I just ordered some compost worms

[glitter]

I am exhausted just thinking about building all those little coffins.......

[jbrock]

ohhh my goodness......I have been getting the biggest kick out of this post. 

best of luck with the worms....my hubby wants to do the same thing. I will let you know if he does get to it.

 

[kellyt]

Ooooh, if your husband does it to then we can compare notes!   

My husband physicall stopped the mail carrier today and explained that new worms are being shipped.  He gave her his phone number and mine and said to call us BEFORE she loads them in her car and one of us will come up to get the little buggers.  She agreed.  She said she saw the "Live Perishables" sticker on the first box but "put them in the mailbox anyway".         Glad I didn't order a puppy.
When she drove away I'm sure she said something along the lines of "Wacko".   

[del]

We have composted for years and have never used any red wigglers or bought any worms.  I use a 2 L ice cream tub to hold my kitchen scraps (you don't get a smell in the house with something that small.)  The only worms I put in are a few earthworms I find if I turn over a rock.  We had fruit/veggie scraps, egg shells, grass cuttings, leaves, dirt, kelp(from the seashore) - just layer and let it all work!!  I have had huge potatoes grow in my compost bin!!!

[glitter]

when vegetables grow in the compost bin- can you still eat them?

[kellyt]

Red Wigglers are Earthworms, I think.      There are other worms that will compost, but apparently Red Wigglers are the best.  They multiply like crazy if their environment is good.  I just saw this on some show on the Green Channel, or something like that, and it was done for two guys that lived in the city in a small apartment.  They were redoing their apartment and making it "green".  I just thought it looked like a fun hobby.   

[paris]

If I need to chuckle, I come to this thread!    I am saying some prayers that those sweet little worms arrive safely and aren't well done when they get to their new home.   

    I wonder if anyone has told the worms about their new Mommy!     

[kellyt]

You mean "warned", right?

[paris]

You mean "warned", right?

     

           How are the babies settling in?   

[del]

Glitter, no problem eating the potatoes from the compost bin.  You would put it on ground that you are growing potatoes in.Bigger the potatoes grow the better your compost!!!

[kellyt]

I stopped by the post office on the way home today and still no worms.  Checked the mailbox when I got home and thankfully still no worms.  I feel like woman waiting for the delivery of her adopted child.  The waiting is the hardest part.   

[kitkatz]

Maybe your worm are on the nine month mailing schedule.

[paris]

Maybe they were warned and planned their get away!  Who knows - they could be on their way to Canada to seek refuge from the crazy worm lady in Texas.    Kelly, this is all so much fun!     Just remember to get lots of rest now, because when they get here, they may keep you up all night as the adjust to their new home.  (can worms cry?!)

[kellyt]

They're here!  They're here!            And they're ALIVE!!!   
I've placed them in their new home and they immediately started burrowing down to their food.  At least I hope that's where they were going.   
I should probably build a moat...

Okay, here are some photos of their new home.   CARIAD!!!  Do I have enough bedding in my bin?   I have questions!!!   

[ChickenLittle56]

Can I have some worms, my birds do love them(and crickets, grubs and any other crawling or flying insect that has the misfortune of landing in their coop) 

[kellyt]

Chicken, if it's crickets you need I got'em!!  It's like the plague at my house.  Grasshoppers (huge grasshoppers), crickets, spiders...I wish my worms ate those!!!

There is a huge spider on the side of my house that I'm pretty sure I need a permit for.   

[kellyt]

Wow, these worms are really making themselves at home...

[okarol]

Wow, these worms are really making themselves at home...

Hahaha! Next you'll be dressing them up and taking them out in the stroller!

[paris]

Kelly, the picture is priceless!   Do you think we are all really getting into this worm farm?  Can you breed worms and make this a cash crop?  LOL   I am so glad this group of worms made is safely and are enjoying their new home. 

[kellyt]

Actually, Paris, if I do this right they will double in numbers in three months.  1000!!!!!  And so on, and so on, and so on...    I might truly become a worm farmer and sell these little buggers on QVC!!!   

[Des]

I have to say that I have been following the worm thread in anticipation!!!!

and BOY oh BOY it did not dissapoint me. hahahahahahahheheheheheh

Welcome WORMS!

(don't tell RSPCA but you can cut them in half, they will multiply quicker, not that I or anyone else except the actual worm farmers do ) 

[thegrammalady]

i guess i just miss the whole point. what benefit do the worms add to your compost? i've known many who compost, but you're the first with worms.

[kellyt]

Worm composting is a method for recycling food waste into a rich, dark, earth-smelling soil conditioner. The great advantage of worm composting is that this can be done indoors and outdoors, thus allowing year round composting. It also provides apartment dwellers with a means of composting. In a nutshell, worm compost is made in a container filled with moistened bedding and redworms. Add your food waste for a period of time, and the worms and micro-organisms will eventually convert the entire contents into rich compost, a.k.a. "black gold.   

[thegrammalady]

don't get me wrong. i think it's an interesting idea and now i understand better. but i wouldn't try to name them.

[cariad]

They're here!  They're here!            And they're ALIVE!!!   
I've placed them in their new home and they immediately started burrowing down to their food.  At least I hope that's where they were going.   
I should probably build a moat...

Okay, here are some photos of their new home.   CARIAD!!!  Do I have enough bedding in my bin?   I have questions!!!   

Ack, sorry, Kelly! I was on holiday with no Internet access. (quite liberating, actually!) Your bin looks great to me. Worms hate light, so the burrowing is a good sign. When you need to separate them from the compost to make your next bin, their light-phobia is a useful tool. I'll see if I can get a pickie up of our bins - but your set-up looks basically identical to ours. (Though after about 16 months of use, ours is a lot less pretty.)

Gwyn and I have composted without worms and it never seemed to work very well for us. We have an indoor canister (looks like a ceramic garbage bin) that we used to keep near the sink to store any fruit or veg trimmings. The charcoal filter on the lid kept out any rotting food smell, but that thing attracted swarms of little fruit flies. I think you get much richer compost faster with worms, and you get the tea, so they were worth the small investment in my opinion. Ours love cucumber, likely because it is so soft. (Worms have no teeth, you know.) Gwyn finds worm shaped tunnels in any cucumber that he puts in there.

It's too bad you're so far away in Texas - we could arrange a playdate for our worms. We'd have to block off several hours just for the introductions....