Earthworms In The Garden / Earthworm Facts
Notice the lowly earthworm, squirming away, going about its everyday business. Simple creatures you may think but they have quite a important use in the garden. Did you know the earthworms are nature's first gardeners? They don't exist just for kids to eat and fishermen to use as bait :)
Some Basic Earthworm Facts:
Earthworms are present in almost every type of soil but the healthier the soil the greater the numbers. A healthy soil permits lots of air and moisture, both of which are needed by the earthworm for a continued existence. Earthworms have no lungs like you or me but instead breathe through their skin. Their whole skin absorbs oxygen and releases carbon dioxide. They also need moisture to assist them in respiration but too much moisture is not good for them.
There are four types of earthworm that you may run into:
Nightcrawlers: 8 to 10 inches long and the fisherman's favourite.
Garden Worms: 5 to 7 inches long and found commonly in damp soils.
Manure Worms: 4 to 5 inches long and found in manure rich soils.
Red Worms: 3 to 4 inches long and the most commercially available.
Why Earthworms in the Garden?
A garden without earthworms would miss out on all of the great benefits that they bring to it. Their first job is to till the soil by tunneling through it. Tunnels created allow air and moisture to pass easily through the soil, creating a healthy environment for plants. Tunnels retain water that the plants can take up and also hold air to help bacteria break down organic matter within the soil.
After digestion earthworms produce excrement about the size of a pin head. This excrement is called "castings" or "vermicompost" and is an excellent soil conditioning material. It improves properties of the soil such as porosity and moisture retention, aids plant growth and helps in the fight against pests and diseases.
Increasing Earthworm Population in the Garden
How does one go about increasing the number of earthworms in their garden soil? Well the best way to do so is to add more organic matter to the soil. Earthworms cannot get enough of the stuff and will seek it out wherever they can find it.
Finally...
The earthworm is just as important to the garden as the gardener that maintains it because they till the soil and add a soil conditioner in the form of castings. They are as much a gardener as you are. The next time you see one wiggling on the ground in front of you bend down and say "got any good gardening tips?" You never know it may answer :)
I will leave the final word to a someone who once had this to say about the earthworm:
"The plow is one of the most ancient and most valuable of man's inventions; but long before he existed, the land was in fact regularly plowed and still continues to be thus plowed by earthworms. It may be doubted whether there are many other animals which have played so important a part in the history of the world, as have these lowly organized creatures."
Some Places To Check Out:
Planting a garden is easy with the Mantis Tiller:
www.mantis.com
Worm Castings Farm Direct:
Buy Farm Direct, Worm Pooh 100% Natural Worm Casting's
www.GardeningZone.com
Worm Bins, Worm Composter:
$129 Free Shipping Quality Product Can O Worms. With 5 Year Warranty
www.earlybirdworms.com
Worm Composting Worm Bins:
Reds and European Compost Worms Can O Worms w/ worms + bed $0 Ship
www.WormCrusader.com
Worm Bins:
Your top source for worm bins. Find worm bins quick!
www.RackandShelf.com
Thursday, June 11, 2009
"The Best Compost Tumbler" ~ by Dick Murray
Two Bins Means a Constant Supply Free Information Package
www.Compost-Twin.com
Most people who choose to garden are aware of the benefits of composting and know the basics of creating good compost, but often are unsure exactly what the best equipment, if any, is actually required.
The most basic form of a compost pile is exactly that, a pile of vegetation, garbage and scrap items such as leaves and grass, which then may be surrounded by an enclosure. This works very well, but requires a fairly long period of time and a certain amount of maintenance to ensure a good final product. Finished compost should appear like fine loam with a sweet earthy aroma and should not be a wet glob of muck. An important process in achieving this quality is to turn the pile over quite often in order to mix and aerate it and let oxygen enter in to create aerobes, which are the microbes that hasten the breaking down of your pile into good compost.
The disadvantages of a pile are obvious. They are rather unsightly, they will attract vermin and small animals such as raccoon’s, dogs and rats, they may have an unpleasant odor, and they will also probably irritate your neighbors if you live in a fairly well populated area. As a matter of interest, many municipalities now ban compost piles because of the above reasons. The one advantage of a pile is that it is fairly easy to turn it in order to pitchfork the raw compost over, to mix and aerate it and larger amounts of compost can also be processed at one time.
Compost bins are much more suitable to the home gardener. They should be vermin and child proof, be odor free (only if you provide the correct proportions of carbon and nitrogen in loading the bin) and visually more pleasing than a pile . A bin can be problematic when you aerate the compost because it is usually difficult to turn the compost over efficiently. Another drawback is the emptying of the bin if it does not have an access door at the bottom. Also if a bin sits directly on rough, sloped or uneven ground or is designed as a ball which has to be rolled in order along to mix the contents, that system mixing operation could be extremely difficult.
A compost tumbler is probably the best system. Tumbling the contents provides aeration without the use of tools and also speeds up the decomposition time. Do not believe the claims of “compost in just a few weeks”. This sounds good but Mother Nature works at her own pace and we can speed her up just so much. The great advantage of a tumbler is the ease of turning and aerating the compost, which should provide a finished product in about 10 weeks.
Things to look for:
Sturdy dark colored containers to absorb the suns heat, especially important in cooler climes.
Sturdy stands or legs, a full composter can weigh over 150 pounds or more.
Can the unit be moved if necessary in order to be closer to the garden area worked currently being worked on.
Is there a method of collecting the “compost tea“ which collects at the bottom and if saved, is a fantastic product to pour on your planting beds or directly on the plants as a fertilizer.
Other considerations:
Depending on your needs, will one composter be enough? New material can always be added to your composter, but the process is quicker if one load is processed at a time.
Keep a kitchen composter pail in a handy location to toss your daily scraps into.
www.Compost-Twin.com
Most people who choose to garden are aware of the benefits of composting and know the basics of creating good compost, but often are unsure exactly what the best equipment, if any, is actually required.
The most basic form of a compost pile is exactly that, a pile of vegetation, garbage and scrap items such as leaves and grass, which then may be surrounded by an enclosure. This works very well, but requires a fairly long period of time and a certain amount of maintenance to ensure a good final product. Finished compost should appear like fine loam with a sweet earthy aroma and should not be a wet glob of muck. An important process in achieving this quality is to turn the pile over quite often in order to mix and aerate it and let oxygen enter in to create aerobes, which are the microbes that hasten the breaking down of your pile into good compost.
The disadvantages of a pile are obvious. They are rather unsightly, they will attract vermin and small animals such as raccoon’s, dogs and rats, they may have an unpleasant odor, and they will also probably irritate your neighbors if you live in a fairly well populated area. As a matter of interest, many municipalities now ban compost piles because of the above reasons. The one advantage of a pile is that it is fairly easy to turn it in order to pitchfork the raw compost over, to mix and aerate it and larger amounts of compost can also be processed at one time.
Compost bins are much more suitable to the home gardener. They should be vermin and child proof, be odor free (only if you provide the correct proportions of carbon and nitrogen in loading the bin) and visually more pleasing than a pile . A bin can be problematic when you aerate the compost because it is usually difficult to turn the compost over efficiently. Another drawback is the emptying of the bin if it does not have an access door at the bottom. Also if a bin sits directly on rough, sloped or uneven ground or is designed as a ball which has to be rolled in order along to mix the contents, that system mixing operation could be extremely difficult.
A compost tumbler is probably the best system. Tumbling the contents provides aeration without the use of tools and also speeds up the decomposition time. Do not believe the claims of “compost in just a few weeks”. This sounds good but Mother Nature works at her own pace and we can speed her up just so much. The great advantage of a tumbler is the ease of turning and aerating the compost, which should provide a finished product in about 10 weeks.
Things to look for:
Sturdy dark colored containers to absorb the suns heat, especially important in cooler climes.
Sturdy stands or legs, a full composter can weigh over 150 pounds or more.
Can the unit be moved if necessary in order to be closer to the garden area worked currently being worked on.
Is there a method of collecting the “compost tea“ which collects at the bottom and if saved, is a fantastic product to pour on your planting beds or directly on the plants as a fertilizer.
Other considerations:
Depending on your needs, will one composter be enough? New material can always be added to your composter, but the process is quicker if one load is processed at a time.
Keep a kitchen composter pail in a handy location to toss your daily scraps into.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
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