Worms!!

everytime i go digging in the dirt i'm amazed at the life that is teaming just below the surface: worms, millepedes, roly polys, spiders, grubs, ants, ants, and even more ants.  the soil is alive! - and that's just the stuff that i can see with the naked eye.  granted most of these i'm not keen on finding in my house (still wondering how so many roly polys end up in my basement), most of them help make the soil a richer place for plants. 

last week i ordered a box of 500 worms online (www.unclejimswormfarm.com) to start composting with worms. it's kind of amazing sometimes what you can have delivered to your front door.  i have a regular compost pile in the corner of my yard, but i have to confess, i'm not that skilled at it.  in fact i find it a tiresome chore to deal with.  it seems i never have the right mix of 'green waste' to 'brown waste' and turning the compost over is a task i never quite seem to find the time to do.  so why not let the worms do all the work?  i tried my hand at vermiculture while in grad school and found it to be a pretty easy way to deal with most of my kitchen scraps.  back then though i didn't really have a garden, so i didn't take much advantage of the nutrient rich castings the worms left behind.  so now here i am with a wonderful garden, and i hate having to buy soil amendments when i know how easy it can be to get my own.  i recently got a plastic bin, drilled some holes for drainage, added a few shovelfuls of soil along with some dampened newspaper and some kitchen waste to make a cozy little home for my little squiggly invertebrates (eggshells and coffee grounds are especially loved by the worms, citrus peel not so much).  now they are happily eating my garbage.

    The worms arrived packed in a cloth bag.   

 

The worms are becoming acquainted with their new home.