Worms
Do you have worms in your soil? They’re a little bit goldilocks so if you do, it’s a good sign that your soil isn’t too wet, or too dry, and that you have lots of organic matter! Worms don’t have lungs, but breathe through their skin so they need to stay moist - too dry and the oxygen can’t pass through, too wet and they’ll drown (which is why they come to the surface when it rains). Worms also don’t have eyes - but they do have light sensitive cells so they can tell the difference and know when to burrow to get out of the hot drying sun.
Earthworms, like the worms you’ll find in your garden, are really good burrowers, and the trails they leave behind are one of their main advantages in the garden because they aerate the soil. In order to make a tunnel, they need to eat what’s in front of them. As the soil and organic matter passes through, it’s broken down and then excreted as ‘castings’ (worm poo). The castings are really high in microbial activity and contain nutrients that are in a more available form to plants than they were before they got ingested.
As humans do, we capitalise on this process and often set up worm farms so we can breed up thousands and thousands of scrap eating minions and have a constant supply of the good stuff. There’s a little bit of difference though - the worms that do best in worm farms are different to our everyday backyard earthworms. Worm farm worms are species that would normally live on the surface in decaying leaf matter. They thrive on rotting organic matter, and they’re quite happy to hang around near the surface to get it (unlike earthworms that want to burrow deep!). They also breed faster and more worms equals more castings!
Three more fun worm facts:
Worms have FIVE hearts (give that worm some love!)
Worms can regenerate if they loose body parts. Some worms do this really well and can even regenerate their heads!
Composting worms can eat up to half their weight in food per day.
Check out my worm farm guide for a few tips if you want to start your own worm farm.
