I went out in the garden yesterday to plant a few summer crops – squash, cukes and tomatoes – and every place I put a spade in the dirt, there were worms. Lots of worms. I know it’s been wet and cool, ideal conditions for worms, but I also believe that by not tilling this spring, and just adding topsoil, it benefited my worm population enormously.
In past seasons when digging, I would find a few worms near roots and clumps of organic material, but not so much in open soil.
Last year I decided to experiment in my small garden plot and not plow at all. My son once told me he had heard that tilling disrupted the underground chemistry and destroyed some helpful bacteria and organisms. So, I didn’t till. I believe I have more worms, and will have a very productive garden this spring, because of that.
Worms, by the way, are amazing creatures. Here are a few worm factoids.
The worm’s first segment includes the mouth. As worms burrow, they literally eat the soil, extracting nutrients from decomposing organic matter like leaves and roots. They are vital to soil health because they transport nutrients and minerals from below to the surface via their waste, and their tunnels aerate the ground. An earthworm can eat up to one third its body weight in a single day.
So far, so good with my no-till experiment and if the worms keep at it, I’ll raise a bumper crop in my backyard garden.