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Montoursville, PA

EARTHWORMS: Lumbricus terrestris

"It may be doubted whether there are many other creatures which have played so important a part in the history of the world." Charles Darwin, 1881

9/3/2003 1:37:27 PM

Montoursville, PA

BENEFITS OF EARTHWORMS: Gardeners, farmers, foresters and soil scientists all love the earthworm because of the good they do for flowers, crops, and plants and animals of the forest. Earthworms are active animals and feed by bringing organic debris into their burrows from the surface and by eating their way through the soil. The leaf litter (dead leaves and animals) they digest contains nutrients made by plants during photosynthesis and includes calcium, nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus, and organic minerals and nutrients from dead animals. Their excrement, called castings, is deposited on the surface and is rich in nutrients, providing food for other animals and microorganisms. This organic material is then further broken down by microorganisms of the soil, releasing nutrients in a form available for absorption by plants.

In this way, earthworms have helped produce the fertile humus that covers the land. As a result the layers of soil are thoroughly mixed, seeds are covered and enabled to germinate, and over long periods of time stones and other objects on the surface are buried. This process has even buried and preserved ancient buildings. Each year earthworm castings cover each acre with as as much as 18 tons of rich soil.When earthworms die, usually in the dry summer, the organic material making up their bodies is gradually released providing additional nutrients for plants. These minerals are essential to healthy plant growth.

9/3/2003 1:39:48 PM

Puyallup, WA

Earthworms are the AG pumpkin growers friend!

9/5/2003 12:48:21 AM

Oz

dont lay down in the patch too long,,,,,,,,,,,,
they play pinnocle you know!!!

9/5/2003 9:42:12 AM

Gloucester, MA

I've got thousands of then.

9/5/2003 10:18:11 AM

Woodburn, Indiana

i would like to order 1 thousand earthworms. lol

9/5/2003 11:57:24 AM

Oz

red wigglers-vance saffels-englewood,tennessee

9/5/2003 9:02:57 PM

Montoursville, PA

DON'T SPEND YOU MONEY ON WORMS!!!

There is absolutely no reason what so ever to purchase worms. When the patch is right they will come IN THE PROPER NUMBER for the condition of your patch. If the patch is wrong any you put there will leave.

To learn the truth about earthworms just give that word to google. You will quickly have or be able to identify good information on the value of earthworms.

9/7/2003 8:44:37 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Good point Dwaine. I raise (small scale) Canadian Nightcrawler's here for our own fising habit. Give them the right food & they'll flourish. If there's not enough food they won't breed. So as they die off from old age, there won't be any new ones to stick around. In very poor conditions they can starve.

We bed them in Peat Moss & shredded newspaper. I also toss in various types of organic garden debris to see what they like. Maple drupes were a favorite this year.

But there mainstay food item here is fine ground corn meal. I have dropped handfulls of corn meal in the patch to see what would happen. Overnight the local Nightcrawlers find it & begin feeding. Even a large 4-6 oz pile is gone in 2 or 3 days.

If we add manure, Peatmoss & leaves to the patch every fall, we'll have plenty of worms. And yes, you can speed things up if you buy some & add them to the patch. Bu sure to specify a species that is either indigenous to your area or can naturalize safely. Just make sure the food source is there first. Then release them on a cool, cloudy, drizzly wet day on soil in good tilth. DON'T till them in! LOL Spread them around a bit. They don't tavel very fast so dumping them in a pile makes their adjustment & establishment period more stressfull.

Some things worms hate: Drought, heat, high salt fertilizers, some pesticides (Benomyl & Sevin will kill them), & Robins.

Mulches, good irrigation practices, & careful selection of fertilizers & pesticides will insure a good healthy population of earthworms in any high organic matter soil.

Steve

9/8/2003 8:07:14 AM

Oz

vance is about 100 years old.
he lives near the patch.
for what you spend on other things,,buying worms is no big thing. other conciderations are space/intrest/permission..

i have zapped the ground to go fishing and to enliven my compost.
where i lived in michigan they didnt have red wigglers.
only big nite crawlers.
the first time i saw them eating "human" food i was
hooked!!
ive been told that a red wiggler on a fishing hook will attack the bass. lol,,i lived in texas then,,.

i dont know if vance is selling red wigglers this year.
i see him out front of his house.
he lives at the crossroads of the deep woods.
we wave, and i get to the patch,,,,,
i speak of him because i know his(lol) worms will be the healthy,and clean of toxic nasties.
red wigglers vance saffels-englewood tennessee.

9/8/2003 10:26:35 AM