Moving Up In the World

I couldn't help myself; I went shopping at buy'n'large err Walmart in search of flow through bin materials. It was a tough decision, given that I am of the opinion Walmart is evil incarnate, but I puckered up and went shopping. I bought a 13 gal garbage can, some wooden dowels a can of spray paint and a jigsaw. All in all it cost $52, including tax (I wonder if worm bins are tax deductible?). I probably could have done without the jigsaw, which cost $30, but who can resist an excuse to buy a new power tool? Besides, it made my life easier, and, we are in a recession so it is clearly my patriotic duty to buy things I don't really need. I wanted to paint the dowels to ward off rot, so I bought some metallic looking spray paint that looks pretty neat with the glossy black bin. I also needed to use a drill, some side cutters and hot glue for the dowels, all of which I had already. I plan to "obtain" some snap-on round louver vents from work for the lid. Until then, I'll just leave the lid open. Now all thats left to do is move the worms into their new home.

I moved the bedding handful by handful so I could get an idea of how things were going. There was some nice VC at the bottom of the Rubber Maid bin, and loads of juveniles working the bedding and some fruit I had added only a few days ago. I guess I have upended their world though, all the VC is on top of the bedding now. I put the food remnants to one side. I covered everything with a wetted cotton T-Shirt to try and get control of some fungus gnats that have set up residence. I think I will just leave everything be for awhile and let the bin sort itself out.

Special thanks to TITK

One Month Lots of Mouths

It has been just over a month since I first inoculated my bin with a paltry handful of Peruvian Llama Manure Worms. In that time I have found plenty of cocoons and plenty of juveniles. I am amazed at how small a new hatchling is, barley the width of a few hairs. I have no way to quantify how many worms are now in my bin, but I do know they are multiplying quickly. A week into the bin I was convinced I had killed the worms off as I could not find them when I dug through their bedding. It turned out they were just better at hiding than I anticipated. Now, I can not dig through the bin without finding pockets of squirms and lots of individuals spread around the bin.

I was just performing one of these inspections when I came across an individual that looked misshapen. I thought I had discovered evidence of sour crop. I have been pretty careful about not overfeeding, but I confess last week I gave them more than I ought to have. Much of what I fed them is still largely intact, and now, a misshapen worm. Fortunately, it was not sour crop at all. I had happened upon a worm in the process of shedding a cocoon. I watched what I at first thought was a dying worm roll out of this little white doughnut and deposit a brand new cocoon right in my hand. I am in a strange state of both awe and revulsion. Either way, the worms are breeding like the champions they are.