Friday, March 23, 2012

Composting Has Begun!

Ok so I’m delinquent in posting life just gets so busy that I plain forget! 
The Worm Factory arrived and I eagerly unpacked all of it and started assembling.  I wanted everything to be ready for my wriggly friends when they arrived so I’d been saving some kitchen scrap goodness out of the compost pail for them.
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Originally I’d set it up in the laundry room but decided that in the corner in the sunroom would be better.  For one it’s out of the way, but I figured the brighter natural lighting would encourage my new friends to burrow down.  I used compost, shredded paper, blank newspaper and the ‘core’ that came with the Worm Factory to set everything up.  I buried some pears and coffee grounds in the corner and waited for the worms to arrive.
They were shipped in a box and I learned that they lose 70% of their weight in transit!  So the first order of business is a drink of water.  They were then poured into the factory and left to do their wormy stuff.
Uncle Jim's Worm Farm 1,000 Count Red Wiggler Live Composting Worms_thumb
I’ve been checking in every couple of days to see how the food supplies are and make sure it’s not overly wet. Which as of this morning I believe it is so I’ve sat the lid off to the side to let it dry a bit.
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Not quite sure what these two were up to, but I can certainly ‘hope’ that they were doing what it looks like they were doing! That would mean that the living conditions are to their liking and that would make me very happy!
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The specks off to the right I ‘think’ are worm mites.  They won’t hurt the worms unless the numbers get too high, this is why I think it might be too wet.  The book I’m reading Worms Eat My Garbage, says when you see them you can take the cover off for a few days because they like it really wet.  So that’s why I did that!  There is a whole world in that factory now all kinds of organisms working together with the worms to turn my kitchen scraps into compost and I think it’s so fascinating!
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Worms are eating my garbage and I’m happy to feed them!

Happy Composting!

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