Worm Benefits
I've seen worm castings for sale in nurseries
and, while writing my book, did a little independent research. I
purchased a six-pack of annuals, (petunias, if
I remember) and planted half in our garden in our normal fashion.
I normally fertilize each plant, mixing it in
the new root hole, as it is planted. These were, in scientific lingo, my
"control group."
The remaining half, the "experimental group",
were planted in vermicompost enriched dirt. We watered everthing just the
same and they all were planted in full sun and
side by side, the environments were as close to identical as I could make
them. But, the plants were very different
by the end of the season. The worm-aided plants were significantly
larger and
had also bloomed somewhat more. We were convinced,
and now every new plant coming on board is introduced to an
environment rich with vermicompost.
Producing the vermicompost was simple and it was
fun. We constructed a worm box per the directions in the book "Worms
Eat My Garbage." on sale at nurseries everywhere.
We told everyone about our new pets, the worms.
Many of our friends were too squeamish to actually look inside the box,
but a significant number, the gardeners, wanted
a supply of worms to use themselves.
It wasn't enough to know it works, I wanted to know why it works so I went to the library. Here's what I found:
".
. .they literally serve as colloid mills to produce the intimate chemical
and mechanical
mixture
of fine organic and inorganic matter that forms their castings. In the
mixing which takes
place
in the alimentary canal of the earthworm, the ingested materials undergo
chemical changes,
deodorization
and neutralization, so that the resultant castings are practically neutral
humus,
rich
in water-soluble plant food, immediately available for plant nutrition."
Dr. Thomas J.
Barrett
writing in "Harnessing the Earthworm."
In short, they convert garbage to humus. Humus
is possibly the most important chemical (along with humic acid) in your
soil.
In the presence of small amounts of humus, plants
are stimulated to grow beyond what would be expected from normal
nutrition. Beyond that, heavy metals harmfufl
to the plant (and to you and me) are often found in sludge, crop leavings
and manures. Humus has the ability to "fix"
the metals so the plant doesn't absorb more than it needs. Later, it
releases the heavy metals when the plant needs
them. Lastly, somehow humus can help when the soil is too acidic or too
alkaline.
So where do you get this humus? Composting is
a great start. Essentially, composting converts plant material to a humus.
Vermiculture is just a more efficent way to end
lup with a product even richer in humus than conventional compost.
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David Soper, The Garden Guy, writes and lectures on gardening topics. Read more on his website, Adventures in Gardening, www.gardenguy.com
