by Wonder Worman | Sep 20, 2010 | Red Wiggler World, Sidetracks
My sweet, “Little a” went to work pulverizing eggshells for our red wigglers. Eggs shells contain calcium which the worms need to survive and to help with reproduction. Being a red wiggler merchant, this is important to me. I need to have the perfect environment for the worms to reproduce. If the worms have too much calcium, they have a gland unique to their species. The calciferous gland is located in their digestive tract. This helps regulate the amount of calcium in their blood.
The calcium in the bedding also helps balance the ph. Calcium will bring the ph to neutral, neither acidic or basic. The ideal composting conditions.
Many vermicomposters have shared there is no need to worry about adding too many egg shells if you eat eggs daily.
I didn’t take a picture of the final product. It was a bit finer than what you see here. This is really close, though. I then took the bag out to my Wonder Worman bin and sprinkled it on top and then gently mixed it in about an inch.
Thanks for your help “Little a”
Happy Wormin’
by Wonder Worman | Mar 8, 2010 | Red Wiggler World, Resources
This is such a wonderful, sweet, happy, adorable kid’s book. It’s actually a book for anyone who wants to laugh and learn some cool info about worms.
Doreen Cronin writes informative info about worms and how much they have to offer in such a fun way. The book is written in a diary format. Harry Bliss has amazing illustrations, and is able to make a worm look “cute”!!! I’m all about the cute factor.
So if you have time, and you’re looking for a fun, easy read for yourself, your kids or your students. Pick up the book!!!
Forgot to mention, I do read this book to the students when I visit Bend’s Schools. Enjoy!!! Click below to buy the book at Powells.
by Wonder Worman | Nov 18, 2009 | Less in the Landfill, Red Wiggler World
This is it! The final delivery of the season! It was a cool one for sure, and one that I will remember for a while (well at least when I have the pictures as prompts…I need all the help I can get. The mind ain’t what it used to be) On Monday, I took a pound of worms, a bin, peat moss, shredded newspaper, and my hubby to a Llama and Alpaca Farm. Marty, the human leader of the animals, greeted us with a huge smile and a hand shake. She lead us to the future home of the red wigglers, a renovated chicken coop that was invaded by racoons…Yikes. The chicken coop was already set up with a heat lamp and hay…perfect for a red wiggler set up in November. Totally cool! These guys love their llamas and alpacas and will soon love their red wigglers. Just look at that set up!
Here’s a picture of hay which is above sheets of newspaper. This will keep the worms warm especially during the chilly Bend nights.
Doesn’t this look yummmmmmy!!! Marty was all set with food scraps for the red wigglers. I put the rotting lettuce, celery, cucumbers and squash on top of the bedding and covered the scraps with the sheets of newspaper (another good use for USA today). I use the newspaper to keep the red wigglers contained to the food area so they won’t travel up through the hay. In the summer this helps reduce fruit flies.
Marty’s goal is to reduce her food waste and to also compost her llama and alpaca waste. I don’t have experience with animal waste so she is my test case. We will be chatting a bunch to see how the red wigglers are doing. I am excited to see what happens!!
by Wonder Worman | Nov 6, 2009 | Less in the Landfill, Red Wiggler World
I came home this afternoon to find my pumpkin collection bucket full of nasty, rotting pumpkins. My red wigglers will be feasting for a while, especially on something they enjoy.
During my 5+ years of vermicomposting, I have found that they love pumpkins. In the past, I have halved and quartered pumpkins and tossed them into the worm bins. After a day or so, I checked on them and lifted a piece of the pumpkin and to my surprise, I found a cluster of red wigglers underneath! Way cool!!!
If you have a worm bin and pumpkins left, go ahead and feed them to your worms!
Thanks to all of my friends for supplying these nasty, rotting pumpkins!
by Wonder Worman | Oct 27, 2009 | Out and About, Red Wiggler World
This has to be the highlight of my Wonder Worming job! I love to go visit the schools and see kids, teachers and staff members eager to learn about worms. I also like to gross them out with some really vivid and cool photos of decomposing food and the red wigglers feasting on it!
Seven Peaks, a beautiful, private school on Bend, recently bought 5 pounds of my earth loving red wigglers. They are creating a school wide composting project to reduce their usable waste and then use the rich organic fertilizer that the worms produce for their community gardens. I will be guiding them on their journey! Stay tuned for future progress.
My sweet, “Little a” went to work pulverizing eggshells for our red wigglers. Eggs shells contain calcium which the worms need to survive and to help with reproduction. Being a red wiggler merchant, this is important to me. I need to have the perfect environment for the worms to reproduce. If the worms have too much calcium, they have a gland unique to their species. The calciferous gland is located in their digestive tract. This helps regulate the amount of calcium in their blood.
The calcium in the bedding also helps balance the ph. Calcium will bring the ph to neutral, neither acidic or basic. The ideal composting conditions. 
