The Benefits of Earthworms and How to Attract Them

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Worms aerate soil as they burrow, and deposit mounds of fertile castings when they emerge.
Worms aerate soil as they burrow, and deposit mounds of fertile castings when they emerge.
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Worms incubate in small cocoons until conditions support their hatching. Each cocoon is slightly larger than a pinhead.
Worms incubate in small cocoons until conditions support their hatching. Each cocoon is slightly larger than a pinhead.
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Homesteading expert Harvey Ussery maintains vermiculture beds beneath his greenhouse paths so his worms can work year-round.
Homesteading expert Harvey Ussery maintains vermiculture beds beneath his greenhouse paths so his worms can work year-round.

What fascinates you? What warrants your fixation? At the risk of being dismissed as certifiably weird, may I humbly submit the earthworm as deserving of both fascination and fixation? Raise worms and reap a copious crop of worm castings, which will improve soil health and increase aeration, all while holding true to no-till, organic agricultural principals.

When my parents purchased farmland in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley in 1961, the soil was thin, infertile and completely unproductive. Not a single earthworm was to be found. Today, several inches of new topsoil support vibrant farm production and high earthworm populations.

In many ways, earthworms are a litmus test for soil fertility. Anyone who farms or gardens should be awed by these fertility facilitators. Several icons in the sustainability movement have been students of the lowly earthworm — Sir Albert Howard, J. I. Rodale, Bill Mollison.

Howard pointed out many benefits of earthworms, noting that earthworm tunnels provide ventilation for air and water to penetrate the soil, and that earthworms “condition the food materials needed by the roots of plants.” Howard went as far as to call earthworms “the ideal soil analysts,” claiming they can “furnish the gardener with a report on the state of his land far more instructive than anything the soil scientist has so far provided.”

The Dirt on Earthworm Anatomy

  • Published on Mar 7, 2016
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