Sick bird is better and Worm Bin Update

Awwwww, the sick finch is so much better! (Picture of her on the left) She is flying! And well too! So I suppose I will compose a releasing ceremony and release her after the new year for her new lease on life. I'm gonna miss her company and her wonderfully tiny peeps and chirps.

Worm bin. I have places a peice of black trash bag slightly smaller than the bin on top of the bedding. It seems to keep the worms in, I'm thinking because it acts like a barrier, and keeps moisture in. I cut a big hole in the lid and added a piece of screening to it to keep the worms in and to allow for better air flow. The other bin is in the storage area and still wreaks so badly. PEW! The worms are still doing well and the mite population seems to be dropping because it is a cooler area.

I put in a pound of food scraps last monday and recently I placed the pit pumpkin into it because it had started to rot. The worms seem to really like pumpkin and squash scraps and they flock to it! This new bin is twice as big so I am having to spray it with a little water ever few days because the top of the bedding seems to be drying out. I guess that is the trade off in an attempt to keep anarobic (something rather, I cannot remember but it is a condition where there is not enough air flow in the bin and allows bacteria to grow and that creates foul oders)conditions from forming and keep air flow at maximum. I had to cover all the holes on the sides of the bin with panty hose because I kept finding excapees on the rug, and even found one in the kitchen, still alive. I found one last night about two feet from the bin all dried up. Must have been sick. Most of the worms stay put. I also had to put some duck tape on the holes that came with the bin in the handle recess. I think this bin will do better because A)I have some experience now with the first bin harvested and B) it's as large as the book recommends. I've ordered another pound of worms to replace those that have died in the harvest (I can smell it, dead worms have a really wierd smell) and to replinish the new bin with a fresh population of hungry wormies. Our household produces a lot more organic waste than I first anticipated.

Until next time...