeper into the subject of Worm Farming. What you learn may give you the confidence you need to venture into new areas.

One method is to drill or punch holes into the bottom of the container to allow excess water and other liquids to drain out. Another is to install a spout at the bottom of the container. When liquid begins to fill up in the bottom, the spout is turned on and releases the fluid.

If using a spout, a raised shelf should be added within the container. This shelf should be the same width as the container, but be allowed to sit a few inches above the bottom. This will allow the empty space at the bottom to fill with liquid and prevent it from sitting in the soil and bedding. This raised shelf should be made of slats or have several holes to allow liquids to drain into the bottom of the container.

If a raise shelf is not used, screening should be installed over the holes to allow liquid to run out of the container but prevent worms from squeezing through. Screening should also be attached to the top of the container to prevent escape.

Some thought should be put into what will be used for bedding material. Soaked and shredded newspapers, cardboard and even dampened leaves can be layered in the bin. Regardless of the material used for bedding, a small amount of soil should always be mixed in. If using the raised shelf system, bedding should be layered on top of the shelf.

The container should be put in a location that will ensure optimal conditions. Temperature should remain between 72 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. The bin should not be placed in an area of the yard that will gain excess rain water, either.

Once the bin has been constructed, bedding has been added and the perfect location has been found, the next step is to add the worms and begin your own worm farm. Worm farming is rewarding whether it is done for a profit or a hobby. Constructing an appropriate home for these guys is your first step towards becoming an authentic worm farmer.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO

Catalpa worms are usually called “Catawba worms”. Although it isn’t likely you’ll find many catalpa worm farms, this may be a very good reason you should start one of your own. It’s a way to enlighten the public and provide something unique for consumers.

Catalpa trees are the way to get Catalpa worms. So, a tree farm of catalpas is your first investment. Other things you may need to invest in are: sprinklers, wheelbarrows, shovels, rakes, containers, a business license, fertilizer for your tree crop, and advertising.

Your catalpa trees are going to make quite a mess with litter, so you’ll want to decide how to handle that as well. It’s an idea to turn this litter into a profit. Toss it into your compost pile to help build up some valuable food for your trees. Sell it for seeds to others who may want to grow a tree. Use it to start campfires.

Hopefully the information presented so far has been applicable. You might also want to consider the following:

One tree can provide a worm farmer with hundreds of worms. They’re a hot commodity for southern fishermen. The fat worms draw catfish like crazy. Their juices are the enticement for the fish. They just can’t seem to resist. The best way to use the worms is to break them, tear them, or cut them somehow to allow the juices to flow. Place them on your hook and put the hook as near to the bottom of your fishing hole as possible. This keeps the juices close to the bait instead of allowing it to float down and away, which causes the fish to also go down and away to chase after the juice instead of the bait!

If you invest in a freezer, you can also freeze the worms to sell out of season. The caterpillar stage only lasts about three weeks.

You can buy a starter tree from the Arbor Foundation for $9. If you’re lucky enough to have a relative or friend who has a tree, you can try growing your own from the seed pods that hang from the limbs. Your best bet for starting the worms is to harvest eggs from a tree that is already established and attach them to your own tree. The caterpillars emerge in the spring, so you’ll want to attach them in February or March. You could try ordering the catalpa sphinx moth yourself from an insect source of some kind. This is what the catalpa worm evolves into, so obviously it would lay the eggs to start more!

The downside to catalpa worms is their ability to devour leaves. All species of the catalpa tree are subject and can be host trees. You’ll have to guard against small wasps and parasites that can destroy your worms.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO

A worm’s body is made up of 70-95 percent water. Worms therefore require a very moist environment that should be mimicked in the worm farm. When worms die, they often shrivel up and go unnoticed as the water content is lost at this point.

These are cold blooded animals. Temperature should be maintained between 72 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit to assist the regulation of their body temperatures. Worm farms should be placed in a location that allows for this constant temperature, or bins that are insulated should be purchased.

One focus of worm farming is to have worms that will reproduce easily. Worms are hermaphrodites, meaning they possess both male and female sex organs. Worm farmers must realize that although they are hermaphrodites, they cannot self-fertilize. A single worm cannot reproduce alone. A colony of many worms will result in larger numbers being produced.

Worms used in worm farms are covered in a slimy mucus coating. This coating serves many purposes. The mucus helps the worms retain water. As their bodies are made up of a high percentage of water, an important step when worm farming is to be sure to provide adequate moisture levels in the bin. The worm will be able to hold in the required moisture level through this mucus coating.

Now that we’ve covered those aspects of Worm Farming, let’s turn to some of the other factors that need to be considered.

The worm’s mucus coating is also a protector. As the worm borrows into soil and bedding, the mucus provides a slick coat protecting it from harmful substances that may reside there.

The anatomy of the mouth of the worm is regarded as unique. In the worm, the mouth is called the Peristonium. Worms do not have teeth. Instead they have this mouth organ that is used for prying. Worm farmers should be aware that worms will be able to better compost food items that have been cut down into smaller pieces. Soaked paper and cardboard products will be more easily pried apart than hard, non-soaked pieces.

Established worm farmers and those new to the hobby are often surprised to learn the life span of the worms that are commonly used in worm farming. The common lifespan of these worms is typically between 4 and 8 years. It has been reported that some worms have been known to live over 15 years.

These are long lived creatures whose lives are most often cut short by accidents. The myth that worms can be cut in half and therefore produce two worms is false. Worm farmers should always be careful when searching for worms, replacing bedding or removing vermicompost. Sharp or hard tools are likely to injure a worm or even cause death.

If provided a good diet, proper living conditions and a safe environment, worms can live long healthy lives. Healthy worms produce healthy compost that can be put to good use. Understanding the basics of the anatomy of these worms will aide in the understanding of how unique they are and how to address their needs.

This article’s coverage of the information is as complete as it can be today. But you should always leave open the possibility that future research could uncover new facts.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO

Worm farming is gaining popularity. If you want to get into the business, you have to learn how to take care of red worms which happen to be the best producers of fertilizer for the soil.

To do that, you have to build your own worm bin. This consists of several boxes, shredded newspaper, and a strip of insect screen as well as the red worms. You can probably find the first two in your garage, the third from the hardware store and the last in a nursery.

When you have all the materials, put a few holes on the top and bottom of the bin and then throw in the shredded newspaper inside the container to serve as the bedding. You can also potting mix or use both at the same time. Once the red worms are inside, cover the top with a lid because these creatures don’t like sunlight.

Unlike the cat, dog or fish you bought from the pet store, you don’t have to feed red worms right away. You can wait about 3 to 4 days before giving them food and since you don’t know yet how much they can consume, put in a small amount first and then gauge how much more should be added to their diet.

If there are big and small red worms, put some food on the outside edges since the adult red worms prefer to hang out there while the younger ones prefer to get food from the center.

Sometimes the most important aspects of a subject are not immediately obvious. Keep reading to get the complete picture.

The food that is given to red worms is much different that what you will normally find in the pet store. This is because they only eat things that will naturally compost. A few examples of these include coffee grounds, grass clippings, manure, rabbit pellets, vacuum dust and vegetable matter. Never give your red worms dairy products, meats and certain vegetables like onion.

Just like other household pets, red worms also need some water so water them from time to time but make sure that it is not too soggy. Although they like water, too much could drown your little pets.

Red worms are sold by the pound and one pound is about 1,000 red worms. That population will double in 2 to 3 months and while some say that they have a way of regulating their population, it wouldn’t hurt to transfer some to another container.

If there is no space anymore to relocate your red worms, you can try out what other people have done and that is to sell red worms. After all, the waste or vermicast they produce are great for the soil so you can help others save money by trying out this home made fertilizer instead of buying this from the store.

The other option to control the red worm population is to use them as fish bait. Although some people will argue that another variety of worm known as the European Night Crawler is better to catch fish, you will surely be able to catch a few with your homemade variety.

Raising red worms takes a lot of hard work so watch them regularly. Make sure that there is sufficient food available and their bedding is just right because this is the only way to have a successful worm farm.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, proud owner of this top ranked web hosting reseller site: GVO

Worm farming is a great way to naturally compost waste and other discarded materials. As a result, nutrient rich soil is produced and can be used in flower beds, crops, and gardens. Regardless of all the reading and research one does, issues may arise and can cause some concern.

Here are a few of the commonly reported questions and issues with worm farms.

Smell

It is often thought by many that a smelly worm farm is normal. In fact, it is not. If worms are kept in an appropriate environment, they will not smell. If the farm has an odor, the most likely cause is overfeeding.

Material to be composted is placed on the top layer of soil for the worms to consume. If too much is given to the worms, it can begin to rot causing a build up of bacteria within the walls of the worm farm. This is the cause of the smell.

To remedy the situation, simply discontinue feeding of the worms until any uneaten material is gone. The soil should also be stirred for aeration and to allow the worms to move more freely.

Bugs and other pests

Using a container with a tight lid can help prevent many pests from infesting the worm farm but some are sneaky enough to make it in regardless. Small vinegar flies are often a complaint among worm farmers. This type of fly is of no harm to the worm farm but typically is a result of overfeeding. Large flies appear when there is an abundance of food.

Ants are also a common issue. If ants are seen in the worm farm, the chances are pretty good that the soil is too dry. Adding water to the soil to increase the moisture can help eliminate ants. If using a worm farm that stands on legs, simply apply some petroleum jelly to the legs to prevent the ants from being able to climb up.

Truthfully, the only difference between you and Worm Farming experts is time. If you’ll invest a little more time in reading, you’ll be that much nearer to expert status when it comes to Worm Farming.

Maggots can be found in worm farms where meat is offered to the worms. The best scenario is to eliminate meat from the diet altogether. If maggots have made their way into the worm farm, they can be eliminated by placing a milk soaked piece of bread into the farm; the maggots will be drawn to it and can simply be removed.

Worms leave the farm

This topic leaves it up to the worm farmer to figure out what the problem is and fix it. If a worm is leaving, he is unhappy with his environment and is in search of a more suitable one. Worms will escape for reasons such as the soil being too dry or there isn’t enough food. On the other hand, soil that is too wet could also be affecting the worms, causing them to want to leave.

The source of the problem should either be eliminated or fixed. If the soil is too dry, fresh water should be added to the farm. If it is too wet, the excess should be drained and new bedding should replace the old. Locate the cause of the excess moisture and eliminate it.

Ensure that the worms are getting enough food and the farm is in a location where the temperature will remain constant.

Feeding

There may be some confusion on what to feed worms. Appropriate foods to feed include fruits, vegetables, egg shells, greens, tea bags and coffee grounds and filters. Non-food items can also be fed to the worms and include soaked cardboard, paper products, cotton rags, leaves, dirt and hair.

More important are the items that should not be fed. Dairy products, meat, citrus, onions and garden waste that has been treated with chemicals are all things to avoid in a worm farm.

These are just a few of the common topics when it comes to worm farming. Although they are pretty easy to care for, it is important to realize the reason for some of the changes or issues noticed within the worm farm. Problems should be corrected early to prevent the loss of the worms.

Providing a proper environment, correct food, appropriate moisture level and temperature will help ensure a supply of happy and healthy worms.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO