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The Benefits of Worm Castings

There are healthy, natural alternatives to chemicals. There are fertilizers that help build a healthy soil environment for plants to grow in, that leave a healthy environment for our children to grow in.

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I have been worm farming for eight years and I am still awed by the magic of worm composting. To watch the raw material that is manure, newspaper, leaves, grass and food waste become the black gold that gardeners dream of is inspiring, and every bit as exciting as a seed emerging from the earth, a flower bursting into bloom, and that small swollen stem end developing into a luscious fruit.

At first I thought because of the cold winters of my northerly location I would not be able to grow worms. They like it warm, I thought. And they do. But composting by it's very nature produces heat. Thus, by planning the workings of my bins to match the season I actually have better results with my worms in the cooler months of Spring and Fall and indeed even in winter, than I do in Summer when the temperatures are really too hot for the worms to be happy. After a winter of layering on the raw material mentioned above, the bed has stayed warm enough for the inhabitants and they have left me with the rich earth filled with castings and bacteria that a healthy soil thrives on.

CASTINGS

We all know the advantages of having earthworms in our gardens. We are thrilled to see these little creatures doing their thing in our soil, and even relocate them when we find them so they will be where they will do us the most good. But did you know that there are more than 3000 species of earthworms and of those only 6 species are important for improving our soil?  

VERMI-CAST (product name of the castings produced at VermiCulture Northwest) is the product of the hardest workers of them all - Eisenia fetida, also known as the "red wiggler", "manure worm" and "compost worm". These earthworms produce castings or worm manure, which is the best fertilizer on Earth. It is extremely versatile as it works as a plant food, soil conditioner and microbial activity enhancer for virtually any type of plant that grows.

The quality of the cast produced by the worm is directly related to what goes into the vermicomposting system. When quality goes in, quality comes out. The worms at VermiCulture Northwest are fed a variety of food stock and bedding material - food waste, garden waste, worm feed, manure, newspaper, and leaves. Each material added to the system has its own unique organism (s) that breaks down and consumes it. Thus the finished product has a wide spectrum of beneficial organisms in it.
 

What are CASTINGS used for?

Because of its nutrients, bacteria, humus, and soil building qualities, VERMI-CAST can be used in every application imaginable in the garden, greenhouse, and potted plants. Use it when planting trees, shrubs, flowers, and vegetables. Use it as a top dressing to feed plants already in a pot or in the ground. VERMI-CAST will never burn, so you don't have to worry about using too much. However, you get maximum growth improvement somewhere in the lower levels of concentrations, 5-20%, not with 100%.
 

Why is it the best?
 

VERMI-CAST is a 100% organic fertilizer, and is completely safe to all plants, animals, humans and our environment in any concentration. It is the richest natural fertilizer know to humans. Plant growth trials at Ohio State University have shown that as little as 5% (by volume) produces "unique and remarkable plant growth responses." The recommended rate is 10-20%. Unlike animal dung and artificial fertilizer it is absorbed easily and immediately by plants and will not burn. It also enhances the ability of your soil to retain water and even inhibits bacterial and fungal diseases. It will improve soil structure and aeration dramatically. It consists of thousands of durable torpedo-shaped pellets that resist compaction, creating a spongy quality to the material.  

VERMI-CAST has not been sterilized and therefore contains a highly active biological mixture of bacteria, enzymes, and microbes. This material stays active for a long period of time. The microbial life in the castings are much better at transforming nutrients into forms readily available to plants than those you find in conventional compost because the microbes in compost are thermophilic, so the microbial spectrum is quite different and much more beneficial in castings. This is all according to Dr. Clive Edwards, the world's leading authority on vermi-composting.

The real value of VERMI-CAST lies in the soil structure, water holding capacity, the retention, drainage, pathogen control and control of damaging fungi and bacterial life in the soil. The worm castings actually contain more bacteria than are found in the worm gut or in the organic matter the worm consumes. Microbiological activity is promoted in the soil, which is very beneficial for the environment your plants are growing in.

VERMI-CAST helps replenish biological diversity in the soil. According to George Hahn of California Vermiculture "castings provide the biological engines of the soil". They are the best source for a complete soil food web. A soil food web consists of thousands of biological species. The result of this food web is a healthy cycling of soil nutrients. With them you have a healthy soil.
VermiCulture Northwest not only produces quality worm by products, but we can help you get started raising your own Red worms. See Worms & Housing for some ideas.