daft worm question

[janeyo]

So as I was scrubbing the mud off the (undamaged) parnips I found a little worm in the water.
If worms eat all the organic matter in the soil, how come they don't eat the veggies? How do they know the difference?

[HeyWayne]

How do you know the worm's daft?

[Capsid]

I don't think they have tough enough mouthparts to chew into veg. They just take up soil and extract the nutrition from it.

[FionaH]

Not enough teeth

[Hilary B]

Worms eat 'dead' vegetable matter. I suppose it must give off different chemicals.

[Two_Sheds]

Fi got there first: worms' teeth aren't big enough. In fact they don't have teeth at all. Have you tried gumming a parsnip to death?

[seasprout]

Worms only eat dead and decaying matter, hence seeds pass through a wormery uneaten.