Worms are good for the world
Wondering how you can best deal with kitchen waste when you
don’t have a compost pile? Looking to enrich your soil without
buying costly fertilizer? Or are you looking for a particularly
squirmy kind of pet?
The answer to all three questions: earthworms.
Okay, maybe the last one is a bit silly. But like any other
living thing, worms are something that can keep you company
– and also give you the gift of better garden soil.
I had the pleasure recently of talking to Richard
”
Sparky
”
Bradley, who is a big advocate of worm composting, also known as
vermiculture.
Worms are good for the world
Wondering how you can best deal with kitchen waste when you don’t have a compost pile? Looking to enrich your soil without buying costly fertilizer? Or are you looking for a particularly squirmy kind of pet?
The answer to all three questions: earthworms.
Okay, maybe the last one is a bit silly. But like any other living thing, worms are something that can keep you company – and also give you the gift of better garden soil.
I had the pleasure recently of talking to Richard “Sparky” Bradley, who is a big advocate of worm composting, also known as vermiculture.
He’s spreading the worm gospel wherever he goes, not just on Earth Day, but every day.
As many of you out there know, Richard owns Harvesting Solutions in Hollister, which is, for all intents and purposes, a worm farm. Here, he grows worms and produces worm castings, which are a fabulous fertilizer and soil conditioner. He sells worms and worm products on the Internet and at the Hollister Farmers Market.
Lately he’s been leading worm composting workshops over in Marina at the Monterey Regional Waste Management District, and although to some of you this does not sound like an exciting way to spend your Saturday morning, it’s attracting gardeners in droves.
“The vermiculture workshops have been incredibly popular,” said MRWMD education coordinator Kimberle Herring, who organizes the composting classes.
Maybe it’s because Richard is so passionate about the worms.
“They’re little miracle workers,” he says fondly.
And yes, they are. Not only do worms readily eat your kitchen waste, thereby keeping it out of the landfill, they produce one of the most sought-after substances for great gardens – worm castings.
The ingredients are simple: worms, bedding material, a light-blocking bin with a lid, and non-meat food scraps. Place your kitchen waste into the bin once or twice a week; then occasionally remove the castings for use in your garden.
Worms are quite effective at eliminating vegetable food scraps. They’re hungry guys, Richard says: “They can eat their own weight in 48 hours.”
And that’s a good thing where garbage is concerned.
A shocking amount of food and trimmings just go into our garbage cans, when instead they could be transformed into useful compost. Richard notes that 80 percent of U.S. organic waste goes into the landfill, when it could be doing good in gardens rather than rotting in the landfill.
Worm composting works well with just a little bit of effort, says Richard. One of the most common mistakes is giving the worms more than they can eat – when that happens, food can decompose and get smelly.
You also have to take care that the worms don’t get too hot or too cold, too wet or too dry. But other than that, their upkeep is easy – certainly easier than most animals.
Another advantage of keeping worms is that you can do it no matter where you live, even if you’re in a tiny apartment or condo and don’t have a back yard. Or if you just aren’t wild about having a compost heap in the garden.
The worms live in a bin which can be moved as needed, and a 12- to 20-gallon bin is enough to take care of food scraps for a family of four.
Also, Richard points out, worm castings are the original natural fertilizer, and still the best.
“Chemicals and synthetic fertilizers are doing more harm than good,” he says. “We don’t know what the long-term effects of those will be.”
So help the earth – get some worms. It’s not that hard. Squirmy, yes, but simple. And it’s the simple things that will save our world.
