Did you dump them on top of the soil, in sun? I'd put them out in shade and sprinkle soil on top of them, or dig holes. They will fry if placed on top of soil, especially in full sun.

If you keep adding OM the worms will come to find it. It won't happen overnight, it might take a year before you see many. And they need moisture too. If the soil is very dry they'll dive deep to get to it. The more OM the better. Leaf mulch if fall works great to bring worms.

Karen

no it was like 10 @ night.

my son digs a hole and dumps them all in, then don't know what happens. never see them again. well till it rains again :')) now if ya want worms, wait till it rains and go out afterwards to where there is like concrete and alot of times they will be on there, ohhh man!! tabor ( my son ) get tons of them!!! FAT ones too!! LOL stick them in some soil (dry) then when your dirt drys out some put them in there, instant family, LOL

Worms need moisture, food and protection from sunlight.

Put them on the loose, moist soil, and cover them with moist compost, moist leaves, wet cardboard or several layers of wet newspapers.

Worms will also be killed by exposure to ultraviolet sunlight. Twenty minutes of it is certain death.

Sue

Here's my experience w/same/similar problem. Last year I had similar soil - but I have a flower bed, not a veggie plot. I did similar stuff & topped it w/lots of mulch (I think mostly pine bark mulch). Also, I had amended the soil w/lots of leaves & N of various forms (coffee grounds, dried blood, compost, etc.)

Last fall I asked the same question & got a response similar to "if you build it they will come." They definitely like/need good amount of moisture AND something to eat (leaves, newspaper, cardboard, mulch, etc.).

This spring, the top layer (top 2-4") - underneath the newly added spring mulch - looked beautiful but still no worms.

So, this spring I got some worms from local bait store. I pushed aside the mulch, dug down about 2" and put them there. They are extremely happy and have multiplied (I think)!

Don't know if you can do this amount of mulch on your veggie garden, but mine are very happy - and live about 2" under the mulch.

And, I like Sue's suggestions too - sounds perfect for your situation.

All the Best, Tree

ok, here's something else.
i brought a tree up here from my dads, his nice soil has lotsa worms, i was planting stuff under the tree and and found worms, can't believe they're alive on my land, even though it's not my soil.....
given the crappiness of my soil, will the worms, tunnel their way outward from the tree and into my lawn and garden??

I started with hard clay soil too. Old parched lawn full of weeds and very little OM Of the mulches I have tried, hardwood mulch didn't encourage the worms much, pine bark mulch was the worst, not even keeping the soil moist for me, and leaves, shredded and whole, ROCKED! I did it in november '07, shredding with a trash can and a weed eater modified with those blade attachments, piling the stuff sometimes a foot thick. It turned into wonderful duff that the worms love. If I move the mulch around and expose the soil surface, I usually find at least a dozed worms per square foot of soil surface now. That is after a year or so of bad mulch and then six months of good mulch, a few additions of compost too over the 2 years. It also makes the soil very soft and you can work it with your hands. YMMV but this was my experience and I do not exaggerate, ok, not much at least.

Here is a link that might be useful: www.gardeninginconverse.com

well thats good cuz when i started the bed i cover the grass with leaves, then used a layer of top soil, bagged, then a layer of newspaper, then mulch.

so did you work the leaves and compost into the soil, or did it just all go on top and this make the soil easy to work?

i'm just wonderin, will my soil change color as it gets healtheir?

I live in New England. Due to the last ice age, we have no native earthworms. When I bought my house, the soil was poor, compacted and void of worms. After two full years of organics, my worm population has exploded. These worms are from Asia, Europe, US, etc. They found my soil, I did not find them.

I will chime in with the others, build a pile and they fill come.

On top of my hard clay soil, I add leaves, grass clippings, kitchen scraps and a little water. A few months later I have a pile filled with worms.

I then screen the compost and start a new pile making sure I add the largest worms to the new pile.

Good Luck...

Worms seem to like leaf piles and wood chip piles around here. If you can dedicate a potion of your land to something like that the worms will have a happy home to stay alive in while you make the rest of the land more worm-friendly. Some sort of deep rooting cover crop for a season or two might also help bust up the clay which is good for gardening and good for worms.

Worms love coffee grounds. Become a friend to a coffee shop and they will find you.