by Wonder Worman | Oct 2, 2010 | Red Wiggler World
See that little tiny yellow speck that looks like a mini lemon. See it? See it?
Do you know what it is? huh? huh? come on do ya? do ya?
If you have a worm bin, maybe you’ve seen it before.
Well if you’re still at a loss and you’ve never laid eyes on it in your entire life, I bet you have an idea…just by the title of the blog.
It’s the result of doing “it”, making whoopie in the worm world. Red Wigglers, as with other worms, are hermaphrodites. They have both male and female parts and need each other to reproduce. I have seen this in action, and it is really cool. They actually form a love knot. After doing “it”, they each leave behind a cocoon.
After 3-4 weeks, about 5-10 worms will hatch from the cocoon. Then these babies will be reproducing new compost eating, earth saving creatures in 2-3 months and the cycle will start again.
Thought it would be cool to share this with ya! and don’t worry you won’t have worms crawlin’ out of your bin…they self regulate their population. They determine their space and reproduce accordingly!
Happy wormin’
by Wonder Worman | Sep 28, 2010 | Less in the Landfill, Red Wiggler World
I really loved writing yesterday’s post about my Jenn and Jack! Not often do I stray from my more technical wormin’ posts, but when I do, I have fun, especially when I have such a vibrant topic, Jenn and Jack!
Yes, the purpose of my visit to the HA Ranch was to hang, party and have fun, but I am always looking for new things to do with the Red Wigglers…new things for the wigglers to munch on. Since these are manure worms, and they do eat llama and alpaca poop there would be no reason why they wouldn’t feast on bunny poop. As long as the conditions are ideal, they would do fine.
I’ll get to the more worm related part of the post in a few seconds. I wanted to show you the pictures of the fluffy bunnies first! This is a Californian Bunny. They are so cute and have awesome markings! I prefer these guys over these……
….The New Zealand!
Bunnies are soft, hoppy and bouncy, but these are just plain freaky! Sorry Jenn. I don’t like their red, devil eyes and the fact that they stomp their babies when they are freaked out! Why do they do that again? Logic tells me because they are startled?? but I think there’s another reason…some technical, bunny reason.
If I had just given birth to 8 or so bald, mice looking creatures, I think I would be a bit freaked out every time I looked at them. Wondering to myself… “How on earth is this possible?”
“How on earth are they going to morph into a cute, fluffy bunny?”
It’s a sight to see if you haven’t….kind of like a train wreck…You just have to take a peek. Sorry, I didn’t take a picture. I think I would’ve barfed.
On to more exciting, rather interesting pictures! Poop!
This is a 22 gallon bin filled with Coco-Puffs! It could actually pass if there weren’t straw pieces hanging out on top.
Jack was so kind to fetch this for me before I left for the little over 3 hour drive back to Bend. I thought he was going to fill a 5 gallon paint bucket for me, but I found this basking in the sun by the back of my SUV. I was a little frightened.
Crap…(ha, ha, ha….couldn’t resist) How was I going to lift it? and Was it going to stink up the car on the ride back? but Jack was a proper cowboy and packed it in next to my bag of clothes!
Well yes, of course a 22 gallon plastic bin of poop was going to stink in 80 degree weather on a dusty road that forced me to close the windows and put on the A/C. ‘Little a’ was patient during the 3 mile drive off their property back to “civilization”. Once we reached the paved road, I cranked those windows down and took a deep breath of chopped onions! That’s because I needed to drive 30 more miles through various crop and livestock farms. So we basked in the various scents, laughing and reminiscing about our always eventful times with Jenn, Jack and the “childrens”.
Well, I made it back to Bend by dinner time. I unloaded the poop and settled in for the night, knowing that I’d tackle my new red wiggler munching adventure in the morning.
So after the kids were in school, I headed out to do my wormin’. I took about 2 pounds of poop and got it sopping wet and then added about a half a pound of worms. Actually, the bunny poop didn’t smell too bad, and the worms didn’t mind. They actually made themselves at home, doing what they do best, burrowing down for a feast.
I put this container outside and put on the lid, making sure it wasn’t sealed shut. I checked on them this morning, and they are wigglin’ around. I am psyched. I have to do some more research on this method of composting!
I know composting with cow and chicken manure is considered hot composting and composting with worms is cold composting. So, I would assume that I am converting hot composting to cold composting??!!! Anyone out there want to comment!
Off to do some research and visit the wigglers……
Happy Wormin’
by Wonder Worman | Sep 23, 2010 | Less in the Landfill
I am excited to share a product introduced to me a week ago. Linda, CEO and Co-Founder of Elements Naturals and Shannon, her PR sidekick met with me at a local, fantastic coffee house in Bend. Linda’s compostable baby wipes are 100% Natural and are chemical and fragrant free. These wipes will break down into usable compost in a home compost pile and soon to be tested in my Wonder Worman Super composting Worm Bin!
Now that my kids are way past the diaper stage…Nice for me!…, I have started using these wipes for our hands rather than their bottoms. (I am happy they are no longer pooping in their pants, but I do miss their baby smell.) These wipes are super soft and hold up to the wear and tear of removing dirt from grimy hands.
I have also used them for cleaning my key board. They have just the right amount of moisture and are not sopping wet. I think I’ve used 4 so far and will be tossing them into a worm bin over the weekend.
Here’s to a cool compostable product!! More later! Happy Wormin’
by Wonder Worman | Sep 20, 2010 | Less in the Landfill, Red Wiggler World
I try to clean out the veggie drawer weekly (lately it’s more monthly) and remove the yucky fruits and veggies that are beginning to look like a science project! This week wasn’t so bad. I suppose we have been eating a lot of fruits and veggies or maybe I didn’t buy enough!
Rotting iceberg and red leaf lettuce and mushy grapes are now being eaten by my red wigglers. No matter how bad they look to us, the worms don’t mind one bit. The nastier the better as long as there isn’t a rotting smell because it will continue to smell in the bin.
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’
See that little tiny yellow speck that looks like a mini lemon. See it? See it? 
