The Hidden Gold on Our Homestead: Mealworm Frass – Nature’s Perfect Soil Booster
Hello, fellow gardeners and homesteaders! Here on our 9-acre wooded homestead in White Cloud, Michigan, we’re passionate about closing the loop and turning what others might see as waste into something truly valuable. One of our absolute favorite examples? Mealworm frass—the polite term for the manure, shed skins, and leftover bedding from our thriving mealworm farm. This humble by-product has become a cornerstone of our regenerative gardening, and we’re thrilled to now offer it for sale in our Squarespace store so you can experience the benefits too!
What Exactly Is Frass?
Frass is a powerhouse mix of:
Nutrient-rich mealworm droppings (balanced in nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and essential micronutrients)
Finely ground wheat bran remnants
Chitin-rich shed skins from the molting process
Unlike hotter manures that need long composting, our frass is mild, crumbly, and ready to use right away. The star ingredient is that chitin—it naturally triggers plants’ immune systems, helping them build resistance to pests like aphids, spider mites, and even some fungal diseases. All of this without a drop of synthetic chemicals.
A Game-Changer for Our Loofa Sponge Garden
We’ve seen frass work its magic firsthand, especially in our loofa gourd project. Last year’s trial run with just two plants gave us twenty beautiful sponges, and we credited much of that success to the frass we worked into the soil. The vines grew vigorously, the leaves stayed deep green and healthy, and we noticed far fewer insect issues than in other beds. For our big 2026 expansion—a shaded loofa tunnel built over arched cattle panels with room for twenty robust plants—frass is playing an even bigger role. We’re blending it generously with aged pig and chicken manure plus leaf compost to create rich, living soil in our new raised beds. That chitin boost is especially exciting for loofas, which can attract squash bugs and vine borers in Michigan summers. Early signs from last season suggest the plants’ natural defenses get a real leg up, leading to stronger vines and heavier harvests. We can’t wait to walk through that tunnel this fall loaded with hanging gourds!
How We Produce and Harvest Frass
In our dedicated mealworm room, we use ten-drawer craft carts to separate the life stages. Regular sifting keeps the colony healthy and leaves us with buckets of beautiful, coffee-ground-textured frass. It’s clean, virtually odor-free, and packed with goodness from our locally sourced wheat bran and garden greens.
Tips for Using Mealworm Frass in Your Garden
Ready to give it a try? Here’s how we use it (and how you can too):
Soil building: Work 1–2 cups per square foot into beds before planting—like we’re doing for the loofa tunnel.
Top dressing: Lightly sprinkle around growing plants and scratch in gently.
Seed starting mix: Blend 10–20% frass for a gentle, protective nutrient kick.
Pest-prone crops: Extra love for cucumbers, squash, tomatoes, and yes—loofas!
Now Available in Our Shop!
We’re excited to share our premium mealworm frass with you. It’s harvested fresh from our clean, natural colony, packaged by weight. Wtih the instructions in this blog you are ready to bring your garden or house plants to the next level. Grab a bag (or two!) to boost your own garden the homestead way. You’ll find it in our Squarespace store alongside our mealworms, handmade loofa sponges, plush chickens and dragons, pot holders, canvas bags, and other family-made treasures. Every purchase directly supports our small Michigan family as we grow toward greater self-sufficiency and sustainable practices.
Have you tried insect frass in your garden yet? We’d love to hear your results or answer questions.
Happy, healthy soil to you,
The 9 Pines Homestead Family
