harvest!

exactly 3 months and 1 week after acquiring and setting up my worms, i have had my first compost harvest.

no - i don't eat compost.

for the past month i haven't been feeding my worms due to a mite infestation, a fungus gnat invasion, and a feeling of discontent noticed amid the worms.

they've been perfectly content burrowing around in their own poop but i know that after some time that becomes toxic for them and i'd have to do something soon.

so over the past month i've been digging handfuls of the stuff out and feeding it to my patio garden plants. we have tomatoes, peas, morning glories, catnip, parsley, basil, chives, cone flowers, and violets. other than the occasional dried up newspaper crust rising to the top after a day in the sun, this method has worked well.

enter vivian, my neighbor, tending her own patio garden out front this morning. she's in a robe, just like me, when i'm having an early morning garden retreat. i ask her if she'd like some compost for her plants, as i have extra and can bring her some. she says she's never used it before. i told her it's like super-nutritious dirt and she says she'd love to try. i get home and realize i can't give the stuff away with all eggshells and newspaper clumps in it. i get started sifting it in our pasta strainer. i now have about 10 containers of perfect compost to give to friends and relatives. anybody want some?

i started with 1 pound of worms, which was supposed to be about 500. after removing as many as possible prior to sifting, i found i have about the same, if not a few more. i thought they'd multiply faster than that, but maybe conditions were off. i've set up a new worm bin, similar to the old but i'm doing a different feeding cycle. it's also nice that i have the garden to take my kitchenwaste overflow.

i broke d's laptop last night. unintentionally but still. we're trying out the mac support store on 7th st. i'll let you know how it goes.

<3 & compost