Off The Grid Living: How Earthworms Boost Garden Production

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How Earthworms Boost Garden Production

Written by: MaryEllen Survival Gardening

They make many people cringe and little boys love to taunt little girls with them, but earthworms are endlessly useful. Without them, our soil would not be as amenable to growing crops as it is. Depending on where you live, you probably have earthworms in your soil already, but you can further improve its quality by growing and making use of earthworms. They are a natural way to increase your garden’s yield, and you can grow them yourself!
Earthworm Biology
Earthworms are members of the class of animals called Oligochaeta. Common names include earthworm, rainworm, night crawler, and angleworm. Earthworms are a very simple animal with a segmented body and uncomplicated circulatory and digestive systems. They can regenerate parts of themselves. Earthworms eat organic matter in the soil as they move throughout it. They can live in leaf litter, compost, topsoil, or in deep burrows below the topsoil.
Grow Your Garden With Earthworms
Your soil is enriched by the presence of earthworms. With more earthworms, it can become an even better environment in which to grow vegetables. Earthworms play several roles in the formation of good soil: biological, chemical, and physical.

Biological. Because they consume organic matter, earthworms help compost to create rich humus. They eat larger pieces of organic matter, such as leaf litter. This results in the breaking down of large pieces of matter into smaller pieces. They can take compostable materials and turn them into wonderful soil.
Chemical. Earthworm casts are a natural way to fertilize plants and gardens. When earthworms ingest small particles of soil, they are digested into a paste and excreted. The excreted matter is called casts and provides plants with nutrients in an accessible form. In other words, worm poop feeds the plants in your garden.
Physical. Because earthworms burrow through the soil in your garden, they act as a natural aerator. The channels and holes that they produce by their movements keep the soil open and loose, which allows air flow and good drainage.
Soil without earthworms simply cannot support plants and vegetables to the same extent that soil with these creatures can. For the best possible garden, encouraging and growing earthworms is crucial.

Encouraging Earthworms
At a minimum, you should create an environment in your garden that encourages earthworms to move in and take up residence. Earthworms need organic matter, moist and loose soil, temperatures between fifty and seventy degrees Fahrenheit, and a pH between six and seven.

Composting your garden is the best way to reach these conditions. When your garden is rich with compost, you provide the worms with food. The compost also helps to keep moisture in and keeps temperatures at a consistent level. You can purchase a pH testing kit to find out what your soil’s pH level is and to find out how to alter it. Once you attract earthworms to your garden, they will be there for years to come and will keep the soil conditions right for themselves and for growing your vegetables….More Here

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