i've got worms... let me tell you about it

First off, you have to listen to this soundbite. It's from WKRP in Cincinnati. After picking up our worms last Saturday we went to my sister's house. There, my bro-in-law started singing this jingle... it took awhile to find it but here it is:

Red Wigglers, The Cadillac of Worms

So that's the theme-song for this post!

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Secondly, when I posted a link to this blog in Facebook yesterday I got this as my verification screen:

"were schlitz"!!!

Bahahaha!

OK. That might not be funny to you unless you know that me and my better-half go around referring to poop as "schlitz" (because we basically speak our own language in this house). You know how your nice, morning coffee helps "get things moving"? We call that a "Schlitzkreig" (like Blitzkrieg but with pooh - which doesn't seem so funny at the moment because there is a war memorial playing on CBC Radio as I type this... my timing is horrible).

Anyway, the whole point of having these worms is for them to eat our organic rubbish so that their poop becomes beautiful compost to feed our plants... so getting the "we're schlitz" verification screen while planning to write about worms was just really cool... to me and the husband anyway...

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Third on the docket today, pictures of our new Vermicomposting System and some background info.

We got the worms in Bradford from Cathy last Saturday. She is neat and really excited about worms. If you want worms, I recommend going to her. (Look at that! All of the sudden I can say, "I have a worm lady." It's like I have a drug dealer or a good tailor... haha!).

We opted to make our own worm hotel by drilling holes in two rubbermaid containers following these instructions, then cutting up newsprint for bedding and wetting it (below):

Then we put the worms into their new digs:

And found a place in the apartment to store the thing (cat stands on guard). Once it's warm enough we'll out it outside but, if you're doing it right, it shouldn't smell and should be fine to have in the house.

6 days in I think they are doing OK but it is hard to tell. We had one casualty (below) and there are often a few worms around the rim of the container when we open it... but apparently that's pretty normal as long as they aren't vacating en masse.

I can't leave you on a sad-dead-worm-note so here's one of how the bin looks today. The food is supposed to be buried to prevent smells but I went rummaging around in there to check things out. The worms on top were the ones that I found "reconnoitering the rim" (that's a Deadwood Season 1 reference for any fans out there). I think they were also reconnoitering each other if you know what I mean (insert catchy porn tune). Worms are hermaphorditic - they all have everything, they all get it on, and they all have babies.

I will, of course, keep you updated on all developments in our vermiculture.