2.26.08

Well, my worms have run away. I say “run away” because I do not wish to think that they perished in their new home.  It is early in the season to purchase/transport worms here, but I thought I would call the wormery in Arkansas,  from whom I normally purchase my worms, to see when they might be shipping again. I was saddened to learn that they would no longer be in the worm business. Their primary source for selling was eBay, but with the new fees and the new  requirements of their worms to be shipped via Expedited Mail, I imagine profits were lower than the losses.
The owner and I had a very pleasant conversation that offered me tons of advice for my own worm composting. Though I do not look to sell my worms, I do  need to make an abundance of compost as quickly as possible. I have to say, my enormous need for compost heightened my sadness over the closing of the wormery.  What I have determined as the demise of my vermicomposting venture is that there was not enough oxygen in my container. The commercial vermicomposting container that I use  has air vents at the top and pvc type vents running through the bottom, so I thought I was set as far as ventilation goes. It seems, however, that the more castings there are in the container the less ventilation/oxygen. The castings become a bit compacted. Mine is more fluffy, however this conclusion seems reasonable and I am ashamed that I did not consider the possibility myself. The container needs to be cleaned of the castings regulary with new bedding applied.  In my case, that means more shredded newspaper.  At the wormery, the large bins are filled with peat moss and the worms received daily feedings of dry corn meal, which is then misted with well water.
The good thing is that I currently have a few quarts of compost that needs to be sifted from the remaining food and newspaper scraps, but the bad news is I need to replenish my worms.