(Blue sky. BLUE SKY!!)The worm bin took eleven hours to excavate and rebuild. The only way to do it was two handfuls at a time. Stand, bend, reach, scoop, turn, drop the handful in a tote, sit on the floor, and sort. Crack open damp wads of paper to look for worms, babies, and egg cases, always found in them thar wads. Ended up with three totes of worms/ dirt, and two totes of discard (now frozen solid on the porch- saved for compost in the spring). It took my whole Saturday- through breakfast, lunch, several snack breaks, and one slowly sipped bottle of wine. I was too whupped to eat dinner. Gosh, I hurt today. But. The bin is stabilized at 80F. There is no stink whatsoever, as it should be. Now, I wait. Wait to feed the pinkkids, wait to harvest. Wait and wait. Doubt I'll have any castings to sell this summer at our wonderful farmer's market. But I suppose that can wait, too, 'til next yer.
And weirdly, today there is sunshine. I don't think the two are related, but you never know. Granted, it's 10F outside and terribly windy, too. But, it's sunny in Detroit!
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Let's hope this is the last time you have to re-re-redo the worm bin. I'm sure by now you've gotten quite tired of taking everything out and putting it all back in again.
Like I said before, I'm hoping to start composting this spring (and perhaps have a worm bin a bit later), so I'm trying to learn from your mistakes while simultaneously praying that I don't make my own. :-)
Grant, unless you buy this exact bin, please don't use this thread for advice. It's a totally different set-up than a small home bin.
If you don't already know about it, of the best books for learning to set up a home-scale bin is "Worms Eat My Garbage" by Mary Appelhof. I can likely answer most questions you'd have about a small bin, too- the book can be a little obtuse. There is definately a dearth of books on the subject, for sure.
Say... unless, of course, you want to start with this big honking bin... Ooh, think of all the neighborhood food waste you could recycle!
The manufacturers of the Worm Wigwam are neighbors to you, in Cottage Grove, Oregon. Maybe you could even visit their site and get a lesson...
Whew ... we were afraid you might give up! wOOt! Now onward and upward!
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