Worm hunting...

[chris]

what kind of areas are best for finding night crawlers or earthworm? i've looked under logs, dug in various areas and still no sign. any ideas or tips out there?

 

[joan]

Wait for rain and then go anywhere... Or you can make your own worm paradise by watering one spot in your yard on a daily basis. They'll come to the surface.

Personally, I buy all my worms at walmart.

 

[chris]

yeah i just went to wally-world and they had 24 nightcrawlers for $2.73. so i just bought some.

 

[joan]

I just got back about 10 minutes ago. I bought 2. And some gatorade... The guy at the checkout gave me a funny look, so I explained "it's for my animals", and he was like "the worms or the gatorade?" I chuckled.

Then I went to Home Depot and stocked up on organic top soil before they stop stocking it for the summer.

(Message edited by Joan on September 06, 2005)

 

[jeffrey]

I personally have to harvest worms in heavy rain storms. I don't have a garden of my own to dig in, sometimes this can leave me with lengthy worm free periods.

To counteract this as best I can I mix some garden soil from a friends garden in with organic top soil and store worms in there. I add calcium and vitamin supplement to the mix too.

This has proved effective and I have even found small worms I have not harvested myself at times, quite handy for juveniles and advanced larvae.

 

[chris]

i wish it would rain soon. i would love to harvest some so i'd have extras.

 

[kari]

Another good way to get earthworms is to invest in a compost heap for kitchen vegetable waste (preferably a plastic type with a lid and open bottom to allow worm access). Its good for the environment as it reduces waste going to landfill and provides good stuff to put on your garden. It also provides a large number of organic worms. I agree that putting eggshells in helps raise the calcium levels in the earth worms. I have a large readily available supply of worms for my axie and he loves them. It also stops me having to search for them! I just lift the lid and there are always loads on the lid and on the top of the heap. Only put stuff that hasnt been in contact with chemicals ie fertilizer/weedkiller/pesticide in there. My garden is 100% organic anyway as I use no chemicals, so everything is safe to go in there. Failing that do you have any neighbours who already have compost heaps that they would let you raid for worms? That way they are free!