Workers load vermicompost onto a truckbed at La Norteñita orchards. La Norteñita has developed a composting operation to produce vermicompost for its 5,000 acres of orchards. Precomposted field lot manure is mixed with culled apples, other organic matter, and worms, and spread in windrows in layers of four inches at a time. The apples provide sugar to stimulate reproduction of the worms, employees explained. The worms lay eggs in the mixture, which are incubated in the moist, warm environment. The temperature of the compost is between 20 to 25°C (68° to 77° F), and the moisture level is 82 percent. […]