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| Love roses? Then love earthworms, bacteria, nematodes, and springtails. |
Sassy and I wanted to take advantage of the Labor Day sale on mulch, so we got ready for another trip to Lowe's. First I delivered the altar flowers to our gardening neighbor next door. He answered the doorbell and spoke to his family, grinning, "It's the flower man." His wife is crazy about roses, so I bring over an arrangement each week.
Likewise, at the college where I teach, roses routinely land in the registrar's office, where a student staffer said the group has their favorite roses - pink and bi-color and fragrant. They have no idea what next year will be like.
Lowe's was almost empty at 4 PM, probably because more rain seemed ready to fall. An executive at Scott's Lawn and Garden once said sales were always off when it rained on weekends. Most people make their gardening decisions at the last minute. Perhaps many wish for rain - for nefarious reasons. "I was going to garden all weekend, but that would be dangerous in the storm. I will pick up some things at Drive-Thru Liquor instead."
Sassy came in with her happy barks, so the clerk said, "Were you at the Walmart Supercenter opening?" Sassy's bark was that distinctive. We woke up the crowd, then sat in the Ichaboat for the ceremonies.
We checked out the alleged Epson salt for sale. Lowe's had an entire section of organic amendments for sale, but they were bagged so pretty and priced so high that I had the vapors about buying any of it. Similarly, on Amazon, Epson is priced like gold when I can buy it at Walmart for about $1 a pound.
The idea of buying high-priced "organics" - which have been boosted by various additives - strikes me as paradoxical, like women who apply makeup that cannot be seen - but certainly felt in the budget.
We have four neighbors involved in donating newspapers to Wormhaven IV, and I can probably enlist the fifth. The gardening neighbor contributes to the newspaper collection and the compost pile.
Before I read the two books on Teaming with Microbes and Nutrients, I thought in terms of the number and quality of the earthworm population. The general background was obvious, that the earthworm represented the entire decomposition process. The power of the tiniest creatures was lost on me.
Like the veterans who wrote the two recent books, I now realize that much of the value of organic gardening starts at the microscopic level, where bacteria, protozoa, nematodes, and springtails work.
Here is a list of the myriad creatures in compost.
Some creatures shred organic matter - and earthworms are the champion shredders. Bacteria, nematodes, and protozoa break the bonds of organic matter to make the shredded components usable for plant roots. When earthworms, springtails, and sowbugs shred the autumn leaves, the remains are easier for the bacteria and fungus to attack and decompose. Sycamore leaves will last intact all winter unless they are initially damaged by a lawnmower. The initial man-made shredding will initiate creature-shedding and eventual disappearance of all leaf residue.
Earthworms help with the initial shredding, since they pull down leaf fragments into the soil. But they also concentrate and move bacteria through the digestive process. This also concentrates beneficial elements in the castings, which are prized as the best possible soil amendment.
