“I have worms!” Lollo proclaimed loudly to his teacher who looked at me quizzically. He means we own worms. We’re proud owners of a spanking new working worm bin from Texas Worm Ranch.
Finally after an unsuccessful bout of vermicomposting last year, I decided to take a class from Heather Rinaldi, head worm rancher of Texas Worm Ranch and one of the founders of Dallas Eco-Op. Boy, did I learn a lot from the two hour workshop.
The first misconception is the smell. I spent two hours at the worm warehouse where they have open worm boxes and decomposing food and there was no smell. So this time, the worm bin is staying inside my house where the temperature is constant and moderate year round. I was so terrified of the stink last year that I put the box outside and it all went awry when the drought hit and record number of hot days basically turned our worm bin into an oven.
I’m also feeding moderately this time too, every second day instead of everyday. Worms can eat up to half their weight in food which makes them so efficient at disposing our waste. But last time not only did we overfeed, we fed them the wrong things too.
Rinaldi taught us how to harvest the precious worm castings using the light and sieve methods and then gave us a recipe for worm wine. Worm wine is brewed with castings, water and horticultural molasses and is wonderful way to stretch your castings further in the garden. The nutrient rich worm wine is full of living organisms that enrich your soil and helps kill pests like ant lava.
Pikelet & Lollo are ecstatic over their new pets and we even brought them to their school for show and tell. Vermicomposting is a great way to teach children a bit about looking after our planet, to be mindful of our waste and to care for another living being. Pikelet & Lollo have the opportunity to learn about an ecosystem first hand and the wondrous workings of nature. Start teaching your children early, it’s a wonderful gift we can give them and to Mother Earth.
Watch more videos of IttyBittyFoodies & their worms on our You Tube channel here. I love the one where Lollo tells them they’re going to a ‘time out’.
Contact Texas Worm Ranch for classes, organic gardening consultation and of course, worms! TIP: If you intend to just buy worms from them at White Rock Local Market, I strongly suggest you order in advance. They go fast.
Till our next Happy Meal!
