permaculture

[Stephen Sherman <spsherm@msn.com>]

Here in the Colorado Rockies at 8400' red wigglers survive the winters 
just fine outdoors (-20F most years), perhaps too well...

I added red wigglers to my compost pile some years back. While they no 
doubt do help decompose the scraps in the pile, I have found them to be 
quite aggressive in their search for food. They will eat living plants 
in the garden, both roots and up above ground (I still find small ones 
inside cabbage, must have moved in when the head was forming). They 
aren't a terrible problem, just a nuisance; especially in the cabbage.

Perhaps I have a more aggressive strain, or maybe there is a better way 
to manage the compost heap so that the worms do not find their way to 
the garden with the finished compost. But if I had it to do over, I'd 
skip the red wigglers.

Steve




mIEKAL aND wrote:
> Here in SW Wisc the red wigglers make it thru the winter in the
> compost piles, I'm assuming they burrow down below the frost line...
> Gets -30F here.
>
> ~mIEKAL
>
>
>