When Do Worms Become Active In The Spring?

It’s an interesting question because I haven’t seen all too many earth worms around this year.

So far this Spring, I have screened about ten wheelbarrow loads of compost. I am not sure I have seen any worms in any of that compost. The strange thing is, I screened many wheelbarrow loads full of compost last Autumn and I had more worms than I knew what to do with. I had a grand ol’ time throwing that compost and those worms all over the lawn. Hmmm, what fun for the soil.

Holding a worm that was found in compost in my hand

Today, I screened another load of compost. I still didn’t see any worms. I began thinking something was wrong, so I went inside and searched for, “when do worms come out” and “when do worms become active in the Spring.” I found a few interesting results.

The first result that caught my attention was called, “Frequently Asked Questions About Earthworms.” This web page offered a lot of good information, but I am not sure it answered my question. The second page that caught my attention was called, “Earthworms and Crop Management” and gave me a better clue. This page said, “The best time to observe or count earthworm populations is early- to mid-spring (often April in North Central states), or late fall (November).”

Even after reading all this information, I am still confused. It’s the middle of April and all I have seen in the way of earth worms so far are the ones that come out after it rains. There are thousands of them. Most of them are really small though, so I am assuming they are young.

I guess it’s still too early for worms. Perhaps the soil is too cold and they are burrowed down too deep. I am going to keep my eye out for them because I really like to spread them across the yard when I spread the compost over the grass.