"I got worms."
When I used to watch Dumb and Dumber as a child, I never thought that 1) there might actually be worm farms out there, or 2) I would one day make a purchase from one. I guess you just never know. Yesterday I went to the local nursery and purchased 100 earthworms. They will arrive by mail sometime next week.
Why, you may ask, did I purchase 100 earthworms? I'm not going fishing (although, that does sound kind of fun . . . ) My new pets will soon be at home in the compost bin Chris built me last year. They will help all the old food and yard scraps we've been collecting over the past year become nutrient-rich soil for future plantings. Isn't nature amazing?
What's even better . . . in placing the order for my worms I learned that there are LOTS of bugs that people buy for their gardens to reduce harmful pests naturally. For example, people buy ladybugs to get rid of aphids and mealyworms, or green lacewings to get rid of spider mites and whiteflies. But those don't appeal to me nearly as much as this guy:
That's right - you can purchase praying mantis eggs for your garden, and I'm totally excited about it! This HGTV article fully outlines why you want praying mantises to live in your garden, but the long and short of it is if it's a bug, the mantis will eat it. Plus, they're just pretty cool!
For now I'm just waiting for my worms to arrive, but I think some praying mantises are in my garden's future!
The idea of having worms as pets and using them for composting is both practical and fascinating. It’s a fun, sustainable way to recycle food scraps into nutrient-rich soil for future gardening. The fact that people are turning to natural solutions like earthworms and even praying mantises to enhance their gardens really highlights a growing trend of eco-friendly gardening practices. While worms are helping decompose organic matter, praying mantises offer an organic method of pest control by preying on harmful insects. This whole approach to gardening makes nature’s processes more accessible and exciting, and it’s great to see how much can be done without relying on chemicals. Plus, the idea of having a tiny ecosystem with such creatures is not only beneficial but also really cool!
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