First Wonder Worman Bin Delivery of the season

Actually I delivered two bins today minus the Super Composting Red Wigglers. The weather this week has been rather silly! On Sunday, it was near 70, and today it was close to 40! Yucky for sure. The weather was not ideal, and I did not feel comfortable setting my red wigglers into their new homes. The worms will be delivered in about 2 weeks. By then, I hope the weather has improved and the nightime lows are above freezing.

My clients were very excited to get the bins even without the worms, knowing they can still compost. Food waste will be tossed into the bin and will begin to break down. So when the worms do arrive, the bedding will have food scraps for them to eat.

I am excited for this season of vermicomposting. I am scheduled to be at the Earth Day Fair this Saturday 4/24 in downtown Bend at the Environmental Center. There will be many local Earth loving people there!! Come down and say "Hi".

More later! happy wormin'

Thinking about Worms

I am constantly thinking about these red wigglers.

I think about them when I wake up, when I make coffee, when I make breakfast, lunch and dinner. I think about them especially when I am snacking.

They are constantly on my mind. Geeeezzzzz.

I think I may love my red wigglers as much as I love my kids and husband.

Weird!

Layering with newspaper

After browsing through my worm photos, I found this shot of me with my Super Composting Red Wigglers!

Boy, I have missed them during these cold winter days. I am feeding them, but not moving the bedding around too much as to not blast them with cold air. I am also not selling them until the weather warms up, probably March? I will keep the worm community posted!

Any way, back to the "Layering". Sorry, I got off topic. A common thing lately! Geez... So, when I feed the worms the various, yummy kitchen scraps from the day/week, I throw the waste on the top of the bedding then sprinkle a little bedding on top. Then I finally cover the bedding/waste mixture with wet newspaper.

The newspaper blanket, I believe, blocks out the light so the worms with come to the top to feed. Knowing that red wigglers are surface dwellers, I think this helps them feel more comfortable. When they are relaxed and less stressed, I think they will eat more and will have less indigestion.

I love these red wigglers and what they do for the planet! So I want to give them the best eating experience. LOL!!!

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!!

Let the Feasting Begin!

I came home this afternoon to find my pumpkin collection bucket full of nasty, rotting pumpkins. My red wigglers will be feasting for a while, especially on something they enjoy.

During my 5+ years of vermicomposting, I have found that they love pumpkins. In the past, I have halved and quartered pumpkins and tossed them into the worm bins. After a day or so, I checked on them and lifted a piece of the pumpkin and to my surprise, I found a cluster of red wigglers underneath! Way cool!!!
If you have a worm bin and pumpkins left, go ahead and feed them to your worms!

Thanks to all of my friends for supplying these nasty, rotting pumpkins!

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!!!!

School Visit

This has to be the highlight of my Wonder Worming job! I love to go visit the schools and see kids, teachers and staff members eager to learn about worms. I also like to gross them out with some really vivid and cool photos of decomposing food and the red wigglers feasting on it!

Seven Peaks, a beautiful, private school on Bend, recently bought 5 pounds of my earth loving red wigglers. They are creating a school wide composting project to reduce their usable waste and then use the rich organic fertilizer that the worms produce for their community gardens. I will be guiding them on their journey! Stay tuned for future progress.

Day 7: Is This Appealing to YOU?

What an unusual day! Bend got about 4 inches of snow! I did not want to disturb the Red Wigglers but had a bunch of kitchen waste that needed to go some where! Usually if we have a lot of snow, I don't bother the worms and leave the snow on top of the bins for natural insulation. I felt comfortable about going in the bins because this weeks forecast will be in the mid 60s.

The worm bin bedding is at 50 degrees. It has dropped 12 degrees. When the bedding is at 40 degrees, I will insulate the bin with hay.

I didn't think the worms would be this active. I pulled away the watermelon which was very, very mushy and saw this!! The worms were underneath feasting on the watermelon. Not much has changed with the other food waste.

I look forward to seeing the change when the temperature rises this week.

Happy Wormin'

Day 4: Is This Appealing to YOU?

Blah, is all I can say about this one! Well, ick and gross come to mind too! I pulled back the watermelon to see what was going on underneath. The worms do scatter!

Things are moving along rather slowly this week. It may be due to the cooler weather we have been having! Wow today at 6p.m. it was 45! Yikes, fall is here. The worms are slowing down for sure. I still think this mush will be gone in a week!

see ya tomorrow!

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!

Artichokes

Hey, guess what??? Worms love artichokes! Rotten ones and eaten artichoke skins (I think that's what they are)
They were all over them this afternoon! Yipee! cause I love them toooooo!

Bend Bulletin

It's the season for worms!!!

Bend has been Growing!

I had the chance to speak at The Environmental Center in Bend on Feb 10, 2009. The night was sponsored by The Juniper Club Sierra Group. The turn out was terrific, 40 plus and their enthusiasm was amazing. The focus was on the benefits of composting with worms and also how to set up worm bins. Many of the people came with their own plastic bins, shredded newspaper and peat moss. I was able to share my experience and show lots of photos.

The weather is getting cooler. Keep an eye on the frost.

The temperature has been dropping in Bend, letting me know that fall is here. This is the time to think about techniques to use for insulating your outdoor worm bins. Last winter was my first time having bins outside so basically it was my experimental year. I am happy to report that it was a success and plan on using the same technique this winter.

I made sure to frequently feed the worms delicious fall treats, such as pumpkins, gourds and squash. The worse they looked and smelled the better they tasted for the worms.

I also insulated the bins with hay, lawn clippings and leaves.

For more detailed information, check out my website under the "How To" section.

Red Wigglerism - How many Red Wigglers in a pound?

There’s between 800 - 1,200 Red Wigglers at various stages of development in 1 pound of Worms! Those 1,000 or so Red Wigglers will produce a bunch of compost over their life span, which you can then use as indoor or outdoor compost for your plants. The worms will continue to multiply and produce more and more worms. So why not benefit from the joys of Red Wigglers?