If your crops are abundant and healthy, I don't think you have a problem. I don't know why you don't have many earthworms, but I wouldn't worry about it too much if your soil is healthy. I don't want to disparage the Professionals, but they do scientific studies, you're just putting in a home garden and eating well. No one knows the soil in your garden better than you do, no matter how many studies he's done, or how many degrees he has. I never heard of worms who aerate the soil too much, and I doubt my mother or grandmother did either, yet all of us have managed somehow to feed our families over the generations without any cryptic and confusing analytical input from some guy with thick glasses and a bow tie. I have a couple of beds where I never see worms, and some where I have zillions of them. I guess only the worms know why they hang out in one area and not another. I do know they go where the food is, so I try to always include a lot of shredded leaves in my mulch as well as the compost. I'm not sure if worms are drawn to composted leaves like they are to uncomposted ones. So shredded leaves would draw more worms to the area. Cheryl

When Minnie Hill Palmer passed, The Acre was deeded to the city and fell under control of 'Parks and Wreck'. The Chatsworth Historical Society was formed to save The Pioneer Church and finally came to support The Acre. Candy and Dean Craig resurrected the gardens and added many OGRs through their friendship and connection with John MacGregor, Clair Martin's predecessor at The Huntington Library. They were rose garden volunteers there and it was they who introduced me to the place and got me started there. Candy also had a friendship with Peter Schneider, the editor of The American Rose Rambler, a marvelous rose newsletter, and now the editor of The Combined Rose List, which he generated with Bev Dobson (who originated it) and whom he succeeded. The Craigs lost a daughter to a drunk driver and Peter named an apricot floribunda he created for their daughter, Eden Ellen. There was a bed of it growing there for many years. They surrounded the house with roses, making it a popular venue for weddings and other parties, arranged through "Parks and Wreck". With tightening belts and the aging of the Historical Society and surrounding rose societies which often used the gardens to hold their pruning demonstrations, it appears roses (not all, but from the photos, many) have been removed (or, perhaps died) to reduce maintenance and probably to increase room for events. Candy held an annual Rose Festival in conjunction with Pioneer Days, a community festival, for many years where she sold old, rare and unusual roses to help pay for the potting soil and other supplies required to maintain the gardens. Many of them were passed through her by Peter from his imports and were the source of things such as Julia's Rose, Greensleeves and quite a few other unusual European roses not in US commerce at the time. A number were propagated from the OGRs existing on the property when they came to be the volunteer caretakers and many more came from The Huntington and my old Newhall garden. There are still some roses there, I'm not sure which though. It's suggested to start plants out in pots which best fit their root ball size so the roots fill the pots and knit a solid root ball. Starting a band out in a five gallon can will frequently lead to weakened root ball between the crown of the plant and the pot edges due to the long length of roots between the center and edges. Removing the root ball from the pot could then permit loosening or even damage to the roots at their weakest point, between the crown and edge of the mass. Starting a small plant in a gallon until the roots fill the pot wall surfaces shortens that distance, creating a more solid root mass. Increasing that from a gallon to a two or three and permitting it to then fill out the increased mass results in a more solid soil/root ball which is less likely to fall apart or otherwise be damaged by removal or handling. The organics in the soil break down, digest, over time, leaving only the inorganic material (sand, clay, stone, etc.). Eventually, all potted plants require replanting to replenish and refresh the soil in the container. A looser, weaker root ball is more easily damaged than a tighter solid mass, so the plant will experience less damage and shock from the root ball falling apart. If you're trying to protect smaller pots from heat and cold extremes, it's far easier to protect multiples than one. They can be grouped together so each helps shade and insulate the next. (another logical "excuse" for larger pot ghettos!) If your goal is to keep the plant potted until it's matured sufficiently for planting, this would be the more secure method of accomplishing it. If you intend to keep it potted, it still may be safer to start with a smaller size them transplant into the desired size to stack the deck in your favor for safer repotting when the time comes. You may be able to safely accomplish transplanting after starting the smaller plant in a larger pot, but the chances of the soil ball breaking up are greater. Kim Here is a link that might be useful: American Rose Rambler and Combined Rose List

WeedLady, I raise my worms in a bedding mixture of approximately 50% shredded newspaper, 33% shredded cardboard, 17% coffee grounds. Plus I add some sand, ground egg shells, and cornmeal. (small amounts) I try to NOT pay for anything that I don't have to! The newspaper/coffee grounds complement each other really well. Newspaper holds water, coffee grounds don't. Newspaper clumps together, having the coffee grounds mixed through them prevents that. Plus, the worms LOVE the coffee grounds! And, after I mix the bedding, I do exactly as you said. I let it sit till it becomes "biologically" active. As for your bin(s), two pounds isn't much and you have had them for a short while. I wouldn't mess with the worms to much yet. However, you might pull out a few of the breeders and toss into the new bin. Remember - patience is the vermicomposters mantra! You didn't say how much food scraps you are feeding the worms. The more you have to feed, the faster the "herd" will grow. I would give it another month or so though.

Although the government does not like you to do that, they consider it a landfill and want you to get permits and stuff, many gardeners do bury kitchen scraps. You need to bury them more than an inch or two, 6-8 inches is better and make sure no bones, meat, fat, or poop from animals that eat meat. There are various reasons, and exceptions to these rules I will not go into. Three methods are followed: - post hole - dig a hole with a posthole digger, dump in the scraps, cover up. - meandering trench - start a trench, as you put scraps in the trench, cover them with dirt dug from continuing the trench. - pit and trench - divide your garden, row by row, into three rows. Trench and bury in one row, plant in the second, walk in the third and repeat thru your garden. Next year plants go where the trench is this year, trench goes where you walked last year and walkway goes where you planted last year. You may want to get a composter made for what you wish to do instead. Add some leaves, sawdust, or shredded paper everytime you add kitchen scraps. If it smells you are not adding enough of the browns. Once full, let it set for another six months to a year while you start a new one. Worms will find them and take care of the real work.