Worm poop — it’s good for you

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What about that name? Apparently, Pachamama is “Mother Earth” for the Incans and she presides over planting and harvesting. And apparently over worm poop, too.

POSTED BY KIM — Well, it’s not really good for YOU, but it is good for your garden.  We just got in this new product, “Lady Bug’s Pachamama Earthworm Castings.” What exactly is an earthworm casting?  It’s worm poop and so much more.

Apparently worm castings are nature’s ultimate compost.  They are rich in nitrogen (1-0-0) and do several things:

O  Improve soil structure, especially if you have heavy clay soil
O  Improve moisture retention
O  Increase the availability of nutrients to plants
O  Substantially increase plant growth
O  Improve seed germination
O  Contain an unusually high population of beneficial microorganisms crucial to healthy root systems

All this without any odor — and it can be used on houseplants as well.

You might say, “But Kim, why are castings better than good compost?”

Here’s what I learned on the Internet: As an earthworm digests its food (compost), it infuses its excrement with beneficial organisms, further transforming the nutrients into an odorless form more readily useable by plants. Castings can even be mixed with mulch to give plants nutrients.  In nature, animal waste and decaying plant material are worm food, not plant food. Worms are the most natural producers of plant food!

Interesting…Stay tuned for further developments.  This is a new product for us, so I’m sure as we all give it a try we’ll have feedback about its affectiveness.

FYI, a 6 lb. bag costs $14.99.

Application rates:

For seeds: Use 1 inch in seed furrows at planting time.

For vegetable, flower, and herb transplants: For small transplants (up to 1 qt. container), blend 1/2 cup into the planting hole. For large transplants (1 gal. +), blend 1 cup into the planting hole. To fertilize plants, sidedress twice during the growing season with 1/2 cup.

For roses, vines, shrubs, trees, fruit trees and berries: Mix 1 part earthworm castings with 3 parts soil. Use as backfill at planting time. A small amount at the bottom of the hole is also beneficial.  To fertilize, sidedress 4 times a year with 1 to 2 cups. Lightly work into the soil surface.

For container plants: Mix 1 part earthworm castings with 3 parts potting soil at time of planting. To fertilize, sidedress established plants with 1/2 to 1 inch four times a year.

Compost tea fertilizer: Soak 1 part earthworm castings with 3 parts water for 12 hours or more. Stir well and water plants with tea. Great for houseplants, fruit and flowering plants.

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