Kitchen Garden Forum

Hi All,

I hope you can help me with a problem I've discovered. Lately, whenever I dig on the plot I find worms in almost every spadeful. Are these worms eating all my soil? With so many worms how long will my soil last and how do I replace it? Does anyone use worm traps or worm scarers?

Thanks, Dovesails

The first thing to do is to make sure the worms ear tags match the numbers assigned to your plot this info can be got from the site manager, if DEFRA make a spot check and find you have worms that you have no paperwork for you can be fined a £1000 and if you have worms that have no eartags this can carry a jail sentance for more info check out the site defra.gov.org

They could be a problem for your FRUIT crops. See EU list below:

A. DEFINITIONS
For the purposes of this Directive, the following definitions shall apply:
1. Fruit:
— fresh, sound fruit, free from deterioration, containing all its essential constituents and sufficiently ripe for use,
after cleaning, removal of blemishes, topping and tailing,
— for the purposes of this Directive, tomatoes, the edible parts of rhubarb stalks, carrots, sweet potatoes,
cucumbers, pumpkins, melons and water-melons are considered to be fruit.

This is the first i've heard of this, it sounds quite worrying too me.
I wish i hadn't got rid of all the moles on my allotment now.
It just seems to be one thing after another lately, it makes you wonder if this gardening thing is worth it at the end of the day.

Oh no, another EU directive and me with a wormery full of unlicensed worms

I do have a very serious question here though; I admit I have to take responsibility for the worms in my wormery, but what about those on the allotment and garden. They can't be said to be "mine" as I'm sure most of them are just passing through. Do they need different paperwork?

Also, these transient worms, do they have to leave the soil in the condition they found it? And what can I do if they don't?

Anxious of Rugby

Dear Anxious of Rugby

I fear the situation re Vermes Hortarum (garden worms) is considerably more complex than you imagine. I quote the relevant EU Directives.

Concerning worms resident in permanent or semi-permanent structures.
EU/1999/vhort/wiggli/45/a (sub-section xii)
"All permanent or semi-permanent structures should be constructed according to locally enforced building regulations, and sited in accordance with planning laws in force."

EU/2006/vhort/wiggli/4523/v (sub-section 5933[45])
"All residents are the responsibility of the owner. All births of new residents must be registered with the relevant authorities (in the case of the UK Defra (worm section). All food provided mst be fully recorded and records kept for at least 20 years."

Concerning migrant movements.
EU/2007/vhort/foreign/VH65/6/v
"All EU originating worms have rights of passage and residence in the UK (except the Isle of Man), provided in possession of a currently valid Animal Passport. Individuals originating in Romania and Bulgaria (hereinafter referred to as Rogarians) do not have these rights until 2020."

I am afraid that the Directives make no mention of the state of the land after or if resident or migrant populations leave the area. I suggest you take this up with your solicitor with a view to initiating a civil action.

Hope this clarifies matters.

after the worms have eaten the soil and redeposited it is it then waste, if it is waste you need the relevent permits to store or transport it.

What is all this!
I'm just off to find a calendar and check on today's date!

John

Oh bugger, I really am in trouble.

I've been at the allotment all day and didn't find a single licensed worm. Several had passports indicating they were EU tourists, mercifully no Rogarians, but no ear tags.

The good news is they did appear to be leaving the land in a reasonable state.

I'm seeing my solicitor first thing. I think I need around 5,000 licences to cover the wormery alone. Are these things expensive?

Regards

Even more anxious of Rugby

Dear even more anxious of Rugby, since i have been put in total charge of the relevant punishments to be handed out in the Rugby area, i feel you have every right to be worried.

Of course i'm open to bribes of thickly sliced gooey chocolate cake.

I'm really worried as my hens eat all the worms in my garden does that mean I have to pay compensation to the owners ? thing is my nearest neighbour is a mile away so I may be ok

Dear EMA of Rugby

Do not worry that they had no ear tags. If they had, they would have been sheep.