Memorial Day and Worms

Feeling that my worms could handle a long weekend (Memorial Day in the US) without me, I ventured with 5 friends to my house in Milford, Pennsylvania--where the grass turned out to be 15 inches high.   After an energetic friend, Jorge, attacked the hirsute grass, we struck out for hikes through the woods to the Sawkill creek and various waterfalls and swimming.   The sunny day provided warmth for splashing in creeks and hiking--despite a tick (of the dog tick variety without Lyme Disease) or two.

Inside, those with a more competitive stroke vied with each other with darts and Pictionary, and with the lawn trimmed down a bit, we tried a bit of croquet--though without the required British gin and tonic--and barbecued burgers, chicken, mushrooms.  

Great weekend and all the time, I was hopeful that my worms could survive in the city without me!  Returning to NYC, I found them chomping down on last week's salad.   All's well in the vermicomposting.  But, without rain, my pansies in the backyard were a droopy mess--probably the result of a dehydration death.  Oh well, life gives and takes.


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Worm Bed ready for new arrivals

Well, today students from the YouthCaN program at the American Museum of Natural History came over to help prepare the Worm Factory for the arrival of the worms tomorrow. Following the instructions that came with the bin, we lined the bin with newspaper, created a soil mixture made of soil from outside, leaves, egg shells, and a small brick of coir. Having researched coir, realize that it is a fantastic soil made from coconut hairs. Lots of water are added to small brick of coir and it expands by 9 times its original volume. It grows right in front of you! Here is some info on coir: http://www.greeneem.com/cococoirpeat.htm

This mixture is then combined with shredded paper and some initial "salad" of produce waste. After covering with moist newspaper, the bed is ready for the 1,000 worms' arrival tomorrow.





Wednesday morning I went to the famers market in Union Square, where the Lower Eastside Ecology Center has a booth on Wednesdays.  They sell the worms out of the back of a van--a pound (about 1,000) in each milk carton.  She lifted the top cover to prove to me that the wriggly crawlers were in fact there--all in a tight ball of worminess.

After a day in my office (which I was assured was ok for my new house guests) and an hour at a pool game with Fei, my worms were ready for their new home. I had been cautioned that the transition from worm breeder to new home can be traumatic, so I was urged to "gently" introduce them to their new home.    With great  and gentle care, I placed them around the top of the bin worm bed.  I was told to leave a light on all night as a way of encouraging the worms to burrow into the bed since they abhor light!     After the first 12 hours they did not seem to be moving down much into the paper/soil bed.  I was worried that they were rejecting the new bed and bin.  That still seemed to be the case after 24 hours and panic was setting in.

The instructions said to replace the bin lid (darkness) when it was clear the worms were gulping up the waste salad we had prepared for them.   Timidly, I dug down to the tomatoes, beet tops and other yummies and yes, there they were--wrapped up in an unsightly gorgy on the waste produce.   SUCCESS!   They were adapting and thriving.

Throwing the lid on, I went to bed Thursday evening confident that my 1,000 house mates were content.

Worms come home

Well, the worms are coming. I have ordered them from the Lower East Side Ecology Center, the primary source of composting worms in Manhattan. I needed to put in an order for 1000 worms (about 1 pound) to be picked up at the farmers' market in Union Square on Wednesday.

That means I need to get the worm composter worm bed ready Tuesday evening. The first layer is of shredded newspaper, which sparked an internal discussion in my mind about which newspaper to use. Which news print and ink would work best? Or should I consider that journalism rags of garbage press will provide better fodder for worms. I can well imagine that the New York Post and Rupert Murdoch would provide much more nutritious garbage than the NY Times, but who knows?

I'll risk using the available NY Times rather than invest in potentially more delicious worm food.

Now I'm supposed to build the worm bed with a "soaked block of coir." I'm glad it was provided with the worm factory since I would have no idea what a block of coir is. Do you know what this is?

More when the YouthCaN students come to help me set up the worm bedding.

Global and Local Exploration

Since I ventured across the Pacific at the age of 17 to spend a year in Seoul, Korea, I have seen the world and its people as incredible sources of inspiration and new perspectives. Since that year so many years ago, I have had wonderful opportunities to populate my passport with stamps and visas from over 70 countries. The stories I have heard would fill Wikipedia if written out. In addition, I have a commitment to bring the world into my life in Manhattan, NYC--both its cultures and a concern that global human sustainability depends on changes in lifestyles everywhere to preserve the stunning beauty and awe of amazing parts of the planet, such as the South American Andes around Bariloche in the Patagonian region of Argentina.

My current project is to add a worm composting bin in my small NYC apartment. Since NYC gets a bit cold in the winter, it's important that the worm bin be able to do its composting in a small and non-aromatic space. My choice was the Worm Factory 360--a multi-storied luxury house for the hundreds of wriggly consumers of my organic waste that I bought online about a month ago. I've been advised to buy about 5 pounds of worms. OMG, that sounds lot a lot of squirming critters.