Worms! How do I get them?

[tobiasfamily]

I am in the process of renewing a garden bed and will be sifting soil to remove weeds, etc. before putting it in the new bed. 

The bed is on a clay base, with scoria and weedmat on the bottom, and will be filled above with soil. The bed itself is a mortared brick construction on a concrete rim slab. This is designed to keep weeds out but fear will also keep the worms out.

Can anyone advise if there is any benefit is buying worms to add to the garden? I was just thinking of adding the "worm farm" worms am interested to hear if you have tried this before and how successful it was.

[CathM]

It's always a good sign of healthy soil when lots of worms are around!

If you're not finding any in the garden you've built, there are things you can do...

I have clients who have a roof top garden and there wasn't any worms in their garden beds, so I added some from my worm farm to their in-garden compost system. Have a read how to set up this super easy system here - http://soiltosupper.com/do-you-know-how-to-compost/

You can also set up a worm tower, which is a smaller plastic bin, with base removed, and worms are added then food scraps fed to them. They'll travel in and out of the base to feed on decaying scraps then make their way through the soil. 

To encourage earth worms to your garden, just add rotted manure and other organic matter, which they feed off, and they will start to multiply in the soil. They also like blood and bone, so add a few handfuls to the soil.

I've seen many gardens that don't have worms and by just adding organic ingedients the worms turn up! 

I hope this helps,

have fun!!

Cath

[tobiasfamily]

Wow! What a great articles on worm towers - definitely will give this a go.

Thanks,

Ray.

[Jason]

Just wondering how your garden bed renewal project is going @tobiasfamily?

It was great to see you receive plenty of helpful replies about getting worms into the garden. I hope you found them useful.

Jason

[Jackson]

@Bobbiejohnultz, I wouldn't go chopping your worms up just yet.

If you accidentally cut a worm in to 2 or 3 pieces, the best case scenario is that you'll end up with one worm. Depending on where the cut is the head section can grow a new tail, but there is no way for the tail section to grow a new head (or other vital organs for that matter). 

[Bobbiejohnultz]

Yes the myth has been busted.After reading the life habits of earth worms you are correct.Thank you, good information. 

Healthy soil is good for earthworms so you can transfer them by transferring them from one sight to another moist soil sight with your garden shovel. 

[tobiasfamily]

The garden renewal project is going well but has been a long process.

I had 2 cubic metres of soil that was removed from the garden on tarps on the backyard grass to sieve back into the renewed bed. Do you know how long that takes using a garden seive? A very long time.

Handy hint - make a timber frame and attach 2 layers of chicken wire slightly offset over the frame - holes are much bigger but you can sieve dirt much faster than a small garden sieve. I was doing this to reduce oxalis bulbs, buffalo grass runners and other debris that was in the dirt.

I did find worms in my sieveing sessions, so they have been put back in the garden bed for now.

The next task will be worm towers to go in the garden bed around time of planting.

Looking forward to introducing the granddaughter to the joys of gardening by sowing peas as she can at least see the seed - the carrots done earlier were a bit of a miss as the seeds are so small and not visible when sown on the dirt.

I am now hoping the Sir Walter Buffalo grass will bonce back that was under the soil covered tarps for 5 weeks - some signs of green but looks very deadish - here's hoping it revives.

[QuailFlock]

Wow, hard working! The timber-chicken wire sieve sounds such a good idea!

A quick tip on the carrot seeds - sprinkle put them on a damp kitchen paper and plant them while the paper is damp.
This way you can see where the seeds are.
Happy Gardening!

[SoMuch2Do]

Wow, that is a great article @timjeffries  Certainly looks good.  Will give it a try.  I have a composting barrel  but it is very difficult getting the material out. @tobiasfamily I can confirm that the compost worms do 'die' when dug into the soil.  I did not buy any - they just appeared in the composting material.  Scary that.  

[Jason]

This morning I attended a gardening workshop on composting hosted by @robbayswater.

Rob explained the differences between earthworms and composting worms. 

Earthworms have teeth like sharks - necessary for getting through compacted soil. They are sensitive to temperature so burrow down to where the earth is around 14 degrees. 

Composting worms have no teeth but can tolerate a wide range of temperatures - from around 5 degrees to 30 degrees. 

Jason

[AndreaNg]

Was there any tips on the best position for a worm farm Jason?