electric tiller question....

[Worth1]

I just now remembered my Echo weed whacker is one of those fancy ones you can get attachments to.
Like a tiller just the thing to grub up the raised beds.

Worth

[greenthumbomaha]

Whatever you use, try for a gentle mix. Don't go wild and pulverize. Make sure the soil isn't wet. You want to keep as much of the airspace as possible.

If you're really as anal as I am , hunt down the earthworms and relocate them while you work.

- Lisa

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by greenthumbomaha

Whatever you use, try for a gentle mix. Don't go wild and pulverize. Make sure the soil isn't wet. You want to keep as much of the airspace as possible.

If you're really as anal as I am , hunt down the earthworms and relocate them while you work.

- Lisa

That is why I haven't done anything the beds are loaded with them.
Worth

[AlittleSalt]

Originally Posted by Gardeneer

Thanks Robert

I just ordered one from Amazon.
Total cost: $95.84 ( 89.78 + 6.06tx), free shipping,to arrive Jan. 5, 2017.
That is a good price. The other day at Lows they had a tiny cultivator, on clearance for $230.
Like I said, tilling native soil here iis like cutting a piece o cake.
With this one I will try tilling some more lawn/grass .

I think you will enjoy using it. That is cheaper than we paid for ours.

[My Foot Smells]

Yes, that is the one. Thanks for the testimony Robert. It gets rave reviews. Willing to give her a try.

[Gardeneer]

Robert, ...Thanks for recommendation and the link.

Lisa, ... As much as I want worms in my garden soil, but unfortunately there is virtually none. During hurricane Matthew the land was flooded with standing water up to one foot high. I think that killed all the earth worms. I don't know how the worms multiply. Maybe their eggs or something will come back to life.

[brownrexx]

I read that some people will put a pile of vegetable waste at the end of their gardens about a week before they till. It is supposed to attract the worms to that area and protect them from the tiller.

[Gardeneer]

I have a hole in the back that I dump all kitchen scrap, coffee ground, eggshells in it . I am doing it as composting. If there is no earthworm, you won't see them appear from no where. I have been digging in different places and have yet to see a single earthworm.

[brownrexx]

Actually you may see them appear as if from nowhere because their egg cocoons can be carried with leaves, mulch or other organic materials that you bring in from elsewhere

[Worth1]

Go buy some fishing worms and start a colony.

Worth

[gorbelly]

Originally Posted by Gardeneer

During hurricane Matthew the land was flooded with standing water up to one foot high. I think that killed all the earth worms. I don't know how the worms multiply. Maybe their eggs or something will come back to life.

Depends on how long the flood lasted. Worms can survive at least a few days and up to a couple of weeks fully submerged in water. Their egg cocoons would certainly have survived. I think it's more likely that your sandy soil isn't particularly attractive to worms yet. That will probably change as you garden in it and amend it more.

Worms are pretty resilient as long as they're not stranded on the surface. I've found many worms curled up and dormant in clay soil that was compacted and hard as rock and surprisingly dry--but they were deep down enough to avoid temperature extremes and were very much alive, just waiting for rains or whatever to make it possible for them to move on through the soil.

Originally Posted by Gardeneer

I have a hole in the back that I dump all kitchen scrap, coffee ground, eggshells in it . I am doing it as composting. If there is no earthworm, you won't see them appear from no where. I have been digging in different places and have yet to see a single earthworm.

I find that most earthworms, with the exception of species known to be good composters, prefer decomposing browns or finished compost, not hotter kitchen waste. A few weeks after putting down wood mulch in new flower beds where the soil was very poor and seemed pretty lifeless, pushing aside the mulch revealed many worms, even though wood mulch isn't particularly nourishing.
.
Have you looked under your lawn grass? I find that worms like to hang out in or under the root zone of lawn grass. I encounter the most worms when I'm stripping the sod out to make beds--even more than when I dig into the darker and more amended soil of my veggie beds

[Worth1]

Like any critter they multiply during good times.
For man and the lowly worm good times is food and shelter.
Provide this and they will multiply.
Worms love corn meal.

Worth

[Gardeneer]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Go buy some fishing worms and start a colony.

Worth

Actully, I have been thinking about this. New to the area, I have to find out where I can get them. Back in GA i used to go around, dig and get these tiny thin worms and released them in my garden. They got big and fat and multiplied.

Gorbelly, yes earth worms are brown matter eaters. I know they love fall leaves.

So back to tilling, worms killed by tilling is not my concern at this point. It will be at least 2 months from now that I will start disturbing my garden. In the meantime I will make another patch for melons, zukes, cukes, etc. From what I have heard watermelons grow real well around here.

[Cole_Robbie]

The last time I tilled, I was going slow, digging out beds. Worms were popping up out of the ground in front of me and moving quickly out of the way of the tiller, like rats off of a sinking ship.

[My Foot Smells]

purchased tiller today for 81.03 free ship/no tax. box has some damage but unit is new in new condition.

vroom, vroom