Earthworm Composting

The below describe the benefits of earthworm composting:

• The physical tunneling of earthworms helps to aerate the soil. Earthworm composting does also help to combine organic material with clay and soil particles by mixing them all thoroughly together as it passes through their bodies. Earthworm activity also tends to deepen the top soil because as they tunnel deeper during the drier periods they take organic material down to those levels.

• Earthworms also increase soil fertility. They ingest soil; pass it through their bodies, expelling it as castings that are richer in nutrients than the original soil. It has been discovered that worm castings contain 5 times more nitrogen, 7 times more available phosphorus, 11 times more potash and 40% more humus than the surrounding top soil.
   

• However, because of the relative fineness of their castings they can interfere with drainage so are to be discouraged for container gardening. The best way to encourage earthworms composting in the garden is by maintaining surface mulch. Also be discriminate with the use of artificial fertilizers.
   

• The other important role of surface mulch is to protect clayer soils from losing their good crumbly structure through the pounding of heavy rain or careless watering. The same way a mulch prevents humus from washing out of sandy soil. It also conserves moisture and protects roots from excessive heat or cold.

More about Gardening Mulch and Composters