In trying to track down the source of the worm castings that I buy (bagged), I found their website. The company is located in Racine, Wisconsin (Yay, near me!), which is on the southeast "coast" of Wisconsin, maybe 20-30 miles north of the Illinois border.

Anyway, they sell the castings online, so I'll order some. The reason I am posting, however, is because I was interested to discover that they are touting their "Cultured Earthworms" (whatever that is, maybe cultured like pearls? ha ha!) as being efficient composters in the home garden/composter situation, yet they are some kind of nightcrawler, so desirable for bait. They tolerate warmer weather and don't need refrigeration. I got all excited about them (not that I'm going to be selling bait), but then I started thinking of questions (of course).

I will email the company and ask these questions too, but, what kind of nightcrawlers d'you suppose these are? Are they some kind of Southern nightcrawler or something from out of country? What would be the environmental impact of having these critters (if they're "furriners") released into the compost pile or the garden bed? I am very leery of "introduced" species -- it's usually been at best a poor ideal and at worst an environmental disaster!

-- Anonymous, May 30, 2002

Answers

I've been taking advantage of the CS archives reopening by copying all of Jay's vermiculture posts onto a zip disk. I"m thinking about setting up some worm bins. I noticed that some of the posts refered to European nightcrawlers, maybe that's what these are.

-- Anonymous, May 30, 2002

I came across a very startling post over on the Soil and Compost Forum (GardenWeb) a while back. The poster (I forget who) said that most of the earthworms in the US are 'furriners' to begin with. That they were transported here by the europeans and set out to conquer the continent much as the white settlers did.

He had posted that until the advent of these importees, the northern forests had deep layers of leaf mold and the primary soil was made up of that, rather than of worm poop. Once the earthworms got here, they started eating up all the leaves and OM and pooping, and altho it has fertilizer value, that it is not the same as the soil that is created by leaf mold rotted down by fungus.

A lot of joshing and BS-ing goes on over on 'Soil', but this didn't seem like it was a joke post at all. So far, I haven't found out anything more about it. People had been getting very edgy about the imported earthworm predator (looks a lot LIKE a worm, in fact), but if this is the case, perhaps those predators are a good thing??!!??

I dunno.

-- Anonymous, May 30, 2002

Culturing may be the same as what I call acclimating. I have a 10th generation bin that I am acclimating to increased levels of commercial fertilizer in an attempt to develop a strain that will tolerate introduction into soil that has been time loaded with commercial compounds.

-- Anonymous, May 30, 2002

Julie,

What your referring to is a "study" by U of MN. However, the timeline basis that is used as reference allows it to be interpeted very broadly and will not affect current conditions whatsoever. The next ice age will change all the factors anyway.

-- Anonymous, May 30, 2002

Joy,

How much do castings run in your area? I am trying to evaluate my local market here against potential mail order sales.

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2002

Jay, the store was all out of the castings except the 1# bags, which were $0.89. So I don't know what they were charging for the larger bags. This is actually the only store I've found that ever carries the stuff (and it's a grocery store). However, according to the website, 15# is $14.95 and 30# is $29.95. That includes shipping. The 30# gets cheaper if you buy it in multiples. I don't know if that helps you or not. I am wondering if the store is making much of a profit on selling it.

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2002

I sell mine at $4 a cubic foot and $3 a gallon for the tea.

-- Anonymous, June 02, 2002

Are you just selling locally? You're not shipping, are you?

What do you think your cubic foot weighs, just out of curiosity? I'm sure the prices I mentioned above are a large proportion shipping, don't you think?

-- Anonymous, June 02, 2002

Well, I heard from the company with the answers to my questions, so I am posting them here:

[1] What is the origin of these worms?

Most likely Africa but some may trace them to Japan in the way they have been raised.

[2] What is the environmental impact on native worm populations due to releasing the cultured earthworms to a compost pile or garden bed?

As in any situation with one species co-existing with another, there will most likely be competition for space and resources but they should all be able to tolerate the presence of each other.

[3] Do they overwinter in northern Wisconsin (Vilas County)?

It will be a function of how long they have to adapt to the cold temperatures, what size they are and have they had a chance to burrow down deep enough before the frost sets in the ground. They will also lay cocoons that will overwinter and hatch in spring. So the answer is maybe, if the conditions are right.

[4] Can they be raised in containers in the home, such as Can O'Worms?

Absolutely! They work very well in these containers and have the added benefit of providing you with a quality fishing worm.

[5] Why the heck are they called "Cultured Earthworms"? Are they cultured like pearls?

You thought you were joking but that is the answer. It is putting something into a foreign environment and making it thrive under conditions that it normally wouldn't be in.

-- Anonymous, June 04, 2002