The worms fend for themselves for a fortnight

On reflection, my decision to check on my wormery a couple of hours after returning home from a transatlantic journey of many hours, while still intensely jetlagged, furry-toothed and empty-stomached was a foolish one.

Normally I feel nothing but pride for my slithery charges, but at that moment, the sight made me want to heave.

I was rather anxious about leaving them to their own devices for a fortnight, so soon after the wormery had been set up. Put too much food waste inside and the worms would not be able to eat it all, so some would putrefy and make the worms ill: too little and somemight die off for lack of sustenance. In the end I added a couple of extra handfuls of peelings, plus some worm treat and anti-lime mix pellets as supplied by Wiggly Wigglers with the wormery (visible in the picture as the little brown nuggets).

All seemed to be well on my return - there was a lot of condensation on the inside of the lid, but there were plenty of worms in evidence.

A lot of wormery cynics are worried about the smell, but from my experience so far it's earthy rather than stinky (although we'll see what happens in the height of summer). So it wasn't the smell that made me feel sick, just the effect of the sight of decomposing food waste on an already unsettled stomach.

I've now added a second tray and a little more shredded paper to soak up the excess water. Once the weather warms up (hard to imagine at the moment as it snows) I'll move the wormery outside to the shade of the side wall, as it will undoubtedly get too warm in the garage.

As an aside, I learned from somewhere or other - possibly the Wiggly Wigglers blog - that they've started selling Bokashi buckets in Tesco. Good idea, bad idea? Discuss ...

Comments

[Almost Mrs Average]

Hi Jane - relieved your worms are doing well. It also looks like everything is being processed really well. Thanks too for the update about the pellets. I'd forgotten about that so performed my duties today.

I've just emptied my bokashi for the first time today and much to my relief it had worked, so I can positively say that from my novice attempts they are a great idea.

As for Tesco selling bokashi bins, I'm not quite sure about the impact on the mass market. I got mine from Wiggly Wigglers and the benefit of that has been the advice that I've had from some follow-up calls, which has helped me on the way. Without such good advice to hand, I think many people might just not have the confidence to continue. However, society is full of surprises so who knows what success lays ahead.

Anyway, I am pleased with mine (and also grateful that the wormery is still surviving)!

[Lisa]

I've now neglected my wormery (for several months) on two occasions and on both occasions it has been absolutely fine with fabulous compost awaiting me... it amazes me, both times I expected to have to start again and I've been so pleased I haven't needed too.

Of course I'm not encouraging such a mean and lazy approach! But at least we don't have to worry too much when we do get absent-minded or go on holiday... very good pets are worms :D

[Shinykatie]

I love my bokashi bin, and I always try to convert people to their excellence. I guess it's a good thing to get them into a more mainstream environment, but I'm sure it will also mean that there will be a lot of abandoned plastic buckets appearing in the following months. They do take a little bit of care to look after (not much, but possibly more than some people I know would be willing to give).

That sounds really negative sorry! I think it's a good thing really!