Thankfully, worms don't figure into my long (long!) list of phobias. Not that I don't wear gloves when I handle them, mind you, but my worm composter has proven to be a really cool living laboratory this past year (exactly one year next Friday, in fact!). And how wonderful that this lab's output is rich, nutritious compost that is saving me garden money at the same time that it's giving my food scraps a second life outside the landfill.
As plantin' time gets closer, and the weather gets warmer, it's time to harvest the dirt my wormies have been working so hard to, um, "make."
So last weekend we schlepped the composter outside and went digging. Poor worms were all, "Gaaahh! Turn off the LIGHTS!"
The contents of the ready-to-collect bin were dark and rich...and smelly. But despite my earlier freak-out about how badly I was messing up my compost, we found that a few moments' exposure to some nice fresh air killed the smell permanently. Interesting additional discovery - egg shells do not disintegrate, though in their crumbled solid form, they do add nice calcium to the soil. So they stay.
One thing that doesn't disintegrate but does NOT stay is plastic. Something illegal (to worms and dirt) must have gotten into our paper shredder, so we had the joyous task of picking out shreds of clear and red plastic from the gorgeous muck.
The other time-consuming part of the process was my determination not to sacrifice any worms to the compost cause. They can't survive outside, delicate flowers that they are, so it was "look out below!" with any who were still hiding in the finished compost.
At the end, we were left with 2 buckets full of this delightful, crumbly, rich, non-stinking compost. Our plants will wonder what they ever did to get so lucky!
One final discovery to warm a worm-ist's heart: rings on some of the bigger worms show that they're reproducing! I would be fascinated to know how many generations have joined the crew in our year together. It's the miracle of life!
Click here for my full worm composting history.
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In response to your question: "Do you think the worms would survive/eat/cast if I start an outdoor compost pile and expose them to the elements?"
I say most definitely yes they can. The red worms along with several other varieties are compost worms. They thrive in compost whether its in a bin indoors or in a pile outdoors. They won't do good in regular soil though (they require high amount of organic material to feast on).
Posted by: Sam Carterson | March 18, 2010 at 11:18 PM