Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["Terry Wereb" <frostedacres@gmail.com>]

okay, I am jumping in, with what I know from neighbors who have tried vermiculture and myown experience--

 

"regular" earthworms are escape artists--they need a lot more room than the red variety sold for counter-top composting.

 

When you leave a nice pile of rabbit manure and bedding on the ground, the earthworms will move in, and grow to quite a large size--I found some last month the size of small snakes.

 

If raising them 'outdoors', be careful if you turn the pile, or you can expose their delicate bodies to extremes of cold, with not enough time for them to get back under the medium.

 

Be certain not to waterlog the medium they are growing in- they need air, just like roots do!!!

 

 I like to punch holes in a large container,(nail holes) for both drainage and airflow through the medium. I  avoid dark containers in the summer, as they can get too warm.  I throw fresh vegetative materials on/in every chance I get, along with new residents when available.

 

 I am not raising them for the castings-- I encourage their reproduction in my composting areas and bins, then move compost and worms to the garden area.  I am dealing with a very heavy, acidic clay soil type, and found that applying worms with the compost actually produces the fastest and best short term results.  When the snow melts in the spring, I will be able to evaluate how the soil has changed over the course of a whole year.

 

 Meanwhile, I have added 'homemade' wood charcoal to the compost piles and bins--going for some of the advantages of terra preta.......

 

Terry W

Frosted Acres