I’ve been looking at compost options for our new location. While I can set up a small composting area outside for yard waste, I want an alternative for kitchen waste. Herein lays the worm solution.
Everyone knows that worms are great for any garden. Different worms have different jobs though. For those not familiar with it, there is a little book titled Worms Eat My Garbage that goes through the process for setting up a worm composting system (called vermicomposting) for turning your kitchen scraps (everything except meat, dairy and oily stuff) into black gold for your houseplants or outside garden.
The thing that has me thinking this direction is my garbage service. We have one garbage can, and if the lid is even propped open a little bit on pick-up day we are charged $4 above the regular pick up fee. We do have recycling here, and everything we can put into it goes into it. They only take paper, plastic and metal. No glass of any kind unless you take it to the recycle centers yourself. Again the rule about having the lid propped open even a little bit applies.
In searching for means of reducing the garbage we produce, I came across this. For many people this is old hat, and more than once I’ve come across someone questioning why I am just now becoming aware of this. Evidently worms are a huge business in my neck of the woods. Who knew?
So now I’m easing my family into the idea of us opening up a can of worms. OK, a box of worms, and keeping it in the garage. I don’t think there is any way on earth I can convince Hubby that inside the house is a good place for this, and honestly I don’t know that I’d want it in the house where the kids would always be showing their friends and the potential for worms on the floor would exist. I’m pushing my luck in trying to convince Hubby that even the garage is a good place for this. However, the garage is the best place for me to control the temperatures surrounding the box so I don’t cook or freeze any worms to death.
I’m currently being met by dubious looks and whispered comments that “Mom has finally lost it!” I think I can convince them all of this though. It may take a couple weeks, but I have confidence that I can make them converts into the world of vermiculture.