Dear Miss Floribunda,
Last year I had earthworms in my garden, and this year I don’t. My family and I moved into a house with a backyard veggie patch, and I decided to put in some tomato and bean plants, and we enjoyed them. When I spaded the ground to put some plants in this year, I didn’t see any worms, and because my next-door neighbor who helped me last year had told me they were very good to have, this worried me.
I went next door to ask my neighbor if she could spare me some of her worms. She actually refused, saying I must have done something wrong for my earthworms to have gone away. Well, I don’t think it was anything I said, so I asked her to take a look at the dirt they were in. She noticed some dried-up orange and lemon peels and had a fit. She’s the one who told me I shouldn’t throw coffee grounds and fruit peels in the garbage but put them in my garden. Now she tells me I was supposed to compost them first and not just toss them on the ground. She said worms don’t like something that’s in orange peels.
I am a working mother with small children and am really too busy to go to the trouble to make a compost pile. Also, I don’t like to get down and dirty when I make fresh-squeezed orange juice and lemonade for my family. Should I just go back to putting the orange and lemon peels in the garbage? Would the worms return?
Worried about Worms on Webster Street
Dear Worried,
What you should be worried about is the state of the soil in your garden, rather than just the worms — whose absence is only a symptom. The soil that you have termed “dirt” is not the fluff that you see in your dustpan. It is a complex network of micro-organisms derived from minerals, gases and organic matter that pulsates with a dynamic — but fragile — life of its own.
Excessive soil acidity or alkalinity could harm not only worms, but many fungi, bacteria, protozoa and other microbes as well. Dr. Agronomosky, my trusted soil expert, advises you to have your soil tested to find this out. He adds that a soil test will also indicate what essential minerals might be lacking, as well as what possible contaminants might be present. The University of Maryland Extension program has a list of soil testing laboratories where you can send samples of your soil. The website additionally advises you on how to prepare the samples.
You don’t say whether or not you have used inorganic chemical fertilizers during the past year. Even if you measured properly and did no direct harm to your soil, they are not your best choice. You still would do much better to add plenty of organic matter to make your soil healthy and friable. I’m not sure you are aware of just why worms are important, but their purpose is to loosen soil and process organic matter through their digestive system as they move through the earth. If the soil is compacted and hard, too hot if unmulched in summer, or is full of inhospitable chemicals, earthworms cannot survive. Compost is essential for good soil tilth, as well as for well-balanced plant nutrition and beneficial microbial activity.
If you don’t have time to make a compost pile, surely you can take time to distribute prepared compost. If you put your yard and kitchen waste, including citrus peels, into the green bins provided by the City of Hyattsville for collection every Monday, it will be made into Leafgro Gold compost. (Visit menv.com/service/food-waste-composting — and see recent “Science of the City” columns — for more details about food waste composting in Maryland). You can then purchase this compost marketed under the name of Leafgro Gold and — wearing gloves to keep your hands clean — spread it on your garden. Worms will love it and return without invitation.
There will be no formal meeting of the Hyattsville Horticultural Society (HHS) until June. In lieu of a May meeting, the HHS has agreed to bring clippings from members’ gardens to make flower arrangements for a Hyattsville Aging in Place event at Friendship Arms apartments on 42nd Avenue.
