If you follow the first or second methods there will probably be pieces of
things that are not fully broken down. You can use the compost straight as
it comes or with the worms separated out, in the soil or as mulch, even if
it is a bit lumpy. The third method will produce a very finely granulated
product with few lumpy bits. If you used woodchips or other high carbon,
slow to decompose materials in your compost, and you want a finer
material, then separate the worms out and screen the compost through ½
inch wire mesh.
The last year I gardened in east Texas, I grew two-pound carrots. Yes,
that’s right. Carrots that weighed in at two pounds each. Of course I had
the advantage of an acid sandy soil. No rocks, not even pea gravel, on the
place. I had been following the bio-dynamic/French intensive method of
gardening for several years. My four-foot wide beds had all been double
dug at least once and large amounts of compost added to them. This compost
was made up of woodchips and from cleaning out the barn where we kept
goats and chickens. It had heated up wonderfully and by the time it was
spread on the garden, the worms had also been working on it.
In February with the carrot bed forked up, and as much encroaching Bermuda
grass removed as possible, wood ashes were sprinkled on, to help raise the
pH and as a source of potash, which is very important for the formation of
root crops. Then about two inches of worm castings from under the rabbit
cages was spread on top. Imperator carrot seed was sprinkled over the bed
and a more castings sprinkled over the top. Some spoiled hay was shaken
out over the bed, though not in a solid sheet, just as very light mulch. There was still a lot of soil visible. The carrots sprouted within two
weeks and were off and running. The tops were huge. Now conventional
garden writers will tell you that you shouldn’t put manure on your carrot
bed. It will cause the roots to fork. That manure is too high in nitrogen
and you’ll get great big tops and no bottoms. Well, those great big tops
grew some great big bottoms! True, it did take them awhile to size up. About 6 weeks after the seeds sprouted, I weeded and thinned the bed. After that the tops were beginning to shade out the weeds and all I had to
watch for was Bermuda grass. When they were about three months old they
were beginning to get big enough to eat, so I began pulling everything big
enough to bother washing and cooking, gradually thinning them farther and
farther apart. In the first part of July I pulled the last carrots from
that 100-square-foot bed, so I could plant some beans. I was utterly
astounded. The tops were two-and-a-half feet tall. The tops of the roots
were almost three inches across. I weighed them. They averaged two pounds
each. I surely wish I had taken some pictures of those carrots. Nobody
believes me. And of course the next year I moved to Arizona where I had to
start a new garden.
My current method of using worm castings and worm-processed compost is as
follows. I double dig the beds the first year I make them, picking out as
many rocks as possible (I now garden on hard-packed caliche, which is full
of rocks). I don’t grow root crops on new beds for a couple of years. To
make room for the addition of a lot of compost, without raising the beds
too high above the paths, I remove a five-gallon bucket of soil from the
bottom of each trench as I double-dig. Then I double-dig just once
more; the first time I grow carrots, potatoes or parsnips, this time
screening the top 12 inches of soil through half-inch hardware cloth, to
get rid of the rest of the rocks.
After the bed is raked into shape I add fish meal, for nitrogen, kelp for
trace minerals and SulPoMag (sulphate of potash magnesia for potash). I
just sprinkle these on top of the soil. I top that with about three to
four inches of compost. I water and let the bed settle for a few days then
plant seeds or transplants. The compost contains a lot of small worms and
eggs. As long as there is compost on top of the bed, the worms will
continue to live. They also work on mixing the compost and fertilizers
into the soil. This method has produced a tremendous improvement in my
soil and my garden. I’m well on my way to growing two pound carrots again!
I am currently experimenting with using worm compost as the major
ingredient in the mix for making soil blocks. I also use it as
top-dressing and mulch around trees, perennials, and long season
vegetables like tomatoes and squash.
Now I don’t promise that you will grow two-pound carrots, but it could
happen. I can promise you that raising earthworms will provide you
with many opportunities for recycling, for producing a high protein feed
for other animals, and will greatly improve your garden.
SOURCES & FURTHER READING
Raising Earthworms Successfully
http://www.bae.ncsu.edu/people/faculty/sherman/earthworms.pdf
accessed 1/20/2005
Worm Castings (Vermicompost) Fertilizer Value
http://www.ecosyn.us/ecocity/Links/My_Links_Pages/Castings_01.htm
accessed 1/20/2005
Worms Eat My Garbage: How to Set Up & Maintain a Worm Composting System by
Mary Appelhof 2nd ed., rev. and expanded. - Kalamazoo, Mich.: Flower
Press, 1997. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN:
0-942256-10-7 1
Raising Earthworms for Profit
by Earl B. Shields Paperback - January 1, 1994
The ABC's of the Earthworm Business
by Ruth Myers
