Do I need worms in my raised garden bed?

Raised garden beds are a wonderful way to grow plants. They can be placed on the ground, in your garden or even in your backyard. Raising the bed off the ground will allow you to easily access all parts of it, dig in soil, add organic matter and harvest your crops. Raised garden beds can be placed on the ground, or they can be raised up with cinder blocks. You can create a raised garden bed or buy one that is already made. Having a raised garden makes gardening much easier and more enjoyable as you don't have to bend over so much while planting, growing and harvesting! you can add composting worms to it. Composting worms need to stay moist and have enough organic matter to eat. They can escape from raised beds, so if you want to keep them, use a worm tower.

The advantages of Putting worms in a raised garden bed:

• Easy care
• You don’t have to move worm castings from a worm farm to your garden
• Worms will break down organic matter releasing nutrients for the plants
• Aerate the soil

The disadvantages of Putting worms in a raised garden bed:

• Worms might escape
• Worms can dry out and die
• Need to keep the garden bed moist throughout the year
• Need to make sure to feed the worms regularly with organic matter

When you keep composting worms in a worm farm, they will rapidly convert food scraps into worm castings. You can place them in a raised garden bed to let them break down the mulch and other organic materials. The key factors needed to keep worms in raised garden bed include:

• Moist soil
• Mulch - 3 inches of bark, straw, or hay
• Added food scraps or cuttings 

Keeping composting worms happy is easy. They need a moist environment full of organic matter, so they thrive in gardens with vegetables that need regular water. For example, I’ve put them in a raised bed with lettuce, tomatoes, strawberries and peppers. I water the worms every day because they love a moist environment. Worms will live happily in the soil, causing no damage to the plants. You can leave trimming and old leaves on the soil surface; you can even layer food scraps under the mulch layer when you are preparing a bed. A thin layer of food scraps will break down quickly and then can be dug into the soil before planting out new crops."

You can add worms to your raised bed or let them move in naturally. Your plants will benefit from the nutrients they provide, and you may notice that your soil is less compacted. The following are some of the benefits of having worms in your raised garden bed:

• Break down organic matter releasing nutrients for your plants
• Turning organic matter into compost
• Aerate the soil
• Digest soil bacteria
• Allow plant roots to grow deeper

To keep worms in a garden bed, you can use a worm tower. Make one yourself by getting a large plastic pipe and placing holes around the base. Dig it at least 5 inches into the soil and leave 5 inches above the soil. Place worms and some worm bedding inside, fill with dirt, and your worms will live there to keep your garden soil healthy.

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