FINALLY I got worms! Crazy Aunt Mary wasn't able to make it to the baby shower and so I had to find another inexpensive way to obtain these crafty little devils. Cousin Melanie tirelessly searched the depths of the internet and found a business that actually sold and shipped worms straight to your door...what's this obscure website you ask? WORMS.COM of course!
So, early yesterday morning a beautiful and eagerly awaited package arrived at my door bearing the sender
address of
WORMS.COM (or call 1-800-COMPOST), my mailman must think I'm crazy.
Before I explain the process of setting up the worms in their new home, let me introduce my first obstacle of the day:worms are yucky!!
Yeah, you read correctly. I got caught up in the excitement of making a compost that is small enough to fit inside an apartment, doesn't smell, and creates compost more quickly that then the "set it and forget it" way; adding worms into the mix (literally) is able to establish all these things. This is great! So exciting! I love the idea, and as you read, I set off to make my very own vermiculture compost.
The very concept that I would be dealing with these slimy, oozy, squirmy little buggers DID NOT occur to me! EWE! Why didn't any of you warn me?
Yet, in the name of Urban Sustainability, I toughed it out. Im quite the hero...go go Captain Planet!
That's me---->
Anyways, here's how one sets up this type of compost.
You line the bottom of the container with 4inches of wet and shredded paper. It is important that the paper is not too wet (worms drown) or too dry (they...dehydrate?). So, you have to squeeze out excess water before you place it in the container.
Then I mixed in some topsoil and buried a SMALL amount of food scraps in the bottom corner of the container. As the book that I had referenced in a previous post, The Urban Homestead explained, the worms need time to acclimate themselves into their new environment, so you don't want to overwhelm them with too much food at first.
I then cut open the bag of worms that I had kept the previous day on my kitchen counter (my mother kept bugging me to get my mail off the counter, even though a big WORMS.COM was written across the top, I luckily avoided the berating I would've received had she known what was inside
my mail).
I must make a confession, while cutting open the bag, there MAY (okay, there was) have been a battle between worm and scissor...I didn't know it was there!! Sadly, the worm lost, and it's mangled body has been added to the compost; his death was not in vain...
<--Bag O' Worms
I left the worms on top of the wet, shredded paper, and they will eventually mosey their way down to the bottom of the bin and find the food that I buried.
The second bin (with holes in the bottom) also has a 4 inch layer of wet, shredded paper and will be where I put my food scraps in the future..the worms, if all goes well, will be able to travel through the holes to the food in the container above them.
The directions in
The Urban Homestead are a little confusing at this point and I may have to revise this previous statement after I find some more sources to clarify some of my questions. I'll let you know happens. worms --->
So, I have finished setting up my compost and hopefully all will go well! Yet, I have stumbled across a new and, really everyone's ultimate problem: MOM! That pain in the butt! She doesn't love my wormies like I do and she won't let me keep them in the garage where they can remain nice and warm!! The worms HATE being cold and will die, and Ms. Evil (worm) Home-Wrecker is trying to kick them out onto those hopelessly dangerous streets! I urge you all to call her and let her know how cruel she is!
I'll update to let everyone know how my worm farm is fairing as well as to post what new projects I have in store for the future. Next, I think I may be working on setting up a rain barrel but that is not definite. If anyone has any winter month ideas, let me know!
*I'd like to thank the lovely Christine and for the title of this post