The wonders of worm composting

Worm composting is one of these best things you can do for your garden, explains Helen Hutchings-Cox

- helen Hutching

As gardeners and avid vegetable growers, we all know by now that plant (and therefore harvest) quality are directly related to soil health, so if you're looking to improve your harvest, you're probably also looking for a way to enrich your soil...and if you didn't already know that, I've saved you a bit of trial and error - start with your soil!

One of the best ways to improve your soil naturally, improve plant health and actually cut your carbon footprint is worm farming/ worm composting—or, as it's more formally known, vermiculture.

Worm composting offers a range of benefits, from providing nutrient-rich compost to improving soil structure, reducing waste and even creating a liquid fertiliser for free. It's surprisingly easy to start and can fit into nearly any gardening space, whether you have a tiny patio or acres of land and is fairly low maintenance once you've started. I've now got four worm farms in my garden, some of which have been with me for years and through house moves, and I can honestly say they're one of the better additions I've added, quickly turning waste into compost and giving me fertiliser on tap throughout the year.

Starting with the basics, food scraps and other kitchen waste go in one end of the worm and comes out the other as nutrient rich compost (known as worm castings). This compost is incredibly valuable for your garden and is sometimes known as black gold because of that! To be more technical, when worms eat organic matter (like food scraps or garden waste), they break it down and excrete it - the 'castings'. These castings are full of vital nutrients, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, and magnesium, all of which are essential for healthy plant growth. Because of the aerated structure of it, worm compost mixed into your plot soil can also help improve water retention, which is perfect with our fluctuating weather patterns.