Wednesday, April 29, 2009

What we're doing today...

Diggin' in the perennial beds
Where we've been pleased to find
Lots of little gardeners,
Hidden most of the time:
While we work the garden top
They work below
digging, turning, composting,
Helping things grow.

Check out the little gardener William's holding:


Most people call them worms,
But we like William's name for them better.
We've got lots of Wiggly Digglies 'round here.
The children have a Wiggly Diggly rescue center. I've been moving a brick border in our side yard and whenever I pick up a brick and unearth a Wiggly Diggly the Littles swoop in to rescue it and bury it next to Anna's fairy house (something I've been remiss in not getting pics of yet! I'll get on that... )
Addendum:
Here's a conversation I had with Anna a few minutes ago.
Anna: So worms are good guys?
Me: Yep.
Anna: How about rolie polies?
Me: Gee, I'm not sure, Anna. Neither good guys or bad guys, I imagine.
Anna: Well, worms are good guys and bad guys. (She says this with a certain authority that is so purely Anna.)
Me: (I think, "Sheesh, kiddo, this is what we've been talking about practically all morning. Why do you always have to contradict me?")
I say: I think worms really are good guys, Anna...
Anna: Well, not to a bug that worms eat, Mommy!
Me: I stand corrected.
Addendum to the Addendum
The above conversation begged the question: What do Wiggly Digglies eat, anyway?
Here's the answer we found on WikiAnswers:

Worms have tiny mouths and will take extremely small bits out of things like bacteria, fungi and protozoa. They love organic matter such as plants, fruit, compost heaps of cut grass, potato peelings and decaying animals. When the food is too large for their mouths they moisten it to make it soft and suck it in. Worms of course have no teeth and the "gizzard" does all the work. The grains of sand or soil will be ingested in with the food along with moisture (much like birds and chickens) and a grinding process occurs. When the food leaves the worm's gizzard is goes into the intestine and is dissolved and absorbed into the worm's blood which also keeps the worms moist and strong.
And:
You cannot cut their head off or cut them in the middle and they will grow into two worms. Cutting of any vital organs will kill them. However, if you cut the tail off a worm (not advisable) then they will grow another one. Worms are essential in gardens because they keep the soil soft and full of nutrients which are good for your plants. When it rains hard worms will surface to the top of the soil and although just in theory it could be there are chemicals that go into the earth or there isn't enough oxygen so they surface. Worms mainly eat dirt and leaves. Sand and soil also help.


So, it sounds like the only "bugs" that might think worms are bad guys are protozoa.
Enough about worms now.

3 comments:

Blessings each day said...

Wigglie digglie sounds so much better than worm and thank you for sharing his precious voice...makes it sound even better!

Worms are afraid of the Georgia soil/clay/rocks and I don't blame those wigglie digglies one bit! (Keep hoping I'll find some anyway, sigh.)

blessings on your soil,
marcy

MightyMom said...

LOVE LOVE LOVE worms! used to dig for em!

I was always told they eat dirt which is how they dig making the holes that are so necessary to the plants in our CLAY soil down here. :-)

HATE grubs as they eat roots. nast grubs.

But, for your viewing pleasure (sorta) here's a link to some worms that you probably don't want to find in your garden......and what to do with them if you DO.

http://jungle-hut.blogspot.com/2007/04/im-gonna-go-eat-worms.html


http://jungle-hut.blogspot.com/2009/03/worms.html

that's one cutiepie you have there! love the squeaky voice!!

Anne P. said...

Lisa, I have some red wigglers, also known as composting worms I'd be happy to share with you..You could make them a nice home in shredded news paper, feed them a chopped up apple or banana peel, anything like that, and they will grow and multiply like you've never seen before..Very cool critters!