I'd save the money and simply wait. You did not say how long you had your raised beds running, but worms will appear. At one time I swore my worm population was deficient. I'd dig around and find very few. Then after alot of mulching in the lawn and using compost in my garden I began to notice more and more worms. Now I can barely turn a spadeful to plant a seedling without seeing a worm.

The worms used in composting are different than worms that live in soil. You may have success putting composting worms into a garden bed that is mostly compost, but there are no guarantees. I'd hate to see you spend the money, then lose all of them.

I've had my raised beds for about 4 years now. It seems like in past years I've maybe seen a few worms, but this year there definitely were none that I noticed. My beds are made primarily of compost - maybe some peat or perlite added in, and I add some new compost every year. (not homemade). So the consensus is not to try the purchase route? I agree that I would hate to buy 'em only to have them die. That's why I asked the question of you experts.

Thanks!
Susan

Composting worms are different from those that live in the ground. In the wild, red wigglers live on top or in the the first couple of inches of the soil.

I just moved to Southwestern Idaho with clay soil and am just starting my raised beds. I plan to some EH's and some Alabama Jumpers to work my compost into the clay.

I put worms in my square foot beds.
I simply use one square of my beds as a compost space. That is, I put fruit/veggie scraps in there for the worms to munch.
If you do not give them a constant food source they will die or take off. That is, if you are adding red wigglers.
Or you can do like the others say and just keep adding organic compost to your beds and eventually the native worms will come.

If your raised garden bed is kept damp, it sounds like a good environment for composting worms even without you working at it.

I just built a new raised bed, layers of manure, lucerne etc, and after letting it cook for a couple of weeks, I have added some compost worms and I think they will do very well.

I am not planning to feed them, plenty of stuff there already.

I built a raised bed garden this year out of straw bales. I did seed some worms in the bales. At the end of the season, I raked up the remains of the bales to use as mulch and compost and was amazed at the amount of worms in the material. Of course this material was all sitting on top of the ground. I have two 4x4 bins full of material and a big 5x5x3 pile that I'm dying to check come spring when everything thaws.

coach_g, I surrounded my hoop house with hay bales for some additional support from our all too common Chinook winds. When I moved several of these inside the hoop house to make a winter cold frame for spinach and loose leaf lettuce, I noticed the same thing. However, these were not native worms, but a bunch of renegade red wigglers. Straw bales are a natural hide out for any worms in the neighborhood and a good way to establish a plot of fishing worms if your into that. Toss some corn meal or ground corn cobs underneath several adjoining hay bales and your in business.

If you use or have used Roundup in or around your garden, perhaps you have killed off your worms.
I read this recently:

'MonsanoâÂÂs advertising campaigns have convinced many people that Roundup is safe, but the facts just donâÂÂt support this. Independent scientific studies have shown that Roundup is TOXIC TO EARTHWORMS, beneficial insects, birds and mammals, plus it destroys the vegetation on which they depend for food and shelter. Although Monsanto claims that Roundup breaks down into harmless substances, it has been found to be extremely persistent, with residue absorbed by subsequent crops over a year after application.'
http://www.organicconsumers.org/monsanto/roundup.cfm

Tilling? You're likely killing your worms. Quit missing with the soil and the life will come back...

Minimal tilling or soil disruption is what we are trying too. There is always some of course when setting up new gardening beds or even planting. Large plants when ready to remove I have been cutting off at the surface rather than pulling the roots so they will remain and the soil is not disturbed.

I chose the EH for adding to the garden and lawn last year and have spotted them when pulling weeds or doing shifting of soil. Yesterday while dividing some comfrey there were at least 4 worms to a shovel of course this was taken by cleaving the comfrey in two which means they were right in among the roots rotting leaves and new leaves not to mention the manure the comfrey were planted in. They do seem to love this plant though.

We are zone 8b and we had an unusually mild winter which no doubt helped greatly though I have no doubt that even with a cold winter as long as there is cover left for them they should be fine here. Colder areas where the ground freezes is probably a much different story.

The 'If you build it they will come" mantra certainly applies to many parts of the planet but for some composting and earthworms are simply non existent so importing them makes sense to get them established.

Question, I have 2 raised bed gardens 2ftx2ftx8in on legs with a bottom in my deck.

What is the best way to get started?

After I was away for a long spell I needed to start my worm bin. It was too late in the season to find red worms locally excpt at a local pet shop so I bought and fed them. A few month later I had a bin full of earth worms! Apparently the worms sold to feed fish aren't the same as our cute red wigglers. However the fish worms might work well in the beds described in the posts above.

• My raised beds are elevated on 3' legs, so there is no way for worms to enter naturally from the ground. Should I buy worms and place them in the beds? If yes, which type is best, and how many do I need? Thanks!

For composting in the bed you need composting worms which are different to the garden variety. Suggest buy and add, then feed them your vegetable waste.

Good luck!

You can help people who want to start a wormcomposter with plus2vers.com, to give or find some worms an advice for free !

Harry, I've added worms to over 1000 square feet of raised beds. Red wigglers or european night crawlers, or local worms will all be beneficial for your garden. I would prefer the natural worms or super reds (europeans), so you don't litter up your garden with "vegetable waste", which will attract snails, slugs, etc. You will want to top dress with "back to eden" style in your garden, and add worms as necessary. I would put 500-1000 super reds per 50sq ft. Your garden will flourish. Go to www.unclejimswormfarm.com