Earthworms Benefits Your Compost and Garden
Believe it or not when it comes to your garden and compost, earthworms are one of the best things for it. Not only are they able to convert organic material, loosen the soil and aerate the soil, they can also increase your compost's soil ability to retain water. Earthworms are nature's way of taking plant matter, reorganizing it biologically, and making it available for your plants use.
While many different types of earthworms are available and can come in a variety of different colors and sizes, they all thrive in moist organic rich material. While they can be known to eat decomposing animals, insects, and many other different types of plant matter, lettuce just happens to be one of their favorite vegetables.
Earthworms can actually range in size from 2 inches to extra-large types they can actually reach 12 feet. Also, they come in a variety of colors from dark gray, black, maroon and of course pinkish and reddish colors.
In order to take advantage of earthworms in your garden, you'll need to make sure that the soil stays moist and they have plenty of organic material. The worst thing that can happen is allowing your garden to dry up, or not at organic matter for food for your worms. This will cause them to move out of your garden, and apply their wonderful tribute somewhere else.
Believe it or not, earthworms are survivalists and during winter and in extremely cold climates they actually become inactive and rest below the frost line. Frost and freezing temperatures can actually kill an earthworm in less than two minutes, so if you have a raised bed of earthworms, make sure that you keep an eye on the weather, it wouldn't take much to kill off your whole earthworm farm. Also, remember, earthworms reproduction cycles are usually seasonal, and they'll lay more eggs in the fall, so that the spring will bring new babies to work in your garden all over again.
Earthworms are absolutely wonderful for your garden, and believe it or not some species actually live to 10 years of age. Of course, earthworms also face numerous hazards, birds, mice and moles, eat them and the weather of course can affect them adversely as well.
Allowing your garden to thrive with rich moist soil, including earthworms, is going to give your plants the best chance of survival and the best nutrients available. Earthworms love manure, lettuce, and any other decomposing matter, and they'll offer up a variety of nutrients that your plants can readily absorb.
When it comes to your compost, you might try purchasing several cartons of worms that can be used for fishing. A great way to add a variety of different worms to your compost pile, so your plants can reap the benefits.
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