I recently got a barrel-type composter, and decided to scrape up all the leaves that have been accumulating against the house and on the little patio. (Perhaps I should do this more than every third year or so, now that I think about it.)
So I got my shovel and a little shrub rake, commenced to raking, and started finding nice healthy earthworms. I do love earthworms, so I took care to put the first few into a nice safe space in the yard. Then, as I excavated more deeply, I found more…and more and more!
I ended up with over two full bathroom-sized trashcans full of nicely composted leaves and wormdirt, and dozens and DOZENS of worms! So now my butterfly garden has an extra dose of healthy stuff, and is home to a whole new colony of worms.
Lovely, lovely worms…I’ve been wanting to try real vermicomposting for a long time, but haven’t managed to get it together, so this was a nice surprise.
Just had to share!
karol
Cool! I want to try vermicomposting, but haven’t talked the fam into it yet.
We take all of our leaves in the fall and mulch the perennials in the flowerbeds about 8" deep. We get a lot of stuff to overwinter that most people don’t.