The book features 14 different composting methods, one of which is composting with worms, or vermiculture. As a mother of three little boys, I was immediately drawn to this method and, in turn, purchased a worm bin and a pound and a half of red wigglers. I guess my boys are still too young to share my fascination with the amazing work of the Eisenia foetida, but I'm hoping that they will in time.
I now keep a couple of large coffee cans on the kitchen counter to collect the worm food—almost any food scraps that are not meat or dairy. And each day I take off the lid of my bin to check on my little worms. Actually, some of them are now quite large! I'm amazed by how much stuff they can eat through in just a few days and how much they poop! And the poop is what it's all about, as it is full of nutrients that plants just love.
I have to admit that I murdered my first pound and a half of worms—inadvertently, of course. I overfed them (a common mistake) and left them out on the porch in the southeast Georgia heat for a week while we were on vacation. We returned to a smelly maggoty bin of dead worms. After cleaning up that horrible mess and giving myself a few weeks to recover from that stench, I now have a new crop of worms. Only this time I carefully ration out their vittles and keep the bin indoors where the temperature is much more temperate. (All was not lost with those worms that gave their lives for my initial experimentation, however. My plants have never looked healthier!)
Since my family creates more kitchen waste than the wigglers can eat, I've started a compost pile in the woods at the edge of our yard. I like that I am returning our food waste to the earth. And maybe, just maybe, I'll have a decent crop of something next year with all the compost!
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