Compost: Worms Crawl Upstairs

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For years I’ve had a worm bin outside around the side of the house. It’s been very useful and efficient. Those red wrigglers are incredibly proficient at consuming large quantities of food waste. But alas I had an environmental disaster. The last time we had a serious downpour I didn’t notice that the lid of the composter was ajar and so I was responsible for causing death by drowning for 100s of my worm pals. Mea Culpa – it’s time to start over.  This time around I’ve decided to locate the bin in my upstairs apartment. I have a little alcove off the kitchen where a washer/dryer should go, but instead now there is nifty multilevel housing unit for what will hopefully be a thriving community of Eisenia Foetida. Hopefully they won’t emit a fetid odor in honor of their name. Usually the smell is kind of sweet and earthy as they root around in castoff vegetable matter and turn it into rich castings that my citrus trees really love. Here they are tucked into their new bed.

Worms in Bed (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)