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too many worms in the garden
+2
Too Tall Tomatoes
FamilyGardening
6 posters
Page 1 of 1
too many worms in the garden
can there be too many worms in our garden?
little bit back ground info
we have about a 23/19 area that use to have a large old apple tree growing. in this area along with the tree the area was used for composting for at least 25 + years....composting of old tree limbs, grass and garden cutting etc.....
so last year we planted a three sisters in ground garden and it did wonderful
this year hubby has built several raised beds with open bottoms and fenced the area in....it looks so good....cant wait to show pics!.....he even put in grapes along the fence
any way...to my question.....there are soooo many worms in this soil i cant even put a number on them....all i know is if we even scoop up a hand full of soil to plant something...... there is at least 10 worms that we can see in that hole or in our hands
im thinking this is great!!...our soil is alive and active :drunken:
do you think they will be fine in there as long as we add compost every fall to feed them?....or should i set up some worm feeders?
hugs
rose.....
little bit back ground info
we have about a 23/19 area that use to have a large old apple tree growing. in this area along with the tree the area was used for composting for at least 25 + years....composting of old tree limbs, grass and garden cutting etc.....
so last year we planted a three sisters in ground garden and it did wonderful
this year hubby has built several raised beds with open bottoms and fenced the area in....it looks so good....cant wait to show pics!.....he even put in grapes along the fence
any way...to my question.....there are soooo many worms in this soil i cant even put a number on them....all i know is if we even scoop up a hand full of soil to plant something...... there is at least 10 worms that we can see in that hole or in our hands
im thinking this is great!!...our soil is alive and active :drunken:
do you think they will be fine in there as long as we add compost every fall to feed them?....or should i set up some worm feeders?
hugs
rose.....
FamilyGardening- Posts : 2424
Join date : 2011-05-10
Location : Western WA
Re: too many worms in the garden
FamilyGardening wrote:
do you think they will be fine in there as long as we add compost every fall to feed them?....or should i set up some worm feeders?
hugs
rose.....
Actually you should remove about half of the worms and send them my way.
Seriously though, it's awesome that you have that many worms. I wish I had 1/10th of the worms you do.
Too Tall Tomatoes- Posts : 1069
Join date : 2011-10-24
Age : 53
Location : Pennsylvania, Zone 6A
Re: too many worms in the garden
which ones do you want?....there is a large mix of them
i want to know how to keep them in the garden
hugs
rose.... who is worried that now she has disturbed her worms home by digging up their compost home soil and putting them into her raised beds....her worms are going to head for the border......right under the fence to her neighbors yard who doesnt even mow
i want to know how to keep them in the garden
hugs
rose.... who is worried that now she has disturbed her worms home by digging up their compost home soil and putting them into her raised beds....her worms are going to head for the border......right under the fence to her neighbors yard who doesnt even mow
FamilyGardening- Posts : 2424
Join date : 2011-05-10
Location : Western WA
Re: too many worms in the garden
I will take the other half of them.
My previous garden in Eugene Oregon , was totally loaded with worms, TONS of them, and it was a very fertile garden.
So I guess when it comes to worms, the more the merrier.
When fall comes, if you leave the roots of your spent plants, in the ground, the worms will come and "deal" with that for you.
My previous garden in Eugene Oregon , was totally loaded with worms, TONS of them, and it was a very fertile garden.
So I guess when it comes to worms, the more the merrier.
When fall comes, if you leave the roots of your spent plants, in the ground, the worms will come and "deal" with that for you.
GWN- Posts : 2804
Join date : 2012-01-14
Age : 67
Location : british columbia zone 5a
Re: too many worms in the garden
Once I get my boxes built and the MM added, I am going to add alot of worms to them. I have a source of redworms that I found on craigslist. 3 lbs for 50 bucks seems like a decent price to me.
Too Tall Tomatoes- Posts : 1069
Join date : 2011-10-24
Age : 53
Location : Pennsylvania, Zone 6A
Re: too many worms in the garden
GWN.....about the spent plants....i was just watching a u tube video last night on perma-culture (sp?) and that is what they suggest too.....today when we were out cleaning up for spring....i had left some plants in to die off in our SFG garden area and to my surprise when i went to pull them up....they crumbled in my hands and there were no roots left.....they were last years cucumber plants....so im for sure going to leave in as many spent plants i have room for and let them go until next spring cleaning
we also are leaving any small peices of wood that we find in the soil....just burry it down a bit lower.....we even found some egg shells that became powder when i crushed them in my hands.....they were from our last years compost....
its been fun working with this compost that has been going for over 25 years......when we first bought our home 17 years ago....i thought that pile of stuff was such an eye sore.....what i didnt relise until i started gardening...under that eye sore was hidden treasure :drunken:
hugs
rose
we also are leaving any small peices of wood that we find in the soil....just burry it down a bit lower.....we even found some egg shells that became powder when i crushed them in my hands.....they were from our last years compost....
its been fun working with this compost that has been going for over 25 years......when we first bought our home 17 years ago....i thought that pile of stuff was such an eye sore.....what i didnt relise until i started gardening...under that eye sore was hidden treasure :drunken:
hugs
rose
FamilyGardening- Posts : 2424
Join date : 2011-05-10
Location : Western WA
Re: too many worms in the garden
FamilyGardening wrote:
i want to know how to keep them in the garden
I put a dusting of ground corn on top of the soil to tell them they should stick around for the good eats.
I do this about once a month.
CharlesB- Posts : 273
Join date : 2012-01-02
Location : Philadelphia, PA
Re: too many worms in the garden
charles do you mean something like corn flour/corn meal?
thanks
rose
thanks
rose
FamilyGardening- Posts : 2424
Join date : 2011-05-10
Location : Western WA
What I use
I buy a huge bag of dry corn from the feed store. It was like 40 lbs for 10 bucks on sale. Then I use a Corona hand crank corn meal grinder. That's a lifetime supply of worm food. Well at least in the quantity I use.
CharlesB- Posts : 273
Join date : 2012-01-02
Location : Philadelphia, PA
Re: too many worms in the garden
Corn products can develop a odd taste if kept too long. So is old corn meal and grits that have "off" taste ok to feed the worms? I needed some worm food when mine first arrived, I mixed some grits and coffee ground, let the mix sit in water until the grits were soaked and put in the worm bin. Had a whole herd in the mess.
Kay
Kay
A WEED IS A FLOWER GROWING IN THE WRONG PLACE
Elizabeth City, NC
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walshevak
Certified SFG Instructor- Posts : 4374
Join date : 2010-10-17
Age : 81
Location : wilmington, nc zone 8
Re: too many worms in the garden
Corn meal is known to give worms a quick blast of nutritious energy and they seem to love it. I don't know about grits you may have to search online if no one else answers you.
llama momma
Certified SFG Instructor- Posts : 4921
Join date : 2010-08-20
Location : Central Ohio zone 6a
Not sure
I am no expert in worm food. This is my current experiment and no issues so far.
I went with the corn meal in the garden method because I screwed up my worm box too many times.
I went with the corn meal in the garden method because I screwed up my worm box too many times.
CharlesB- Posts : 273
Join date : 2012-01-02
Location : Philadelphia, PA
Re: too many worms in the garden
Oh no sorry to hear the worm box troubles, CharlesB. My bin is almost a month old, so far so good but who knows. I worry I poke around in it too much but I'm trying to see if things look normal. As a newbie its hard to know what normal is or what I'm looking for! I see casts and food is disappearing. Only time will tell.
llama momma
Certified SFG Instructor- Posts : 4921
Join date : 2010-08-20
Location : Central Ohio zone 6a
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