It's another Homesteading Challenge by @kiaraantonoviche, and this time she wants us to introduce the favorite animal on our homestead.
First I didn't even consider myself eligible for this contest, with so many competitors around with proper homesteads, that are home to the cutest creatures: goats, horses, ducks, geese, and chickens, all with lovely eyes looking with appreciation at their human stewards... That's just something I could not compete with. But then I started feeling a serious FOMO. It's not like I don't have any animals to present myself. At least I have a dog, whom I introduced in this post. However, her contribution to my homestead is simply looking cute. So instead, I decided to present another species, one that actually works really hard for me.
My favorite (and only) animals on my urban rooftop homestead are the Eisenia foetida a.k.a. California (Red) Wiggler a.k.a. Composting Worm. Though due to their nature I probably should refer to them in the plural. There are always a bunch of them.
Why Worms?
So these creatures have no eyes to look at you, no friendly faces, and they are not big on cuddling, at least not with us. With each other it's a completely different matter, they are really into that! Other than that, they don't like the human touch, or even worse, the human sight. Not that they can see anything, anyway, but the sheer daylight bothers them, so much so, that every time I lift the lid of their home, they start digging under as fast as they can. It was difficult enough to take a picture of them.
So What Good Are They?
Well, first and foremost, they eat the things we don't want any more. Not everything, by any means, but virtually everything that's plant based, and free from salt and grease. Okay, they don't do it by themselves. They share the work (and the food they work on) with a whole community of microbes, fungi, insects, and tiny life forms. In fact, they don't have any teeth to bite into your carrot ends, but they absorb the compost juice, which itself is full of microbes working on breaking it all apart.
Efficient Eaters
Red Worms are incredibly efficient at transforming compostables (anything from kitchen scraps through cardboard, to the dust swept up from the floor) to compost (digested and re-digested matter). Given optimal conditions, they can eat up to half their body weight in a day. I don't know anyone else who'd even get close to that. Also, they can double their numbers in only nine weeks, which is equally impressive. What's more, unlike nightcrawlers or other worms, they love each other's company, so overpopulation is never an issue for them. The more the merrier certainly applies to this live-fast, eat-a-lot and multiply-like-crazy party worm.
Excellent Producers
As a result of their notable consumption, their production is equally impressive. In about six months they create a good 40 liter (10 gallon) humus, though it should be mentioned that they'd been living in it for the previous six months of accumulation. As a result, the scraps from our humble, two-person household, plus a bunch of newspaper / cardboard from outside, becomes a revitalizing addition to the soil, perfect for enriching depleted soil after a planting season. But wait, there is more: since I have to keep the contents of their box moist, the water flowing through is also loaded with nutrients. Once I dilute it with water, my plants love every drop of it.
Conclusion
While these worms may not be anything like my dog, or even the wild lizard their bin once attracted, they are certainly the most hard working creatures on my homestead. I'm very pleased with them, and despite their photo-shy nature I always feel proud to talk abouttheir benefits.
I've written in greater detail about my worms, my worm-box, and vermicomposting in general. Check out my posts here and here.