Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

livingontheland - Re: [Livingontheland] vermiculture

livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Ralph Thurston <thurstonessays@yahoo.com>
  • To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] vermiculture
  • Date: Fri, 7 Dec 2007 04:58:06 -0800 (PST)

I'd love to let the worms do it on their own.
Unfortunately, on a five acre field I have yet to turn
a single earthworm out of the ground. This may be from
years of "normal" farming done on the piece before I
bought it. I am surprised that after five years
earthworms haven't returned to the farm on their own,
but it appears I'm going to have to help them out
somehow.

--- Ken Hargesheimer <minifarms2@yahoo.com> wrote:

> I want to add a "second" to Dieter's advice below.
> Why do all that work and take the time to do it?
> Let the worms do their thing in the soil without any
> time or work by the farmer/gardener. Have the soil
> covered to protect it. No water runoff, etc.
>
> Ken Hargesheimer
>
> Dieter Brand <diebrand@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Here is the opposing argument:
>
> According to a calculation I read the other day,
> 200 to 400 earthworms can live
> in 1 square meter of good garden soil, supposing
> further that each worm can
> produce its own weight of high quality compost
> each day, this translates into
> about 1 cm of compost over the entire surface or
> about 50 truck loads of high
> quality compost per hectare (about 2.5 acres) a
> year. Try to make this amount
> of compost in your vermiculture facility!
>
> If on the other hand, you raise earthworms in a
> box to liberate them in the
> garden, the earthworms raised on a high nutrient
> diet in the box may not do
> very well when left to their own devices in the
> wild.
>
> What I mean is that it may be more advantageous to
> create the right conditions
> in the garden or in the field for earthworms to
> prosper and multiply rather than to
> raise a few in a box.
>
> Dieter
>
>
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------
> Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them
> fast with Yahoo! Search.>
_______________________________________________
> Livingontheland mailing list
> Livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
>
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/livingontheland
>




____________________________________________________________________________________
Be a better friend, newshound, and
know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.
http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ






Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page