Worm your way to better garden

FRESNO, Calif. — For an insect without legs or arms, the worm does a lot of heavy lifting in the garden.

The red worm, or Eisenia foetida, can convert kitchen scraps into nutrient-rich compost. And amateurs and professionals alike can cultivate the little wrigglers in their backyards.

Some gardeners raise worms because they like the idea of using something natural to enhance their flowers and plants instead of fertlizers. And some also like the idea of putting their table scraps to good use by feeding the worms with them.

"Worm castings are one of the best natural composts," says Carolyn Foxe of Visalia, Calif., who was in the vermiculture business for seven years, raising worms for sale. "(They act) like a fertilizer to use on top cover in the garden and in containers."

Foxe says gardening magazines have ads for red worms, which are shipped by mail. A $20 one-pound container of worms has about 800.

Gardeners can buy ready-made worm compost bins, some holding up to 12,000 worms. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, as the YouTube video by redworm composting.com shows: Think plastic bin. The shapes are generally square, and some resemble enclosed letter-stacking trays. The worms will work their way from the bottom up, leaving their castings behind.

Gardeners can buy bins with spigots to take advantage of the "liquefied" castings, known as "worm tea."

Joyce Jimerson is a master recycler composter in Bellingham, Wash., who has written a primer on composting with red worms for Washington State University at whatcom.wsu.edu. She recommends a bed of shredded newsprint or newspaper (black ink isn't toxic to red worms), decaying leaves, peat moss and a handful of soil.

Foxe says grass clippings can provide necessary moisture, and burlap can be used to cover outdoor compost piles. "Water has to be able to get through it," she says. "It can act as shade and help retain water and keep the birds out."