I'm Worm Composting... Finally!

I forgot to tell you some exciting and weird news... I'm composting with worms (otherwise known as vermicomposting). I learned a bit about it in Costa Rica on the organic farm, and have been wanting to do it in my home for some time. I'm still really freaked out by them, but I followed Cathy's instructions (the Queen of Worms) - go to her website and click on instructions at www.cathyscomposters.com.

Cathy was encouraging, telling me that she was also scared of worms before she got into it. They basically eat your food scraps (not meat or dairy though), and produce beautiful, rich soil for you to use in your garden and house plants. So far so good- they seem like they're happy (although I don't speak worm yet).

If you are vegan you probably don't have any egg shells to give them to reduce the acidity of the food scraps, so you just pick up some calcium carbonate from a gardening centre, or do what I do... crush up sea shells (I have millions of them from my travels), and sprinkle a hand full in once a week. I use a mortar and pestle and it takes seconds to make into a powder.

Cathy also told me that what we do here in Toronto with our Green Bin Program is not composting- it's just rotting food that we keep in our kitchens in sealed bins that produces methane, amplifying the greenhouse problem.

So let's do it! Go get yourself some red wrigglers (I think that's what she called them) and start your own vermiculture farm in your home.