On 1/12/12 4:37 PM, Father Haskell wrote:
On Jan 12, 12:53 pm, "David E. Ross" wrote:
On 1/11/12 8:35 PM, wrote:

thinking of purchasing a couple hundred pound of worm castings for
fertilizing vegetable garden........worms are fed peat.......I understand
peat is somewhat acidic, could this be a problem?

Instead of buying castings and then the effort to work the castings into the soil, buy worms. Spread a thin layer of an organic mulch on your vegetable garden over the worms. Keep the bed moist but not wet. As the mulch decomposes, add more. The worms will aerate the soil and leave their castings.

By "organic mulch" I mean partially composted leaves and grass clippings, the output of an paper shredder, or wood chips generated from a tree service's pruning efforts. At first, you might need to add a little nitrogen to the mulch since the composting process absorbs nitrogen.

Compost worms and earthworms are different creatures. Earthworms
are already present in garden soil, no need to buy. Compost worms
won't survive freezing -- they stay near the surface, whereas
earthworms
can survive winter by tunneling deep under the frost line. In indoor
bins, they're remarkably tough, able to survive a year or more
without
being fed. A $2.00 carton of "trout worms" from the bait store will
last forever once introduced into a bin.

In my garden, I have earthworms under the mulch on my beds. I was not
suggesting that "gaffer" use his vegetable garden as a compost pile. I
was merely suggesting that he promote earthworm activity by providing a
layer of mulch.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary