There's no sight more welcome to the dedicated composter than that of a mass of red worms writhing in among the decomposing contents of your heap.
Usually I'd leave the worms tucked up safely with their carpet lid in place at this time of year. But I took this shot while adding some extra cardboard insulation around the edge of one of my compost heaps, which necessitated moving some of the material away from the compost slats.
These fellows are different from the earthworm you'll find in your soil when digging - they specialise in breaking down garden and kitchen waste and turning it into lovely crumbly compost. Given that the soil of the ground was still frozen on some parts of my allotment, the compost must have been many degrees warmer.
I also emptied the other heap of ready-to-go compost that has been cooking for the last eight months, spreading it as a mulch on empty parts of the plot as a protection against the leaching of nutrients from heavy winter rain. It's amazing to think that several months' worth of kitchen and garden waste rot down to a few trugfuls of "black gold". Contrary to people's expectation, well rotted compost smells, well, earthy. There's none of the whiff people expect.
I've got one of those Can-o-Worms from Wiggly Wigglers, which is wonderful for a small back yard with a couple of narrow beds and lots of pots. It makes leftover food etc into a virtue. I've moved it, safe and warm, into the garage for the winter to keep the little chaps cosy.
Posted by: sujatin | December 18, 2005 at 08:08 PM