Fab Foodie
hanging-on in quiet desperation ...
- Location
- Kirton, Devon.
Not being much of a gardener, I have taken some pride in keeping a pretty excellent garden composter going for about 5 years or so. Grass cuttings and kitchen veg/fruit trimmings. I've used the resulting compost in pots hanging baskets and this year dug a load into my 3 m2 veg patch.
Now this wonderful bin of decomposing lovliness has been home for millions of worms... every time I add more material, I give the fermenting mass a stir and delight in the wormy wriggliness. About a week ago, there were zillions on top of the compost, up the sides and spilling out of the lid. I didn't thjink much about it, gave the mass a stir, shook the blighters from the lid and carried on. Now 2 days ago I lifted the lid to an unpleasant rancid butcher-shop smell and noticed a huge dead mass of worms on the lid and the surface of the compost covered in dead worms. I've given a stir and they're 99.9% dead throughout. All very nasty and a tad sad.
Anybody know why? No chemicals, no weed killer etc used on the lawn.
No idea.
I miss my worms.
Now this wonderful bin of decomposing lovliness has been home for millions of worms... every time I add more material, I give the fermenting mass a stir and delight in the wormy wriggliness. About a week ago, there were zillions on top of the compost, up the sides and spilling out of the lid. I didn't thjink much about it, gave the mass a stir, shook the blighters from the lid and carried on. Now 2 days ago I lifted the lid to an unpleasant rancid butcher-shop smell and noticed a huge dead mass of worms on the lid and the surface of the compost covered in dead worms. I've given a stir and they're 99.9% dead throughout. All very nasty and a tad sad.
Anybody know why? No chemicals, no weed killer etc used on the lawn.
No idea.
I miss my worms.