Excited to see what happens with the SunChips bag!

I am pumped and ready to put the SunChips bag to the challenge.  I am not too concerned with the amount of time it will take for the bag to be completely composted.  I am more focused on the hope that it will just break down into usable compost.

As an avid composter for about 6 years, I know all of the right conditions need to be present for the optimum breakdown to occur, adding the right amount of brown and green waste and also reaching the right temperature.  These conditions, I believe only happen in a controlled environment.  The Sunchips bags were tested in a facility which maintained the composting temperature at 130 degrees Fahrenheit.  The bags broke down in about 12-16 weeks.  Realizing a home composter would not have access to those conditions, the SunChips testers mimicked a home composting bin and added browns and green waste to the SunChips bags.  The bags broke down in about 13 weeks.  They also conducted an Industrial Composting Standards test which is way beyond my backyard so I am not going to discuss all that they did.......
Basically, they passed a rigorous test protocol conducted by Cedar Grove in Seattle, Washington.

So, I am going to try two different composting methods, maybe even 3, depending on SunChip cravings!
1)  Red Wiggler composting Bin
2)  Backyard compost pile
3)  Compost tumbler

All of these are already set up with brown and green waste.  Temperatures will vary among the three.

I am thrilled SunShips created this compostable bag and am excited to see the results.

Happy Wormin'

Neighborhood Collection Bin

My neighborhood is cool, especially my block. I live about a mile from downtown which is an easy walk to restaurants, shops and the beautiful Deschutes River. We are on a busy street, but looking at this picture you really couldn't tell. That's because this is the back alley. A place where the kids ride their bikes, scooters and skateboards, and the parents can let them without worrying about traffic. This alley has hosted many parties and gatherings in the warmer months and sled and snowboard races during the winter months.

I also have some really sweet neighbors. Yeah, they are sugar and spice and everything nice, well some of them (just being honest here), but what I mean is... they are sweet.... as in "cool". Most of them know I am the Wonder Worman and have hoards of Red Wigglers on the side of the house. They tell me they don't mind! Some actually think it's pretty cool and some, well.... are a little "grossed out."

Some have their own compost piles and others bring their food scraps to this blue bin located by the alley. They are helping to keep my sidekicks happy and healthy. I am thankful for their waste and am happy to see them do what is right for our planet!

I think this type of Neighborhood Drop Off Waste Collection Bin (I just made that up as I am typing this. LOL!) could work in many neighborhoods. If you have a worm bin and have neighbors who are not into composting, you could start a collection bin. Give it a try! Then after a year of feeding the wigglers, you could share the castings and beautify your flower beds in the neighborhood.

Just a thought!

Happy Wormin'

the result of doing "it"

See that little tiny yellow speck that looks like a mini lemon. See it? See it?

Do you know what it is? huh? huh? come on do ya? do ya?

If you have a worm bin, maybe you've seen it before.

Well if you're still at a loss and you've never laid eyes on it in your entire life, I bet you have an idea...just by the title of the blog.

It's the result of doing "it", making whoopie in the worm world. Red Wigglers, as with other worms, are hermaphrodites. They have both male and female parts and need each other to reproduce. I have seen this in action, and it is really cool. They actually form a love knot. After doing "it", they each leave behind a cocoon.

After 3-4 weeks, about 5-10 worms will hatch from the cocoon. Then these babies will be reproducing new compost eating, earth saving creatures in 2-3 months and the cycle will start again.

Thought it would be cool to share this with ya! and don't worry you won't have worms crawlin' out of your bin...they self regulate their population. They determine their space and reproduce accordingly!

Happy wormin'

Compostable baby wipes!

I am excited to share a product introduced to me a week ago. Linda, CEO and Co-Founder of Elements Naturals and Shannon, her PR sidekick met with me at a local, fantastic coffee house in Bend. Linda's compostable baby wipes are 100% Natural and are chemical and fragrant free. These wipes will break down into usable compost in a home compost pile and soon to be tested in my Wonder Worman Super composting Worm Bin!

Now that my kids are way past the diaper stage...Nice for me!..., I have started using these wipes for our hands rather than their bottoms. (I am happy they are no longer pooping in their pants, but I do miss their baby smell.) These wipes are super soft and hold up to the wear and tear of removing dirt from grimy hands.

I have also used them for cleaning my key board. They have just the right amount of moisture and are not sopping wet. I think I've used 4 so far and will be tossing them into a worm bin over the weekend.

Here's to a cool compostable product!! More later! Happy Wormin'

Putting an active "Little a" to work!

My sweet, "Little a" went to work pulverizing eggshells for our red wigglers. Eggs shells contain calcium which the worms need to survive and to help with reproduction. Being a red wiggler merchant, this is important to me. I need to have the perfect environment for the worms to reproduce. If the worms have too much calcium, they have a gland unique to their species. The calciferous gland is located in their digestive tract. This helps regulate the amount of calcium in their blood.

The calcium in the bedding also helps balance the ph. Calcium will bring the ph to neutral, neither acidic or basic. The ideal composting conditions.

Many vermicomposters have shared there is no need to worry about adding too many egg shells if you eat eggs daily.

I didn't take a picture of the final product. It was a bit finer than what you see here. This is really close, though. I then took the bag out to my Wonder Worman bin and sprinkled it on top and then gently mixed it in about an inch.

Thanks for your help "Little a"

Happy Wormin'

Lavabelles Worm Service

I have been tweeting and facebooking about my newest worm adventure. Lavabelles has joined the "Wormability" movement!
Lavabelles is a really neat business. They have renovated 8 homes built in the 1940's, I believe. I need to get the exact information from Cara, the head honcho. Each home is fully furnished with modern and turn of the century pieces. They can be rented for a night or as long as a month!

I was very excited when Cara wanted to expand her recycling efforts to include vermicomposting! Since this was my first gig with providing a worm service, I wanted to take my time researching to make sure this would be successful. With my camera in hand, I took photos of the property to find the best place for the worm bin and outside food scrap container. By the way, Carlos, my really talented, creative, designer husband, came along! He has an eye for this type of thing! Anyway, we found the spots, and then I was off to the stores to find the best containers. After a few hours, I found one for the kitchen and one for the outside.

This is what I found! This super cool stuff is on the kitchen counter in the "Flo" house. The container is for the preconsumed kitchen waste. Carlos created the "How to do the Red Wiggler" info poster which explains what the worms love and and hate to eat. There is also a condensed version on the counter, too.

Kudos to Carlos! Once again, he bangs things out and they look SWEEEEEET! Check out the stickers on the container.

After filling up the indoor container with food for the worms, it will be brought outside.

This is the outdoor food collection bin. I will be there every Monday to empty and sort the food for the worms. The renter does not have to worry about feeding the worms.

The last step of the composting process and my favorite, The Worm Bin. Not sure if you can see the combo lock there to the left of my logo. I assembled that nifty piece all by myself! It took me a few days and trips back to the house to ask Carlos how to work the drill, change the battery pack, and attach and detach all of the bits. Eventually, I was able to drill that sucker on!

I will be here once a week checking on my babies and making sure this operation runs smoothly! I am so excited to be doing what I love!!! There truly is nothing like it!

More to come.

Happy Worming.
The sun is finally making an appearance! I missed you!

Last Worm Bin Delivery for the season!

This is it! The final delivery of the season! It was a cool one for sure, and one that I will remember for a while (well at least when I have the pictures as prompts...I need all the help I can get. The mind ain't what it used to be) On Monday, I took a pound of worms, a bin, peat moss, shredded newspaper, and my hubby to a Llama and Alpaca Farm. Marty, the human leader of the animals, greeted us with a huge smile and a hand shake. She lead us to the future home of the red wigglers, a renovated chicken coop that was invaded by racoons...Yikes. The chicken coop was already set up with a heat lamp and hay...perfect for a red wiggler set up in November. Totally cool! These guys love their llamas and alpacas and will soon love their red wigglers. Just look at that set up!
Here's a picture of hay which is above sheets of newspaper. This will keep the worms warm especially during the chilly Bend nights.
Doesn't this look yummmmmmy!!! Marty was all set with food scraps for the red wigglers. I put the rotting lettuce, celery, cucumbers and squash on top of the bedding and covered the scraps with the sheets of newspaper (another good use for USA today). I use the newspaper to keep the red wigglers contained to the food area so they won't travel up through the hay. In the summer this helps reduce fruit flies.

Marty's goal is to reduce her food waste and to also compost her llama and alpaca waste. I don't have experience with animal waste so she is my test case. We will be chatting a bunch to see how the red wigglers are doing. I am excited to see what happens!!

Pumpkins=Happy Red Wigglers

Calling all Halloween Jack-O-Lantern and rotting pumpkin owners!

When you are tempted to toss your icky pumpkins into the trash can, don't! STOP and think about other options.

1. toss them into the corner of your backyard.
2. toss them into your compost pile.
3. toss them into your worm bin!!!
and if these options don't work for you, GIVE THEM TO THE WONDER WORMAN!!! (if you are local)

Pumpkins are 100% biodegradable. When added to your compost pile, you will have rich fertilizer for the spring! A huge bonus, if you have a worm bin, the worms will have a Halloween treat too! They love, love, love pumpkins! I can't stress that enough!

REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF USABLE WASTE THAT CLOGS OUR LANDFILLS!!!!

Day 2: Is This Appealing to YOU?

I decided to check on bin #1 a little bit earlier today because I wanted to add a "meat" thermometer to see what the temperature was in the bedding. When I lifted to newspaper, I noticed not much has changed. There were a few red wigglers on the top of the coffee filters, but by the time I turned my camera on and took the picture they were gone. They are quick when they are exposed to light! I believe another type of bug is eating through the cabbage leaf. There are big bites taken out of it. It is not uncommon to have other decomposers in the bin too. The worms are well mannered and don't mind sharing!



Here is the "meat" thermometer. It reads about 62 degrees (not sure how to make the symbol on the computer).

The worms are quite active when I pulled the watermelon away so I know they don't mind this temperature. Tomorrow, I will take a picture of the worms underneath the melon. I will have to keep an eye on this and will begin to insulate the bins when it drops to about 40 degrees.





After I finished taking pictures, I covered the red wigglers with their favorite "blankie". They surely like their large sheets of newspaper. It keeps their home nice and dark and helps to keep out the fruit flies.

Until tomorrow.....

Happy Worming!

Is this appealing to YOU?

Probably not, I am sure of that, but to my red wigglers this is heaven on a stick. The nastier the better. They will devour this mess of mush in about 2 weeks, and I will keep track of this for the week. I am home for a week from my "other" job due to a surgery so I need a Wonder Worman project to keep me busy. I have decided to document the progress of bin #1.

Not sure if you can tell what all of this is???
- 3/4 of a watermelon
-3 coffee filters
-carrots...not sure how many
-cabbage leaves...from my garden (which the deer have eaten...another blog for that one)
-apple core and some egg shells
I shall see how long this takes. I just threw the waste on top of the bedding and have covered the food with large sheets of newspaper. I will be back tomorrow to show another picture. Happy worming!!!

Wonder Worman is a Super Hero

Last Wednesday morning, I was reading The Source, the weekly newspaper in Bend. They have a section called "Cold Call" where they go around town asking various questions. This weeks question was "Who is your favorite super hero?" A past worm buyer named Susan said "Wonder Worman." I was laughing so hard and quickly showed my husband. Holy Cow, I am someones super hero. She went on to mention the worms and my business. To see the complete interview check out this weeks Source!

Composting Tips

Keep an eye on moisture levels

I like to keep a layer of moist sheets of newspaper on top of my worm bins and check it regularly on hot summer days - even now in these late summer early fall days when the temperature can hover around the upper 80’s in the afternoon.

The sheets help keep the bedding moist and allow for the worms to make their way to the top layer to consume the scraps. Doing this, also helps with fruit flies. They seem to be contained under the sheets and not flying all around the bin. Fruit flies are more of a nuisance to humans than to the worms.

If you find the bedding to be too dry, sprinkle the bedding with some water. Remember the bedding should be similar to a wet sponge. You should be able to squeeze a little liquid out of it.

For more detailed information, check out “Wonder Worman’s Quick Guide to Red Wiggling”. It’s a quick guide to get you going and you can download it here.

Composting Tips

Is it time for you to change your bedding? Has the bedding turned a rich dark color? It may be time.

Since the Red Wigglers are in a contained environment and aren’t able to migrate to a different area, an area where their bedding isn’t overwhelmed by their waste, it’s important to provide that area for them. First expose the bin to light and your Red Wigglers will migrate to the bottom. Skim the top layer, this is the rich organic fertilizer that you have been waiting for! Save it or put it to use.

For more detailed information, check out “Wonder Worman’s Quick Guide to Red Wiggling”. It’s a quick guide to get you going and you can download it here.

What’s on the Menu for Red Wigglers?

What’s on the menu today for Wonder Worman’s Super Composting Red Wigglers? There’s Red Leaf lettuce, banana peels, strawberries, oats, pasta, rice and spinach, among other things – Food scraps from the last couple of days. If you have kids and are looking for ways to get them even more excited about having Red Wigglers, make a project out of feeding your worms by creating a “soup” out of food that would normally go to waste – but still a good source of food for your Red Wigglers (Moldy bread? Bring it on! Rusty Lettuce? Yum!). Before putting this mix into the bin, add a bit of water to prevent any moisture from being absorbed by the mix from the existing bedding. Bon Appetit!

Red Wiggler Food

Red Wiggler Food
Originally uploaded by wonderworman

Red Wigglers can eat most anything. Try testing out various foods that you normally discard after preparing a meal (less meat products and citrus based fruits).
For example, you may have veggies w/ freezer burn - give them to the worms, they don’t mind.

In addition to veggie and fruit waste, Wonder Worman’s Red Wigglers love pasta, left over cheese pizza and home made chocolate chip cookies!
Who knew?

Wonder Worman has Worm Ts!

Wonder Worman went to great lengths (sometimes jumping worm bins in a single bound) to make sure these shirts met the standards of the League of Super Vermicomposters:

- 100% Organic Cotton
- Made in California
- Designed and Printed in Oregon
- Super Soft Feel
- Worn by The Wonder Worman

Feel comfortable knowing you’ll be wearing something that’s as friendly and organic as your Super Composting Red Wiggler sidekicks!
Check them out here!

Things are rolling

Wonder Worman is growing! Super Composting Red Wigglers will soon be in the bins of LaPine Middle School and Tumalo Elementary School. Both of these schools are located in Central Oregon. These red wigglers will help with the reduction of the school waste. The compost made from the red wigglers will be used for their community gardens.

Getting Started

Making decisions for my website has been a lot of fun, I do like it. My deadline in Friday (6 days). I am very excited to see what people think of it. I am also working with a carpenter on creating cool worm bins. I hope to have them ready by Friday, too. Another thing I am working on is Tshirts...can't wait for them to be done too. Lots going on and have so many ideas and goals for Wonder Worman. I love my job :^)