February 23, 2015
Worm Inn Journal – 2-23-15
It is crazy to think that it’s been almost 4 MONTHS since my last Worm Inn update! Surprisingly, this was not for lack of important happenings on the Worm Inn front – I guess my brain just hasn’t really been in “Worm Inn mode”.
At least not until now!
😎
Here is a quick run down of what’s been (and what IS) happening:
1) Last fall I finally got around to building a wooden stand for one of my “Regular” Worm Inns, based on the Blake Ketchum’s great DIY Mega Stand. and started up the system you see pictured to the right.
2) In November I ended up taking down my Worm Inn Mega system to help free up some space in the basement. We were having some renovations done, and some of the work was down in the bathroom where it had been sitting.
3) I recently started putting together a comprehensive (more…)
**For Even More Worm Fun, Sign Up for the RWC E-mail List!**Short Notice Worm Bin Set-Up
Great question from Katie:
So my worms are coming TOMORROW and I have not set up my bin. It’s been a year since we have done this last and we were not given a heads up but I remember the bin needed set up like two weeks ago. What should I do?
Hi Katie,
The timing of your email is great, since I just published my “Living Materials” guide (which, as you’ll see in a minute, may help with your situation.
As you likely know, the key here will be to get the system set up, and as close to “optimized” as you possibly can…as soon as possible. Don’t get me wrong, you CAN set up a worm bin the the very same day the worms arrive, do little in the way of optimization…and still do just fine.
It’s just that if the environment seems too “foreign” to the worms, they will likely be a LOT more restless. They may even try to escape from the system en masse.
Aging a system with food wastes ahead of time at least allows for the development of a decent microbial community, and also (thanks to that microbial community) helps to make the food more “worm-friendly”. But if we don’t have the option of waiting for the microbes to reach an ideal level, the next best option (or in some cases, an even better option) is to add beneficial microbes to the system.
This brings us back to the topic of (more…)