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09/18/2006: "Wigglers, Wigglers Everywhere"

And plenty of food to eat!

In preparation for the arrival of Queen Aura, we've been cleaning out the cowshed. There is a very large layer of manure and straw, about 15ft x 15ft x 1ft, that we're trying to get out of her pen and onto the compost pile. Rebecca and her mother, Brenda, were helping us with that task when they made the wiggler discovery. A shovelful of the muck from a certain area of the pen was alive with worms! There seem to be thousands of them in a very concentrated area of the pen. This is just a handful of the manure and it had more worms than not!

Rebecca decided a long row of compost would be a neat way to incorporate the worms and recent leftovers from apple pressing. She layered old straw, then green matter, then worms, then kitchen and apple compost, repeat. The pile is near 30 feet long and 3 feet high. We're eager to see if this will be good habitat for the wigglers. They could be a potential food source for the ducks, when snails aren't fully active and winged bugs aren't plentiful. They're also going to be a very important part of our compost pile, and they might help out on a few fishing trips too.