Our recent post titled The Act of Doing sparked some soul-searching this weekend as I spent three days away from home and did not bring my own food this time.

I felt too busy to plan the meals for the weekend, grocery shop for the occasion, set aside a bit of time to put fresh fruit in the food dehydrator, portion everything out and pack it, which is what I normally do over the days leading to a getaway. I have a large collapsible, rolling food carrier that I proudly use for these occasions each year. This time, I left it behind.

Food in great abundance was immediately accessible. Why bother packing my own? By the time the fantastic three-day weekend ended, I had spent well over $100 to feed myself (this is close to what I usually spend in about a month) and was left with a lot of packaging that was not fit for the compost bin and not recyclable. Double whammy.

Sure, I saved a lot of time before leaving for this little excursion by not preparing my own meals or bringing the items I would need to make my own sandwiches. And it was nice to not have to haul a backpack all day, but what did I really gain?

If you say a few pounds, you are probably right. I do not want to dwell on this, however. What I gained, mostly, is a feeling of guilt. I disregarded consequences that are normally important to me. I realized this when I purchased a bag of dried fruit at a local shop. The outer bag was made of material even the red wigglers in a Worm Factory Composter might wiggle away from as if it were a scarecrow, disregarding the sweet and delicious smears on its inner surface. In addition to this, it was filled with 10 individual bags containing less than a handful of fruit each. Waste. Waste. Waste.

Was it worth the time I saved before leaving for the weekend? To me, no, it was not. I spent money I did not want to spend and I spent it with disregard for values I otherwise hold dear in my daily life. So yes, I may have come home with a few extra pounds. The daily workout will take care of that in no time. The guilt from discarding less-than-green packaging will weigh down on me longer.

Which brings me to the expression, “Time is money.” Yes, our labor is worth something. When we work for someone else, that something typically shows up in the form of money. When we put time and effort into our personal upkeep, which includes growing and/or making food, the reward is tangible also, but not visible to the naked eye.

Note to Granny: Think about consequences. Second note to Granny: What would red wigglers do?

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Red Wigglers are a hearty breed. They are fairly tolerant to colder temperatures, but they have their limits. (European Night Crawlers)

can be bit more cold hardy. If you live in an area of the country that gets cool in the winter, read these tips for protecting your worm friends:

1. Before the temperature drops below 57 degrees Fahrenheit. At 57 degrees, worms start to feel the cold. Decide in advance what you are going to do because you may need some additional Items to keep them warm (read on).
2. Use a composter thermometer. If the bin gets too hot or too cold, you can take action before things go wrong.
3. Don’t depend on natural heat. Worms will seek out warm spots in the composter. The process of decomposition generates some heat, but you can’t depend on this through a cold winter. So be prepared to:
4. Insulate. (Outdoor) Lay hay bales around the composter. Bed down the composter with hay, straw or cow manure for insulation. (Indoor unheated area) or you can put wet newspaper in the bedding, and add dry newspaper on top of that.
5. Move the composter to shelter. If your composter is movable, we recommend you move it into a garage or basement.
6. Feed pre-chewed food. The worm’s slowdown in the cold. Make your worms’ job easier by providing smaller amounts of scraps at a time. Cut the food scraps into small pieces, or I know this sound’s crazy, but freeze your scraps then thaw; this breaks the food down faster.
7. Partially bury your plastic bin. You can bury the bottom half of your bin in the ground to keep in the heat. (Non-plastic bins let in too much moisture.)
8. Keep the lid on and don’t open it more than needed.

If your worms become too chilly, don’t have an anxiety attack. They will recover when the weather warms up. They tend to lay eggs before they perish. These eggs survive being frozen solid for up to one year! However, composting will defiantly slow down and you may need to order more worms in the spring.

Don’t want to venture out to the compost bin in the winter? There is always an indoor bin like the Worm Factory 360 for convenience and warmth in the kitchen or basement.

122 Madison
San Antonio, TX 78204
(210) 223-9800

Vermicomposting is the natural process by which red worms process waste and convert it into an efficient natural fertilizer.  In this program, Kyle Harrell of Texas Red Worms will show participants how they can take kitchen waste to create a wonderful fertilizer that will enrich their garden soils and plants, all with the help of worms!  All paid participants will receive a sample of Villa Finale’s compost and a few red worms to get them started at home.  Comfortable dress is recommended.  Space is limited – please call Villa Finale Visitor Services to make your reservation.

For more information on Kyle’s work, visit www.Texasredworms.com

$15.00 members
$25.00 non-members

I’m well aware quite a few people find worms gross. They’re slimy, they have the same physical features as snakes (also gross, to some people anyway), and they have no eyes. What’s to love?

Personally, I’ve always been a fan. Ask my Mom, I went through a period of childhood where I would busily dig for worms all day. I don’t quite remember what I did with them afterwards. Hopefully I didn’t eat them, though I wouldn’t put that past mini-me.

Anyway, earthworms actually are useful for more things than just grossing-out your older sister. Outside, worms help aerate soil while helping to break-down rotting matter present in the soil. The little holes they make in the soil provide little freeways easing the movement of water and roots through the soil. And their poo (worm castings is the polite term) is awesome–considered one of the best soil additives money can buy.

But why would you buy it when you can get plenty of free worm poo for a very small investment of time and money? The other cool thing about worms is that they’re very low-maintenance, don’t smell, and can fit in very small spaces, even apartments. That’s pretty good, as compared to dogs and cats for example. And unlike dogs and cats, worms will take whatever kitchen scraps you give them and do more than just get sick all over your living room carpet.

The best part is that Red Wigglers (the kind generally used for in-home worm farming, or vermiculture) are edible–a perfect, readily-breeding supply of protein for the barely getting-by homesteading family.

KIDDING. I ate quite a few things other Americans would label as “gross” while I was in Malawi–flying termites, caterpillars, and mice–but the idea of eating worms is really, really nasty. Now that I’m a grown man, anyway. That is what Uncle Jim of Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm advised, and here’s the page so you don’t think I’m a liar.

I was going to document the whole process of building a worm farm (I had pictures of the process and everything), but I realized that someone else had already done a great and much more humorous job of documenting it. So, when in doubt–outsource. Check out Let’s Build A Worm Farm! at Soulsby Farm’s blog.

This post wouldn’t be complete without one gross picture of worms in a bag.

A few weeks ago I had noticed a few brown patches from my neighbors yards creeping close to mine.  Within a few days affected areas were well into my grass.  Upon further inspection of the pattern and damage it appeared to be the dreaded chinch bug.  The little critters love dry conditions and love to eat away at the healthy roots of grass.  I quickly brewed up some worm tea and made a liberal application to my yard.  Within a couple of days, my neighbor and I noticed a difference and are happy to see the grass is on it’s way to recovering.

Worm tea is an all natural inexpensive way to beat back garden and lawn pests, and has saved me loads of money and headaches.  The beneficial micro organisms in your actively aerated tea will add life back to the soil and are predacious to many pests attacking lawns and vegetables. 

After researching different models I chose the Worm Factory Recycled 4 Tray system from hayneedle.com.  I paid around 100 bucks for the system, free shipping.  I used the first supplier on the Public Works website to purchase my worms. 

The system comes with four trays.  You start with just one and around a pound of red wigglers.  Included in the Worm Factory is bedding and an instruction booklet.  It took about fifteen minutes to put the pieces together and place the different layers of bedding.  Chris, my worm supplier, was nice enough to include some compost with my worms so they would acclimate easily.

This is what’s under the second layer or newspaper.  Red wigglers hate the light so they’re always quick to burrow down when the bedding is pulled back.

Pros:

Feeding and watering is very easy.  The lid provides a cliffs notes for what to do and what not to do.

There’s no smell what-so-ever.

Currently no flies, or ants (this shouldn’t become a problem but can).

The by-products of this strange system will be compost and a high nutrient, bug repellent “worm tea” plant spray.

Cons:

I was genuinely hoping that I’d be able to compost more of our vegetable scraps and junk mail.  All my sources warn against over feeding the worms (attracts ants).

Although using worms to compost is quicker than traditional methods I will still need to wait a couple months before I have any workable compost.

Current Conclusion:

I think it was a good purchase.  In the long run I’ll save money on compost.  So I’ll make my money back in about a year (geez).  I could have saved money making my own worm box but it would have looked awful.

I am disappointed that we’re still having to throw so much of our organic waste into the green bins.  If you’re considering composting I would suggest you look into Bokashi Composting which I may do in addition to the worm composting.

More to come…

We have a figured out a little system that seems to work pretty well. Each day as we collect the scraps, food leftovers (no cheese or meat) and coffee grinds we put them in a container in the freezer. We keep 2 or 3 “rotating” containers in the freezer at all times.  Then at feeding time, I take a the frozen scraps and feed them in the bin. It seems to be a win-win situation. The frozen scraps actually break down more

easily allowing the worms to consume the scraps faster and this help’s keep the worm bin cooler, also reducing the annoying fly problems.

I still feed them in a circular pattern around the bin, and the bin is doing well enough that we are adding scraps 4-5 days per week.

It works best when I remember to leave one rinsed container on the counter then everyone will contribute scraps, at the end each day I can put the full container in the freezer, and put a fresh container out.Then the oldest batch goes in the worm bin.

If you have tips for keeping your bins cooler, please feel free to comment below.

Vermicomposting is also very fast, 10 weeks, compared to regular Composting which can take 6 months or more.  Vermicomposting requires no turning, only that food be buried under soil (this keeps unwanted guests such as flies from visiting) and the worms will do the rest.  Regular composting also requires watering to the consistency of  a wrung out sponge, again not necessary for Vermicompost where the worms create their own moisture.  Make sure you situate your worms under some shade so they don’t dry out.

Red Bread and our own Test Kitchen keep our worms happy with regular food scrap feedings.  We’ve become quite fond of them and refer to their little corner of the garden as Squiggle University.  We even have a fight song.

O Hail to Squiggle U

To You we Will be True

Squiggle U, Squiggle Me

And We’ll All Squiggle Be!

Squiggle U

GO WORMS!!

And every 10 weeks, we have a graduating class that gives us incredibly rich smelling organic soil.  Just the kind mother earth is calling out for.  In harvesting vermicompost, you must be a little more careful and go a bit slower than regular compost.  With each scoop from the bottom of your bin, be careful to not catch any of your red wrigglers.

Once harvested, sprinkle  the compost over your potted plants, raised beds and any empty soil patches you may plant in the future.  Then give everything a good soaking to push those nutrients into the soil.  Regular compost feedings result in rich soil for your plants to put roots into.  Just like the worms, provided with rich soil as a food source the plants know what to do from there.

Your only charge in the whole process is to create conditions conducive to life and that is exciting!!

Another legend in the backyard wilderness is that of the Great Snail Wars that took place over two epic months in the Spring of 2012.  Situated right by the beach during the fever pitch of snail season, we spent nights with headlamps on facing the invading horde armed only with swift fingers and sea salt.  I felt conflicted about the whole sisyphus-esque endeavor, but didn’t see a better solution until we met Tommy at the Wednesday Santa Monica Farmer’s Market.  Tommy, a musician and garden lover, introduced us to the calvary: Decollate Snails.  Decollate Snails are carnivorous and efficient.  After one night placing them in strategic corners of the garden, all our snails were gone and Tommy took on saint status.

With the combined power of worms and snails the garden has begun to flourish…

What tiny creatures will you recruit?

Tommy can be found at The Santa Monica Farmers Market Wednesdays from 9-12 on Arizona Ave in Santa Monica.  Tommy sells ladybugs, worms, killer snails and other helpful bugs to take home.

Worms are for more than just fishing.  I’ll be at The San Antonio Botanical Garden tomorrow to discuss composting with worms.  We’ll be talking about how worms can take kitchen waste from the trash can to the garden and add life to your soil and plants.  Soon you’ll be backing up your pickup to scavenge manure piles and livestock stalls to feed your own brood of humus producers, and you’ll be producing some of the finest vegetables and plants around.

At first, this years’ garden seemed like a giant step down from last years’ sprawl in Sonoma, but actually, I have the same number of tomato plants this year just outside my window, plus eggplants and zucchini.  The starters have begun springing out in leaps and bounds, and in most cases, flowering already!

I cannot credit Topsy Turvy entirely for this incredible jump start, although I’m confident that the plastic sack is nice and steamy inside in the summer sun and has to do something good for the roots.  But for the past year I have been patiently waiting for this moment.  I just hadn’t  imagined it in the form of a Topsy Turvy!

I am having a proud parent moment with my red wigglers, the composting worms I sent away for online from Jim’s Worm Farm, one year and three towns ago.  What began as a simple Rubbermaid Roughneck Storage Tub Box with some air and drainage holes drilled through it, became home to a chinese takeout-sized ball of worms that has multiplied to easily 20,000 in the past year.

Throughout last summer in Sonoma, Winter in Santa Ynez Valley and early Spring in Los Angeles, my wigglers have munched on watermelon rind, kale, bell pepper, scallions, artichokes and the trimmings of all jam and chutney products.  And, of course, last year’s uprooted finished crops.

It occurs to me that this summer is the first anniversary of the worms in my daily lifestyle, and the first goal of portable sustainability attained. I just dumped them some happy anniversary watermelon and espresso grounds. And a nice dried thyme and basil flower sticks bedding layer.

Inside the Topsy Turvy I have used half organic potting soil, and half soil inhabited  by worms and their castings, including a cluster of worms for aeration, and very small pieces of various vegetable and egg shell matter to sustain them for the duration of the summer.  Once the plant cycle ends, the entire contents of the Topsy Turvy goes back into the main worm habitat (Rubbermaid tub) and throughout the winter I cultivate magic soil for year number two!  But I should buy stock in Rubbermaid, because these guys are breeders.

So far, all looks amazing.  The four heirloom tomatoes are tumbling out of the holes, and the eggplant and squash plants have more than doubled in volume in the past just-over-a-week.  This could get interesting…

Last Spring was the first time my parents used worm castings exclusively to fertilize their garden.  My mom and dad claimed their best tomato crop they can remember. We used a handful of castings with each tomato seedling, and the results were terrific.  Even in one of the driest and hottest years on record, the taste, yield, and size of the tomatoes were outstanding.

Worm castings or earthworm manure is the best all natural fertilizer you can get.  Beyond Potassium and Nitrogen, worm castings are alive with beneficial microbes.  Beneficial bacteria, nematodes, and other tiny beneficials that will add life to plants and soil.  You can maximize your castings harvest by brewing compost tea.   You will need an aquarium pump, water, castings, and some unsulfured molasses to amplify the effects.  Worm castings are the only manure that can be directly absorbed by plants roots.  They are perfectly pH balanced and won’t burn up plants like other high in Nitrogen manures.