 Your Garden's Best Friend!
Since I have been organic in my garden for the last 5 years I have noted a huge increase in my worm population. Worms fertilize my garden and till my soil. I haven’t roto tilled my garden in 4 years and now I can drive my stakes in by hand almost 16” thanks to the worms. So let’s listen to my good friend Jeff Lowenfels extol the value of worms in the garden.
“In the garden worms recycle 15 tons of soil and organic matter per acre per year. Nothing I can think of beats worms for their ability to recycle. In my mind they are an excellent example of an animal that promotes sustainability."
Today, there are a staggering 2 million to 3 million earthworms in an acre of good garden soil or lawn.
Worms are blind. They avoid predators and find food with the use of receptors that are sensitive to vibration and touch. This is how a worm knows when a robin is hopping around above, looking for a worm snack.
Since they are sensitive to light, worms normally burrow through soil and crawl on the surface at night. When they head back down they pull organic matter below surface. They are constantly ingesting organic material and bits of soil in search of mainly bacteria. They also end up eating fungi, protozoa and nematodes in the process. This material passes through the worm, undergoing physical, chemical, biological and biochemical alteration, after which most of it is deposited out the worm's back end as vermicastings.
Worm Castings Rule!
 Worm castings are often compared to compost, indeed are often called "worm compost." The biggest similarities seem to be vermicompost has the same basic microorganism- bacteria, fungi, protozoa and nematodes. Vermicastings are more pathogen-free with less E. coli or salmonella than properly prepared compost. True, worm compost is made by mixing vermicastings with worm bin materials and getting the aid of sowbugs, centipedes and millipedes, springtails and the requisite four- bacteria, fungi, protozoa and nematodes.
What is not well known are some of the properties of worm castings. For example, just before the material leaves the gizzard, it is mixed with liquid calcium carbonate. Castings have 50% more calcium than soil that didn't pass through a worm.
In addition, worm castings have somewhere in the vicinity of 5 times the nitrogen, 10 times the potash and 7 times the phosphate than soil that hasn't been worked on by worms. They also have about 3 times as much usable magnesium.
What is more, vermicastings usually have 50% more organic matter that regular soil. This makes sense, as it is the organic matter that contains the bacteria sought by worms. And it explains in part the increase in the nutrients listed above and the increase in the soil's cation exchange capacity due to the surface area of the organic matter, which is deposited in worm burrows in the soil.
Why are vermicastings so effective when used around plants? For one thing, they are a perfect environment for micro-organisms that feed on the organic matter contained in the pellets and, in turn, provide plants with nutrients and sustain the soil food web. And because castings are deposited in burrows, which open up soil for aeration, and the microorganisms deposited are obligate aerobes (they require oxygen), these good-guy, non-pathogenic organisms thrive. This means they can out compete the bad guys for nutrients and space. In doing so, they break down the organic matter in the castings and provide plants with nitrogen and other nutrients. If you are not using the power of worms, you are not practicing sustainable growing. Get back with the program that has served Nature so well all these years. Using worms is a good way to start over. Ultimately, this means less work for you”.
Now that you believe in the worms power to till and fertilizer your garden there are a few things you must to keep them happy and multiplying.
- STOP tilling the garden. Tilling chops up worms and other soil web critters also brings weed seed to the surface.
- NO MORE chemicals. These all contain salts in one form or another. Salts damage all life in the soil and especially the worms.
- Add the following to encourage worms to multiply—organic matter (leaves in the fall and grass clippings in the spring and summer from your organic lawn)---coffee grounds—use worm castings till you worms are well established and make their own.
Don’t worry about importing worms... get right with your soil and the worms will come. While waiting for your worms do add some castings as a top dressing to the garden—remember a little goes a long way. Adding a handful when planting will pay big dividends right off. |
