What do earthworms have to do with gardening?
It is my opinion that the earthworm is one of the most valuable free workers that mankind has ever mistreated. The methods of tilling the soil is very destructive to the earthworm. That is a sad commentary that needs attention and a true value put on the little creatures. They burrow into the ground, aerate and fertilize the soil. They put the soil in condition favorable for plants to grow. They are used as fish bait and other animal feed. Even their castings are being sold. I can’t think of any one creature that is more beneficial to mankind. Maybe except for the honey bee. This could be another symbiotic operation in gardening and actually many farmers do supplement their income in raising the honeybee, which is another topic.
I live here in Florida and the climate is not very suitable for the earthworms and neither is the soil suitable for the worms. They are absent from my garden. However this last year I have been working with commercial potting soil and have noticed that earthworms came with it. The nice thing about it they seemed to thrive in my pots. These were the ones that were in the shade and watered very regularly.
I have since learned that people do raise earthworms here in Florida but you need to take a couple precautions. They need a shady area and a cover or roof to keep off the excessive downpours that we have here occasionally. Then we have extreme dry seasons, that would require daily watering to keep the worms moist.
The very nice feature about raising earthworms is the fact that earthworm casting can be easily collected for organic fertilizer. The way to do that is to put your worms into a prepared bed of peat moss. Then about every 6 months roll back the peat moss with a fork or stiff rake and there are your castings ready to be shoveled out. All you need do after cleaning out the castings from the worm bed is to put the peat moss back in place and add a new layer of peat moss on the top. Presto your little money makers are ready to reproduce more new worms and castings. If you have excess worms, just sell them. There is a market for them, and there is also a market for the castings as organic fertilizer.
My personal feeling about doing this is all the benefits that it will add to your life and my life. Since I am raising plants, this will furnish me with free fertilizer for my plants. I will have a symbiotic operation that will help to sustain each part of my gardening and worm farming efforts. The worms should more than pay for the cost of raising and furnishing you with free organic fertilizer. Personally I think it’s a win-win situation. As a hobby the problem that I will have will be in containing the size of the operation.
It is my opinion that the earthworm is one of the most valuable free workers that mankind has ever mistreated. The methods of tilling the soil is very destructive to the earthworm. That is a sad commentary that needs attention and a true value put on the little creatures. They burrow into the ground, aerate and fertilize the soil. They put the soil in condition favorable for plants to grow. They are used as fish bait and other animal feed. Even their castings are being sold. I can’t think of any one creature that is more beneficial to mankind. Maybe except for the honey bee. This could be another symbiotic operation in gardening and actually many farmers do supplement their income in raising the honeybee, which is another topic.
I live here in Florida and the climate is not very suitable for the earthworms and neither is the soil suitable for the worms. They are absent from my garden. However this last year I have been working with commercial potting soil and have noticed that earthworms came with it. The nice thing about it they seemed to thrive in my pots. These were the ones that were in the shade and watered very regularly.
I have since learned that people do raise earthworms here in Florida but you need to take a couple precautions. They need a shady area and a cover or roof to keep off the excessive downpours that we have here occasionally. Then we have extreme dry seasons, that would require daily watering to keep the worms moist.
The very nice feature about raising earthworms is the fact that earthworm casting can be easily collected for organic fertilizer. The way to do that is to put your worms into a prepared bed of peat moss. Then about every 6 months roll back the peat moss with a fork or stiff rake and there are your castings ready to be shoveled out. All you need do after cleaning out the castings from the worm bed is to put the peat moss back in place and add a new layer of peat moss on the top. Presto your little money makers are ready to reproduce more new worms and castings. If you have excess worms, just sell them. There is a market for them, and there is also a market for the castings as organic fertilizer.
My personal feeling about doing this is all the benefits that it will add to your life and my life. Since I am raising plants, this will furnish me with free fertilizer for my plants. I will have a symbiotic operation that will help to sustain each part of my gardening and worm farming efforts. The worms should more than pay for the cost of raising and furnishing you with free organic fertilizer. Personally I think it’s a win-win situation. As a hobby the problem that I will have will be in containing the size of the operation.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment