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I harvested some cabbage today and found a few green worms (I am guessing that they are cabbage worms). Would it be foolish to put the outer, unused leaves in my compost pile? Would that just infiltrate my pile with worms? I even wondered if I rinse them or dry them separately first if that would make a difference?

There *are* gardeners who are very laissez-faire about creatures in their compost. "In compost, good; in garden, bad" kind of thing, you know...

I'm not quite into that camp. If I so much as see an earwig outside the confines of the BioStack bin, that earwig is history.

I'm sure I would feel much the same way about cabbage worms that I feel about earwigs; I spent a lot of time hand-picking cabbage worms last October.

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

I wonder how well they would survive if buried deep in the pile. Especially if it was a hot one! Do they even eat compost, or do they need fresh greenery? Maybe they'd just starve to death trying to find a way out.

especially if the brassicas are a ways away from the compost, I wouldn't worry about it. they'll either wander off, starve, or get eaten by something.

yup, I'm with the last two. I doubt the cabbage worms would survive in your pile. I'd just throw them in, either burying them or covering them with other stuff pretty well.