I Have Worms!

Yes, it's true. I have worms. Lots of red, wiggly worms. I have a reason for these worms that I keep in a nice bin my husband made for me out on the balcony. These worms eat our kitchen scraps so that the scraps do not go into the landfills which creates gasses. When I first began to talk about getting the worms I think my family secretly hoped that this was one of the bright ideas that would fall by the way-side. I was on a mission! I wanted to prove that I could compost living in an apartment and I wanted to be more Eco friendly. The worms were ordered and sent via two day post but were delivered to the managers office here where we live instead of to my door. I got a frantic call from my husband to please go pick up the worms because they were smelling up the whole office. They were afraid something had died! I got them home and discovered that they were beginning to dry out so I quickly wet the burlap bag they were in and left them there in the box like that for about an hour. Yes, it did smell! I then put them in the bin I had all ready for them with some damp newspaper shredding. I moved them to the laundry room and kept the lid off and the light on. I told my family that if they turned off the light then they were responsible for chasing worms all over the laundry room. I kept them there for a few days until they settled into their new home. I already had some scraps that I had ready for them so I buried the scraps under the dry newspaper shredding. It took a good week for the worms to show any interest in eating but I was not worried. I had done my home work on this composting thing. I keep food scraps in a MaxAir kitchen composting bin with the biobags and there is no smell, plus I never put in meat, oils or dairy also. I have had the worms now for four months and no smell at all. When the biobag is full I put it in the freezer to keep out fungus gnats and then put it in the worm bin in another section for them to migrate to and eventually eat. The compost the worms make is great for my plants because it is full of nutrients that the plants thrive on. It does take awhile to get a good amount of compost but it is worth it. I know people may turn up their noses but composting has been going on since mankind ate his first apple and tossed it.