I've Got Worms!

I've been vermicomposting (composting with help from red wigglers) for 2 years.  Vermicastings are not only a valuble soil amendment for your lawn, flower beds, and shrubs, but they are also helpful in the garden. Now that the main gardening season is winding down here in Florida, I am gearing up to prepare an additional above ground bed and to improve the soil my existing beds.

I started with 1 lb of eisenia foetida red worms and they've multiplied into more than 7 lbs of worms.  Actually, I'd probably have a whole lot more at this point, but I've sold about 8 -9 lbs to friends, family, and others interested in composting with worms. 

Worm castings really won't work effectively as the primary bedding material for gardening, but in my experience they will help improve growth and vitality when mixed in with other materials.  There's tons of university research available online that will help explain the science behind the vermicast, so I won't attempt to go into the details.  I'll leave that to the experts with Ph d in their titles who have actually done scientific studies.  My research is purely based on my own personal seat-of-the-pants use of the castings for the past two years. 

Here's a picture of African Violet plant that we purchased from Lowe's for a dollar. It was an $8 plant marked down because it was basically dead. Worm castings have revitalized the plant into its' present condition.