by Wonder Worman | Jan 14, 2011 | Red Wiggler World
There are many different types of ants out there in this world. The type that may infest your bin depends on the area in which you live in. There are fire ants, sugar ants, carpenter ants, acrobat ants, harvester ants. I know I have left out a bunch, but you get my drift, right? Basically there are many, many types. I really, really, really don’t care for these creatures. When I lived in Dallas, I stupidly sat on a fire ant mound and was bitten a billion times. They are nasty little creatures! I know they were defending themselves, and I was unaware of my area but come on! I actually don’t care for fast moving insects like spiders, centipedes, millipedes, and ants. Their legs freak me out and send shivers all over my body! I don’t have this reaction to Red Wigglers because they are slow and calm. They don’t have appendages that move quickly. Occasionally, I find various creatures in my worm bin, including ants. Most of these are harmless and actually speed up the composting process. If you find a swarm of these, it’s a sign that things need to change. So, in my series “Creature Feature”, I will be sharing my knowledge of worm bin invaders and steps to take if there is a swarm. Today’s feature is the ANT If you find a few in your bin, that isn’t really a problem, but most likely there are more around that you don’t see. They eat food scraps, fungi, other ants (that’s mean) and wood. Depending on the ant you have in your bin will also tell you about the conditions of your bin. Most ants are attracted to dry areas with food so this might be a sign that the bin is too dry. The carpenter ant is an exception though. They are attracted to moist wood. Treatment Most ants don’t like moisture so you could add more moisture to the bin and bury the food scraps in the bedding. You could also have water traps around the bin, kind of like a moat. They won’t want to cross that and will look for food else where. If you have carpenter ants and have a wooden bin, check around the perimeter to see if there is a rotting log and remove it. Then relocate your bin and keep an eye out for the ants. I have a client who had a swarm of carpenter ants. I removed the bedding and worms. We moved the bin to a different area away from the logs and wood. So far so good and the ants have not returned. I don’t recommend spraying a chemical around the worm bin to get rid of the ants. Just sharing what I know! Please comment if there are methods that have worked for you!
by Wonder Worman | Jan 13, 2011 | Red Wiggler World
I love my Red Wigglers and try my best to keep them safe and happy. Occasionally, there are a few unwanted visitors in the worm bin. In the next few days, my posts will focus on a few creatures and why they are in the bin and whether or not they are harmful to the Red Wigglers. Stay tuned!
by Wonder Worman | Jan 5, 2011 | Worman Cooks
This is really the best banana bread recipe! It’s just super tasty and made with the real stuff. You’re not gonna find fake sugar or fake oil here. Just real honest to goodness real ingredients! It’s super easy to make and doesn’t take a real long time to mix it up. I whooped it up in 10 minutes and baked it for about 50 minutes, depending on your oven. (Ours at the moment is really screwed up. Things aren’t made the way they used to be so I make sure to poke it before pulling it out of the oven.)
As you can see by the picture, I bake this often and I am a really messy baker! There are oil drops, batter smears and water stains! I could have retyped this, but I love the history behind the paper and the recipe!
My sis in law, Yvette, made this for us when she came to visit Bend for the very first time. She had these really cute loaves of bread for us along with a bottle of wine. What an awesome house warming gift! We really love bread, all sorts, and really, really, really, really, really, really love red wine! We drank the wine that night and ate the bread the next morning. We loved it so much that upon her return to La La land, she found an email from Carlos, requesting the recipe for the bb bread. Yvette is really, really nice and emailed it that evening! and there ya go!
By the way, I think it’s really, really cute that his sisters call him “carlitos”. I can’t get rid of the recipe for that reason, too!
The red wigglers also really love the banana peels!
by Wonder Worman | Dec 13, 2010 | Red Wiggler World, Sidetracks
I bought these on Friday night! It's now Sunday!
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????
by Wonder Worman | Nov 26, 2010 | Less in the Landfill, Red Wiggler World
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These bins are sturdy and can handle to prancing and pawing of kids’ hooves!
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The temperature in the bin is about 42F. Chilly Willy!
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Can you see the wiggler?
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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!
