Well, have you ever asked yourself...'What do composting worms really want?' I didn't think so, I hadn't either... until I started learning about these wonderful creatures and all they do for us. And, we started raising them for our garden.
I'll give you my answer first. The Answer: Composting worms want to COMPOST, of course. So, how do they do that and how can we help?
1. Give worms a home...Welcome them into your life. See them as helpful creatures, which they are...don't go running off into the night after seeing a worm. Teach your children how they safely turn kitchen wastes into valuable rich soil, so,we can all raise safe healthy food, taking care of ourselves without putting harsh chemicals in our gardens or our bodies. Our children will keep this with them and pass it on to their kids too.
2. Raise some worms. Yes, this is fun and easy. Just get some worms. Where? Worms can be found online and can be shipped right to your home. That's easy. Some composting worms are named Red Wigglers or Red Worms...there are about 900 to 1000 Red Wigglers per pound..they are small, but eat lots of kitchen wastes and make great castings or soil for our plants. Put them in a worm bin [there are several types also found online or most gardening stores, or easily make one yourself with a big plastic or wooden tub]. You can also raise worms indoors or outdoors. You can read more about worms in a book by Mary Applehof called 'Worms Eat Our Garbage'.
Worm castings are safe for even the most delicate of plants. Just sprinkle a small amount on the top of the soil around your plants..castings are food for plants. Plants love castings. It is dark rich crumble sweet pleasant earth-smelling 'worm poop'. Compost tea can be made with castings too, by mixing water with the castings and pouring this on your plants. You can more read about this in a book by Dr.Elaine Ingham PhD , called..'The Compost Tea Brewing Manual'.
3. Feed worms your table scraps. That's what they like. Worms like vegetables, peels and scraps, fruit rinds and peels, some coffee grounds. tea bags are fine, things we throw away. Just don't feed them meat, meat products, milk, milk products or grease...these things will spoil and start to smell up your worm's home and attract flies too.
4. After raising your very own worms. In no time, you will see how really easy and fun it is. How happy your plants are and how much safe and delicious food your garden produces. You'll wonder why we didn't know about how wonderful and safe worms were before now.
I just love worms. JA ROSE-BARTLETT 'WORM GUYS'. http://www.wormguys.com/
Photo by Comrogues .
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