Two wonderful seasons in a row have left gardeners with more growth than our compost heaps can handle. Mine were bulging by Christmas (The Land, 21 April) and I'm now digging out and spreading the lovely product.
This is fantastic exercise on a freezing morning but after talking to retired surveyor and worm farm operator Don Grant (www.mysoilhealth.com.au), I'm actually seriously considering putting my kitchen and garden waste into a worm farm rather than composting it.
Having spent his working life looking at land as an entity to be administered, after he retired Don started seeing land as a resource. While growing chestnuts on his Central Tablelands farm near Wimbledon, his family began breeding worms with a view to improving the orchard soil.
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Ten years of interest and three years of vermiculture research led Don to establish Worm Wine with an emphasis on worm culture.
Nothing beats talking to an enthusiast to inspire your interest in a topic, even one as apparently lowly as the earthworm. Don is passionate about worms and their sensational ability to recycle organic waste, tiny subterranean creatures whom Charles Darwin believed were wholly responsible for Earth's top layer of rich soil.
"Fossil evidence shows that earthworm-like creatures have existed for at least half a billion years," Don said. "They have been found up to three kilometres below the planet's surface in temperatures over 70 degress Celsius."
According to Don, worm castings stimulate plant growth more than any other natural product. They help soil retain water, inhibit root diseases and eliminate harmful fungi and bacteria.
"Most importantly, worms swallow organic material, digest it and expel the remains as castings, fertilising soil and creating the basis of many food chains."
Garden compost - decomposed household and garden waste - works because of worm activity. As in the garden, worms in compost heaps pull down organic matter from what's above them and turn into excreta or 'castings' that fertilise what is below.
A worm farm is a more compact way of composting and uses different worms from farm and garden earthworms. Don uses Red Wigglers, aka Red Worms or Tiger Worms (Eisenia fetida).
You need two containers to start, one above the other. The worms process your organic waste in the bottom container and then make their way into the upper one via holes in the base where the process starts over.
Meanwhile the vermicast - the compacted compost as it were - in the bottom container is ready to use.
Vermicast can be spread directly round your plants exactly like compost and is light and easy to spread.
You can also stretch the vermicast by immersion in water for a few days and then diluting the 'tea' 20/1. Keeps for up to two weeks under refrigeration.
With the help of worms, we can all have fertile, healthy topsoil below ground and a beautiful garden above.
Worm farm starter kits and worms are available at garden centres.
Don Grant's stall Worm Wine will be at Bathurst Farmer's Market, September, 24.
