What a Can of Worms!:

M little girls (and big ones, too) do not like worms. To some of us, ntmares are made from such creatures. Their negat reputan precedes them; they are the quintessial cpy crawlers, oozing themselves side to side in a bed of slime, tangling themselves toget into a pulsag mass. (I think I am scaring myself e. Oops!)

Back in the Dark Ages (AKA the 1960s), I had a h school biology teac who seemed to thr on worms and assorted insects, the more bizarre the better. One excepnally odious assignm a particularly sunny, bzy day was to dig up and then transport back to school the next morning a full dozen of the plumpest, wiggliest earthworms we could find, w an extra f points each addinal worm we evicted from the ground. How could I ever complete this assignm wout having a nervous breakdown? Eww! Fortunately me, a boy down the stt w whom I had a platonic relanship the previous ten years, rode to my rescue (figuratly and literally as bikes w ll an accepted mode of transportan), armed w a garden trowel and a roomy glass jar. My o! Gallant gleman that he was, Marc dug me a baker's dozen of the juiciest, wring earthworms ever to come out of a rose garden. And so, e begins my uneasy alliance w the earthworm.

Forty years later and a movem to be environmally friendly is in the air. We recycle water, recycle paper, recycle old automobile tires, even recycle used computer printer ink cartridges. Why shouldn't our friend, the worm, join the crusade? However, we will n to look at its cousin, the common red worm, Eisenia foetida, to do the job. Also known as the tiger worm, brandling, angle worm, manure worm, or red wriggler, the red worm ls in a differ ecological niche than does the common earthworm burrowing in garden soil. You can find the red worm making its home near the surface in areas of h concran of organic matter, such as what mt be found in pastures, leaf mould, or underneath a comp pile. Anot bd of red worm, Lumbricus rubellas, can be used in worm comping as well.

The art of worm comping is known officially as VERMICOMPOSTING. The worms can be bou at garden cers, mail order, or online. Some vendors offer special "h-permance" bds or special "hybrids." Take this w a grain of salt - te is no such thing as a hybrid worm. That is just wishful thinking.

Let us start w a descripn of the cons ned vermicomping. Of course, the m irtant item is a large supply of worms which will leave worm casgs (dung). Also essial is a fair amount of decayed organic material. In an optimum scenario, worms have the ability to eat up to their own wet of organic waste in the course of one day. Although they consume the organic matter, the true nourishm comes from the micro-organisms to be found inside the worms, busily eag away. Strange but true, the worm casts have et times as many organisms as their food does. These micro-organisms encourage healthy plant growth; the casgs do not have any injurious disease pathogens, which have been reliably destroyed in the worms' gut. This is literally an instance of vermicomping having its cake and eag it, too. A big cheer the red worm!

About 1,000 red worms are ned to start your comp heap on its way to fame and tune in Fertilizerland. Worms reproduce at an incredibly rapid rate; win a month, your initial 1,000 worms will have doubled their numbers to 2,000 (and they thou rabbits reproduce at the sp of lt!). Under ideal situans, one pound of worms (1,000 worms) can multiply to 1,000 pounds (one million worms) in the space of one year but, to be more realic, one pound will probably increase itself to 35 pounds during that same time. The reduced numbers are the result of the hhlings and capsules (cocoons or eggs) becoming nonviable when the vermicomp is harvested.

Adult red worms put out two or th capsules per week, each capsule producing two or th hhlings after approximately th weeks. Beginning life at only half an inch long, the hhlings resemble miniscule white threads which develop so quickly they are sexually mature in four to six weeks, ready to make their own capsules. By the age of th months, our original hhlings have become grandmas and grandpas.

In order to surv, red worms must have a source of hydran on a steady basis. They also n a constant reserve of food. A hungry and thirsty red worm is a dead red worm. Remember to f them daily. They cannot display their hunger and/or thirst such as a dog or cat mt, so you must learn to fulfill their ns on a scrupulously kept schedule. What goes in must come out. F and water your worms well and their casgs will make fine comp you.

Some of the best foods red worms are:

• Rabbit manure.


• Manure (every type but human but allow poultry manure to age a minimum of six months to a year bee using).


• Food scraps.


• Shredded cardboard and newspaper.


• Powdd worm food. Purina actually markets a worm food called "Worm Chow." What's next? "Aphid Ambrosia"? "Butterfly Broth"? The sibilities buggle [sic] the mind.

Some closing thous:

• Also called "comp worms".


• L two to f years unless te is an untimely meeg of worm to the sole of a boot.


• Makes two to f cocoons per week - four is considd normal under good condins.


• Two to th worms hh (the "hhlings") from each cocoon.


• 45-day hh time.


• A span of six weeks takes the worms from hhlings to adult bders.

Wh we you step after the next rainstorm. You may be squashing someone's mom!