Look who I found in my compost bin:
From my Googling around, I’m pretty sure that this delectable looking creature is a grub. Grub worms are beetle larvae, and there are over 30,000 species of beetles worldwide. I’ve heard that grubs are murder when it comes to turf lawns, but what I’m not entirely sure about is whether grubs are beneficial to my slow compost pile. Some people say that grubs are excellent converters of organic material into humus; Others complain that grubs are a nuisance in the garden and should be picked out of the compost.
My bin is teeming with red wigglers, which are a huge help:
Red wiggler worms can consume their body weight in organic material every day, and their castings are rich in nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium.
But what about the grubs? How can I tell if this particular grub is a composting friend or foe? Do you leave grubs in your compost, or pick them out and feed them to the birds?
Alas, I don’t have the answers you’re looking for. How big is that grub? It looks like a nasty li’l guy, and scary enough that even if I wanted to kill it (not sadistically, but for the good of my compost, of course) I’m not sure I’d have the guts (unless I used, say, a long-range spray weapon that probably wouldn’t be good for the compost, either).
Good luck with combat / non-combat!
You can’t know if it’s a good grub or a bad grub for your garden unless you take one and put it in a jar and let it complete it’s metamorphosis. That said – all grubs are okay in your compost – they help to break it down and aren’t doing anything bad there. They are only bad if you pass them along into the garden soil – and you can sift them out at that point easily after the finished compost is ready. And if you want my chickens love to eat them so come feed my girls if you feel like collecting a few!!
Our school children love picking grubs out of raised bed before we amend compost soil for new crops. We keep those grubs in our compost piles. Children also keep some in the jar to watch them transform…now our vegetable garden has multipurple for education, a hands-on science lab and learn all about growing.