The Earthworm Lawn and Garden

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Remember to always cover the organic materials with a thin layer of dirt. This will keep the worms near the surface of the pile, since they won't have to forage at the bottom for the dirt they need for digestion.

If your existing yard soil has either a high clay or organic material content, you may have to modify the composition of your worm pile. Soils high in clay or organic matter often lack the "grit," or small pieces of rock material, necessary for worm digestion. In such case, you'll want to substitute some of your pile's dirt layers with layers of clean sand, available at any home-improvement store. Or else you can try mixing the sand in with your soil. You may lave to experiment a bit to find the best ratio.

Caring for Your Worms

Lawn grass and leaves will be the mainstay of your earthworms' diet. Kitchen scraps are a secondary, albeit important, source of food. In addition to vegetable and fruit scraps, you can add egg shells, tea bags and coffee grounds. Do not use meat scrap or fat; it's not good for the worms and it may attract scavengers to your pile. Also, do not use pet wastes as worm food.

Don't try to substitute commercial mulch for your lawn's organic matter. Commercial mulches are put into high piles in which temperatures reach as much as 150°F. This kills most of the food value, making the mulch of little use to earthworms.

During the summer, your worm pile will have to share with our garden whatever gals clippings you collect. It may take some trial and error before you figure out how big a pile and garden your lawn can support.

It is not uncommon to see plants sprouting in your worm pile. These spring from seeds discarded along with your kitchen scraps. I allow some of the vines to grow and cover the worm pile, particularly those that are apt to provide the best shade during the hot summer months.

It may also be helpful in especially hot weather to shade your worm pile with a cloth net cover that will protect it from the sun, while still allowing rain through.

Come winter, maintain your worm pile with kitchen wastes or leaves. Again, covering the outside of your pile with leaves will help to retain both the warmth and the moisture your worms will need to survive the coldest months.

Opening the Pile

Once a year, in spring, the worm pile j is opened to provide nutrient-rich soil for planting. Start by making an opening just large enough to extract from the center of the pile enough dirt to conduct a soil test, so you'll know what you're working with. (See "Soil Test Results")

Once you have the results, choose a warm spring day to break open the pile to harvest planting soil. Keep in mind that you will be disrupting the worms' tunneling activities and exposing them to uncomfortable and potentially dangerous levels of light. Try to go easy on them.

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