Friday, October 4, 2013

My New Life with Worms?

Last month, I signed up for a Cornell Cooperative class in worm composting.  And then, I started to get second thoughts about it.

Then, Life came knocking on our door.  My spouse answered.

Sometimes, it seems like Life is trying to give you a hint and when you don't listen, it shows up on your doorstep anyway.  No good thought goes unpunished, I guess and, yes, and I had been curious about composting with worms.   Now I'd better get very curious, fast.

It turns out I wasn't the only person in my neighborhood who was interested in worm composting. Now, due to a very sad family situation, that person, a long time neighbor, is moving. 

She wanted to give us her worm composter bin.

How could we say no?

Our Neighbor's Worm Composting Bin-Now Ours
So we are now the proud foster parents - maybe - of a family of composting worms.  Can't really tell.  There were worms for sure in there at one time, but we didn't see any now.
Inside of the Worm Bin

Now what?

Several months ago, I wrote a post about meeting someone who has had a worm composter in his office for years....

I am scrambling to find out what to do with this bin.  I think one of us is still going to go to the class.  At the very least, we have some lovingly made compost we can use.  At the class, we will get a homemade bin (maybe don't need that but would it hurt to have two) and we would get bedding and the worms. But we should try to keep the current bin alive, at least until the class on October 16.  The class is that night.

Any ideas?  We've been entrusted with this, and don't want to disappoint, at this difficult time of my neighbor's life.

Help!

6 comments:

  1. Hi. Just give them some vegetabe scraps and see if they vanish. If they rot the worms have left. If they vanish then the worms are there. You might want to gently dig in the compost to see if they are there.

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    1. I put in some winter squash scraps from when my hubbie cooked one the other night, and took off the skin. There was enough pulp on there in case they didn't like the skin. Yes, "they". There are worms in there!

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  2. Alana,
    Keeping a worm compost bin is not that complicated. I've got one in the basement, as I type! Sometimes I forget about it. I feed it every week or so (a bowlful of veg and fruit scraps, coffee grounds, tea bags, eggshells, etc.) and I'm always surprised to see how many worms are in there. Now I need to figure out what to do with it, since the worms seem to be a bit crowded now. I think I need to make a second bin. Are there worms in your bin? Is it moist and crumbly in there? Then just give them some food and enjoy your class on Oct. 16! Good luck!

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    1. Thank you, Amy. This will probably end up in my basement. And, inspired by the comment above, I did feed them (yes, there are worms, at least 3 and a smallish one) some winter squash today. Maybe I can feed them on laundry day.

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  3. Yay! Glad to hear that your adopted worms are really there. Feeding them in their basement home once a week should be fine.

    Mine had a rough go during the very hot days of Texas summer, even in our well-ventilated garage away from exterior walls. They get plenty of coffee grounds and veggie scraps - coming back strong as it finally cools down. Yes, we also keep worm farm in garage during winter, since it's not often below freezing outside for extended periods of time.

    Our worm farm has stackable layers and a spigot for draining off the "worm water" which is so great for fertilizing container plants, etc. I just switched out a 'full' lower layer so I'll have the concentrated worm compost for spring planting - yippee!

    Book from way-back-when called "Worms Eat My Garbage" got me started on this several years ago = very glad we have our "Can O' Worms" (brand name).

    Have a good time with your worms - your plants will love you for it next summer!

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  4. It looks like your worm bin is doing very well!

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