I can’t get enough of the delicious, mini, orange colored Cuties. I engulfed 5 and thought I only ate two! The Cutie Zone took over, and I couldn’t stop. Holy Moly, they are delicious. The kids love them just as much, maybe even more! Little a was in the zone yesterday! I was laughing as she got up from the couch, peeled and ate one, sat back down and watched a bit of t.v., sat for a few minutes, got back up, peeled and ate one. She then returned to the basket and got another one, peeled that, then sat down to watch t.v. Then she immediately got up, went to the kitchen, peeled and ate another one and sat down to watch the rest of Spongebob! What is it about these things! I know they are delicious, but I often think about food cravings. Do we have them because our bodies are telling us something? Are we lacking something that the food is providing? Like the Cuties, for example, are loaded with Vitamin C. Am I lacking Vitamin C? Do I have a cold coming on? but I feel fine?! Maybe I devour them because they are just plain delicious. Certain food are just awesome and fun to eat like chocolate cake, peanut butter, ice cream, homemade bread, pizza, pretzels, pretzels dipped in peanut butter. The list goes on and on. Food glorious food!
Well, when I think of food, I always (really…,not exaggerating) think of the Red Wigglers and what they eat. I know they can’t eat the peels. They are too acidic and will avoid them so I try my best to compost the peels in my tumbler. Now in this case, I wonder why they devour watermelon, cantaloupe, and pumpkin at such lightening speed. Is is because it’s so freakin’ delicious or are they lacking something in their diet. Now, this is where I wish I could be the worm whisperer. Hmmmmmmm????
This stuff is so good! Just wish the bag was compostable because I think I am going to buy many more bags!
The silver color is decomposing revealing the blue outside color.
Not much of a change in temperature from last week.
Just a quick update today! Two posts in one day is tough for me!
Data and Observations:
Pretty cool stuff is happening to the piece of the bag that ripped away from the bigger piece of the bag…see, I can’t write two posts in one day. My brain can’t take it. Everything comes out jumbled. Take a look at the picture. The silver glow on the inside of the piece is fading and the blue outer color is being exposed. Looks like a layer is breaking down.
The temperature in the bin is about the same from last week, 42F. The outside temperature has fluctuated from about 20F-40F.
Books! Books! Books! The library is filled with them, of course, and so are the bookstores. Nothing new with that statement, right?! On Monday, I went to the library to do a bit of composting research and came home with a few books. Looking at my selection this morning kind of scares me. It is proof that I am really confused with where I am in my life. I checked out 6 books. They break down like this…oh by the way, I am not putting them into any particular order. Well that’s not all together true. My brain is categorizing them as I am typing, and I am getting distracted because I can’t concentrate as I type this…geez! (Close your mouth, close your brain, just type!) Here goes….
2 composting books found in the kid’s section…but I think they are great for all ages. The only ones I’ve read so far!
2 composting books for adults found in the non fiction adult section. They look boring!
1 non fiction book about an Amish schoolteacher. What the heck was I thinking?…hilarious
1 fiction book about raising a teenager!…Help! just kidding…no really. Help I remember how sassy I was to my dad!
I know exactly why I read the kids’ books first. They look fun. One is illustrated and the other has photos. The images drew me in instantly. The info is well written and easy to understand. Well of course, Laurie, they’re kids books. I love kids books so much and encourage all of you to read some more often. Composting can be intimidating, especially composting with worms. One of the two books actually “touches” on the topic. They both explain the importance of composting and the benefits it provides for you and the planet. I highly recommend these two children’s books and will have a link to the amazon store if you can’t find them at your local library or bookstore.
I will try my best to read the other “adult” composting books soon. No really, I will try! I do love the title of one, Let it Rot! but it looks too long, and there aren’t many pictures so I think I am going to skim through it.
Now on to the other 2 books! The Bridge of Peace by Cindy Woodsmall and Teen 2.0 by Robert Epstein, PH.D. Just the titles crack me up. They should be linked together. I am laughing as I am typing this! How about this title…
The Bridge of Peace for your Teen or The Bridge of Peace away from your Teen or The Bridge of Peace to your Teen or how about this plain and simple…I NEED to take a ride on The Bridge of Peace
The purpose of this post was to recommend the children’s books, but Hey, Sorry I got carried away and come to think of it. ……..My brain feels a lot better. I am ready to start the day! Woohoo a laxative for the brain!
Today I made a huge pot of soup. I am not going to tell you what type…not just yet! First, I’d like you to play a game with me. Please, please, please play along with me! Are you ready? Too bad I won’t be able to hear your guesses. Oh well!
O.K. so here goes. I am sure in your life you’ve played “I Spy”, right? Well, if not, I’ll give you quick “how to”. You can play this game with an unlimited number of players. You need at least one person to play with besides yourself. Basically, it’s a guessing game. You look at an object, maybe an apple that’s on the counter. You would say, “I spy something red” and the person tries to guess what you are looking at. Not too difficult, right? Let’s play! Be prepared to be challenged!
I spy something orange and stringy…..
I spy something green….
I spy something yellowish, orangish…..
I spy something tiny that’s white…
All done……Here are the things I was looking at.
Something that’s orange and stringy…… the carrot peelings
These bins are sturdy and can handle to prancing and pawing of kids’ hooves!
The temperature in the bin is about 42F. Chilly Willy!
Can you see the wiggler?
Thought this was cool!
Yikes, it’s been cold in Bend! Cold enough for it to snow in November. When there’s snow on the worm bins, I like to leave it there. Having the snow on the bins, provides another layer of insulation for the Red Wigglers. I am still conducting the SunChips experiment despite this cold weather. The bag is in it’s 3rd week of composting. Each week, I will update the “Data and Observations” section of the experiment.
Data and Observations: The temperature in Bend was 41F when I went to check on the worms. To my surprise, the temperature inside the worm bin was about the same. I made sure to thoroughly clean the thermometer when I got back inside!
When I pulled away the bedding, I saw one lonely Red Wiggler next to the SunChips bag. He was moving rather slowly, and I am sure he was cold. There wasn’t much of a change from last week. I did pick up the bag to see if it would rip some more, but it didn’t :^(
Even with these frigid temperatures, I will continue to observe the SunChips bag.
Happy Wormin’
Check out this cool trail of ice which formed on our gutter chain. At the moment, it is slowly melting away and the sound it’s producing is rather calming!
It’s been so cold in Bend! Last week, our daytime highs were in the 20’s and the night time lows were in the negative single digits. Not only were we blasted with winter temperatures, Mother Nature also granted us 6 inches of snow. The kids enjoyed the snow and weren’t phased by the arctic temperatures. They made a really cute snowman with Carlos and loved pelting each other with snowballs. I’m not to sure how the Red Wigglers felt about this unseasonably cold weather. I’m going to check on them and the Sunchips bag today and will record all of my data for my ongoing experiment. It will be a quick visit because there is a nice layer of snow on the top of the worm bins, and I don’t want to expose them to the outside temperature for too long. That wouldn’t be too nice to blast them with cold air…yuck. Be back in a bit!
