Worms in the Garden

Feburary 1st, 2021

Curious how your garden stacks up in worms?

The Farmer’s Almanac says “Dig up a section of ground 12 inches by 12 inches and about 6 to 7 inches deep. Place the soil on a tarp and count the number of worms in the sample. If you find ten or so you have a healthy population.”   I think that count is high for Colorado, 1 per spadesful is the norm in my garden.  Tilled fields or pesticide treated areas may have zero.

Wait till the soil warms to do this.  Don’t break a shovel or your leg trying todig in frozen ground.  

This winter we’ve been raising European nightcrawlers for people who want worms in their ground for aeration and soil improvements.  Raised beds might benefit from 1 or 2 worms per square foot. These worms digest soil and breakdown some organics.  Never ever put red wigglers in dirt.  Waste of your money and their lives. 

We’ll have our Euros ready when the soil warms this spring.