Composting has long been the backbone of a more nature-friendly, healthy form of gardening and farming. Compost Revolution brings a true revolution of thought to this vital subject. This breakthrough content in this book was long available only as first published in German; it is now available to English-speaking world and is certain to bring a fresh spotlight on the efficacy of vermicomposting. The author brilliantly combines classic and cutting-edge research with real-world experience in gardens and horticultural applications. Farmers and growers of all scales will benefit from learning about the original “organic farmer” … the earthworm. Worm composting is a superb alternative to traditional composting methods, which generally suffer from high-energy losses. Working in harmony with the below-surface army of microorganisms, the lowly earthworm is now known to be the true hero in the underground, a soil builder par excellence, not only in nature, but also in garden- and farm-scale composting systems. This lavishly illustrated, in-depth book teaches: - Alternatives to conventional composting - The Golden Rules of composting - The worm:mineral theory - Underestimated importance of earthworms - The stages of microbial warming - How to winter worms - Over-fertilization vs. humus - Humus - a substance or a system? - Mixed cultures, rotation and true organic production Expert gardener and horticulturist Helmut Schimmel is a longtime authority on the care and reproduction of earthworms and the production of valuable worm humus. His coworkers in this venture belong Eisenia fetida — earthworms which are indispensable in the humus economy. Schimmel draws from his great wealth of knowledge acquired over decades of study and practice to yield this single, definitive book on the practice, available for the first time in English.