Organic Gardening
From Down Under
EARTHWORMS.
A Gardeners Best Friend
If you don't have these guys in your garden there's something wrong. Add more compost and mulch to your garden. Horse and/or Cow manures can kill the worms in your garden, especially if the farm where you obtained the manure from, worm their animals. If they do, break it down in your compost heap for approximately 3 months. ASK? the farmer/supplier if you are not sure?. |
| Treated Sawdust is Toxic; and will also kill earthworms, use only untreated sawdust as. Treated Sawdust; could also
kill your plants. ASK? the farmer/supplier if
you are not sure?. It is a belief in gardening that the soil should be turned over, to allow the sun and air in. But turning the soil over does more damage than good, it upsets the balance of the soil, the micro - organisms and the earthworms. Also, the soil will dry out. By turning the soil over the sub soil ends up on top of the garden and the top soil is buried, the plant now has depleted soil to feed on. If you wish to dig use a small hand trowel or a garden fork, fork the soil, don't turn the soil. it is not necessary, the earthworms will do all your digging. Earthworms are the soil workers. As they burrow in the soil their tunnels allow air and water down to the plant roots, at the same time pulling organic material down to the sub soil. In all soils there are worm eggs, under the right conditions, lots of compost and mulch, they will hatch and you will have worms in a matter of weeks. Earthworms need to be fed with organic material. They pass it through their systems and excrete worm castings which are a 100% organic fertilizer. The native earthworms leave their castings on top of the surface, compost worms below the surface. The earthworms that can be purchased from worm farms are compost worms and they only live in well broken down compost, compost worms are not a native to Australia. (don't forget about animal manures - worming etc.) |
