Plant Gardens 101

Composting with Worms in the Winter Times

Composting worms in the winter is not quite the same as composting worms during the summer times. There are no white flakes falling to make a 3-foot thick layer of snow during the summer time. There is no howling wind bringing chills to your bones in the summer time. There is no freezing temperature threatening to freeze you to death in the summer time. And there is no need for that thick jacket that you have been hiding in the closet just for that occasion. Overall, the living conditions during winter are not the same as the living conditions during the summer time. This applies to humans as well as red wiggler worms. That is why we need to understand one very basic and important note in worm composting during the winter.

What do you need during winter? (more…)

This article describes to you why composting is good to both soil and plants. You learn about the red wiggler worm and about how you can use it to have a 100% natural and beautiful garden.

Red Wiggler Worms (Eisenia foetida) are the most common type of composting worm. As they feed, red wigglers swallow great quantities of organic material, digest it, extract its food value and expel the residue as worm castings, which are very rich in nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. The life of a red wiggler worm in general is hard. Their bodies are about 70% protein; rich food for many predators. Their major enemies are insect eating birds, like robins, and mammals like moles. If you watch a robin hunting, it pauses, cocks it head and then hops. The robin’s ears can actually hear the red wiggler moving under ground. But the red wiggler worm, although sightless and ear-less can feel the vibrations of the bird on the surface. It’s the deadly game of survival.

Red wiggler worms can process large amounts of organic matter and, under ideal conditions, can eat one and half times its body weight every day. They also reproduce rapidly, and are very tolerant of variations in growing conditions.

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I’m sure many of you have heard of Cesar Milan, also known as the Dog Whisperer, but are you familiar with Vern Culteur the Worm Whisperer? Unlike his canine counterpart, Culteur is well versed and in tune with the ways of the worm and its needs for a successful and fruitful compost. Compost, you say? What in the world does a worm have to do with composting? Well, my friend let me tell you more…

According to Culteur, known to his friends as Verny the Wormy, worms play a vital part in the composting process. In fact, there’s an entire composting process called vermicomposting or vermiculture which involves food scraps, yard wastes and worms. When visiting troubled gardeners and composters alike, Culteur adamantly but gently tells each one that if they’re going to start composting with worms, then they’ll have to adapt to a few changes. For instance, one of the first mistakes that many novice composters make is using the wrong worm. (more…)