I’m a big fan of using heavy compost applications in my vegetable garden (an increasingly common market gardening technique). The past few years I’ve been making my own from horse manure, but the current batch won’t be ready in time for spring planting.
I have a lead on low cost worm castings, I was curious if anyone has used that heavily in gardens. In theory it shouldn’t be much different from compost (my piles are full of worms).
Mushroom soil is always an option, but I’m not a huge fan. It has salts and can be hard to hydrate well.
It’s probably a bit richer than compost so you could mix it with something like spagnum moss or river sand or clay to cut the cost of a good soil amendment
Dennis
Kent, Wa
Worm castings are useful but depends on what the worms have been fed. I have also read there isn’t much benefits adding above 10-15%. Difficult to find castings with live worm eggs, only bagged compost I have seen with live worms was Malibu Bu’s compost, I can’t say its consistent with every bag.
I have a couple worm bins and add some castings to my raised garden beds. There are definitely eggs and eventually worms eat the rest of the material that is in the garden beds. Last year, I had added a significant percent of the bagged miracle grow “soil” and mixing it up over the weekend there is nothing but fine black dirt. The negative is the beds dropped about 6 inches from the top in the past year and need to be filled again.
If you’re lucky, the fish farm will have eggs in it and you won’t need to buy as much as you think you want.
Here is what an ‘expert’ says about worm castings… as i was going to mention to be careful where you get your worm castings…as Brace mentioned you get ‘free’ eggs… you dont want jumping worms (which are great for fishing).