While finishing with my high school painting class this week I was reminded of a photo I took last year in the Musee du O'rsay. It is a detail of a white dress that I took several of as a study in how to paint "white." One of my students had the task of painting white daffodils which reminded me of this photo. It was a year ago May 10 (Mother's Day, in Mexico) that we spent 10 wonderful days in Paris. Sweet memories!
« April 2010 | Main | June 2010 »
May 2010
05/28/2010
05/15/2010
Worm Factory
I have wanted to try my hand at composting for a very long time. Problem is I live in one of the largest cities in the world. While I feel very blessed to have a small garden (what people in the States call a yard), I didn't want to sacrifice any space for a bin. Enter the Worm Factory. I learned of the concept several years ago, probably on my favorite home and garden channel. I finally got one last Christmas, ordering it while we were visiting in the States. I ordered the five tray unit and then had the choice of 1,000 worms of the type they recommended or 250 of another type (red wriggler, I think). I figured if I was going to care for a bunch of worms in a car on a trip of about a month from Alabama to New Orleans to Houston to Mexico City, I preferred having 250 as opposed to 1,000. Yes, they came in the mail, in a bag in an envelope. Having just done all my shoe shopping for the next two years, I took one of the many shoe boxes I had on hand, punched holes in the top, lined the box with plastic and tin foil, added a few scraps and newspaper, and dumped them in. One worm hotel ready for travel.
That was five months ago and I just harvested my first tray of worm compost. Normally it doesn't take so long, I don't think, but because I ordered a small amount of worms, it did. Doesn't seem to matter that I got the "wrong" kind of worms either. They've done their business, so to speak.
So many people have wanted to know how this project has gone that I thought I'd write up what I've learned so far and post some pics for those who might want to try their hand at this form of composting.
First, is the organic matter and what is and is not good for the worms and the composter. I have been separating my organic and inorganic waste for a while. I started that when it was reported that we must do so or be fined by...I don't know who. The original idea was that the city was going to get new dump trucks, green dump trucks with two separate spaces for the trash they collect. I've seen one or two of them, but not in my neighborhood and if I had to guess I'd say you could probably count the number that actually
exist on two hands and maybe a foot. "Ni modo" ("Oh well") as they say here, once I got started separating it I actually liked keeping the stinky stuff in a smaller container that can be put out more regularly. ALL that to say, I have two organic bins now, one for the stuff you can't give the worms and one for the other. What you can't give them has more to do with the resulting smell than the fact that they can't eat it. If it can be ground up, they can eat it. But, for the smell factor, you don't put onions, dairy products and meat in the worm factory. I do put vegetable peelings, egg shells, coffee grounds with the filters, the extra dirty leaves of cabbage and lettuce, tea bags (with the staples removed), etc. Now, worms have tiny little brains so you have to grind up the food scraps before giving it to them. Then they can move through the organic matter easily and take in what they need and give out what you want.
Here's the page in the little booklet they send with the factory explaining the layers you put in what is called a "working tray" which is basically one ready for the worms to crawl into. And here is another big plus. Most households these days have shredders for junk mail and all the other stuff we shred to prevent people from stealing our identity. The resulting shredded paper is a necessary ingredient to the worm factory. Think of it! It is mighty satisfying to be able to give my junk mail to the worms. They like to hang out in the paper layer like a cushy little worm apartment. And for me it's like a little bit of revenge on the senders of said mail.
Revenge is sweet!
"When the bottom tray is ready for the garden, you place the tray on the top and remove the lid. Stir the compost several times a day. The remaining worms, which do not appreciate light, will move down into the tray below." Well, that's what the books says, but my first experience with this was different. Raking the compost, a little at a time and removing it to a bowl, I found worms that could be gently placed back in the bin on a part I had cleared away so they could easily go down through one of the cleared holes to a bin below. I was happy to find the worms had been doing more than eating and pooping as there were baby worms that I hope will grow to be big worms and eat more and produce more...compost and baby worms.
Recent Comments