You don’t have to be 8 years old to appreciate the lowly earthworm. But it does help to be a gardener.
If the idea of crawly earthworms creeps you out, stay with me here. I’ll try to get you past the ick factor.
For one thing, worm farms can produce top-quality compost faster than any other method — a boon for year-round gardeners here in Southern Arizona.
Their castings add nutrients and beneficial microbes to the soil, and many gardeners believe it’s the best soil conditioner you can use — better than manure or compost.
Castings have no odor, and neither do worm bins if they are properly cared for, I'm told.
Fun facts:
- There are about 6,000 species of earthworms on our planet, but only about 5 species — including red wigglers — are suitable for vermicomposting here. Red wigglers are the best choice for worm beds, according to systems ecologist Linda Leigh, a worm farmer in Oracle.
- The longest earthworm ever found was about 10 feet long, Leigh says.
- Worms have no teeth. Similar to chickens, worms need grit to process their food.
- Worms breathe through their skin. That’s why they need moisture; without it they will suffocate.
- Worms are photophobic even though they don’t have eyes. To escape light, they will burrow down into their bedding or soil.
- Worms are hermaphrodites, meaning each has male and female reproductive organs. However, it still takes two to tango.
- Worms reproduce by joining together with the help of a sticky secretion and trading sperm.
- One adult worm can produce 96 baby worms in as little as 6 months.
- Baby worms hatch from a cocoon about the size of a sesame seed.
- Worms communicate by touch and have been known to stage mass escapes from their beds if the conditions aren’t right. (If it’s too hot, for example.)
- A pound of red wigglers will eat half a pound of organic material a day. In other words, half their body weight!
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Source: Many thanks to Linda Leigh of Vermillion Wormery in Oracle. She recently gave a talk to the Gardeners of Tucson. Find her on Sundays at the Heirloom Farmers Market at Rillito Park, where she sells worms and worm castings. (Call ahead if you want to order worms.)
