The Worm Turns...

...and also toils and tills - your soil. In addition, worms spread a hearty mixture of natural manure (the delicate term is 'castings') throughout your garden grounds. Who among us can resist the multitude of charms of the wondrous worm?

Which brings up the subject of vermiculture. Or as we uneducated call it, raising worms in compost bins. Apart from the killer potency they add to your compost, worms also thrive on old newspapers, kitchen scraps, and even coffee grounds. Can you say, recycling? How about organic and natural?

The idea of encouraging worms to loiter about the house in plastic worm-abodes makes me a bit queasy, so I will leave the details to our friend, Fielder Rushing of HGTVgardens.com:

While a lot of folks may not even know what vermiculture is, I can’t imagine growing anything without earthworms, which are the subterranean workhorses of the garden! In fact, everything I do for my soil is aimed towards keeping my earthworms healthy, and in turn they make my garden soil grow the best plants.

Read the whole article, and then raise you some worms. The little wigglers will do your garden good.