Earthworms!

We discussed earthworms the other day when I was working up some ground to plant potatoes and green beans.  I've been doing a little reading on earthworms and their benefits.  You see, when we first started gardening in this soil we had no earthworms.  The ground was packed, compacted, with lots of clay.  Every once in a while, when turning over the soil, I'd see a white grub, but no earthworms.  Now, I can't turn over a shovel-full of soil without finding an earthworm.  That is a good thing!

As the worm turns

Here are just a few benefits of having earthworms in your garden: (from All you want to know about earthworms & more...)
Earthworms will improve your soil in numerous ways:

• They help the soil to drain better - less runoff,
• Their tunneling improves soil aeration and helps breakup hardpan and compacted soils,
• They bring up minerals from deep in the ground to the surface where plants can use them,
• Their tunnels allow roots to go deeper to nutrients they might not otherwise have gotten to,
• They help compost residues and waste products,
• Their castings (earthworm poop) improves fertility of the soil & neutralizes the soil

I could go on and on, but you get the point.  You want these guys in your garden.  In the photo below, I captured an earthworm tunnel intact.  Look right above the right-hand side of the worm.  See the tunnel?  That tunnel is key to the first four bullet points I listed above.

Earthworm tunnel

So how do you get these guys on your land?  This is how I did it - I fed my soil, and continue to feed my soil, all the organic material I can.  I incorporate as many leaves, sawdust, grass clippings, shredded paper, vegetable and fruit peelings, coffee grounds, etc.  Build your soil.  Like the movie "Field of Dreams" says, "If you build it (your soil), They (the earthworms) will come!"

I collect coffee grounds from work and bury it between the rows each day to help improve my soil.  In the photo below, if you look closely, you can see that the worm is coming directly out of some composted coffee grounds.  This guy likes Community Coffee - Cafe' blend.  He takes it black with no cream or sugar.
 

Coming off of a coffee break

If you look closely above you can see a band that is about 1/3 of the way up the worm's body.  That band is called the clitellum.  The worm's head is always closest to the clitellum.  The clitellum secretes the mucous that makes worms slimy.  If you've ever baited a hook, you know what I'm talking about. 

I learned that earthworms don't have eyes, but have cells that are sensitive to light and touch and they also breathe through their skin.  The neatest thing about them is that they are working continually to improve my garden and I don't have to pay them.  They work for free!   This is why I try to be careful when turning over the soil.  I don't want to kill these guys.  I did learn, though, that if you cut them in half, the rear half always dies, but the front half (as long as it contains the clitellum and 10 rings back) will regenerate and live.  That's good news, but I still try not to cut them.


Hard at work

 Like Mike Rowe's Dirty Jobs television program, an earthworm's work is not pleasant.  The photo below shows a couple of worms breaking down the remains of a chicken that was killed that I buried in the garden.  They enable that dead chicken to become useful to the plants in the garden.  They also then produce the castings (poop) that is made up of organic matter and soil that becomes food for the plants and beneficial bacteria in the soil.  What a neat cycle!
 

Dirty Jobs

Earthworms are a good sign that your soil is healthy or is in the process of becoming healthy. When your soil is healthy, you grow healthy vegetables.  When your vegetables are healthy, so are you!  And to think, it all starts with good dirt and the work of the lowly earthworm.