Our Old House

As you know, I have been very excited about my worms and their wonderful work.  I keep a little bowl for them in fridge to collect all the scraps from cooking and love to feed them. So funny how it really is the little things.

Last week, as I was already running late to work, I found this in the driveway.

I sent Megan and Brandon a frantic text message with a photo of the above scene, with tears in my eyes.  We all already knew who to blame.

Bastards!

B suggested that I scoop the worms back in the bin and fix things up when I got home. This seemed like a good enough idea until I discovered that there were NO worms.  Approximately 300 worms… gone.  Could there have been that many early birds that morning?  Do raccoons eat worms!?

They do.

“Raccoons have the ability to open jars, garbage cans, doors, and even complex locks. The raccoon feeds on plants and animals. They prefer fruit and nuts but will also eat grain, insects, worms, fish, birds, garbage, and even bark when times are tough.”

Read more: http://www.brighthub.com/environment/science-environmental/articles/48196.aspx#ixzz1WtbuY8fc

My babies didn’t stand a chance.

When I did finally get things cleaned up, I found two little ones who had survived.  I picked them up (with bare hands, a feat for me!) and put them in some dirt near the bushes.  It was the least I could do after such an ordeal.

The tragedy took the wind out of my sail, but I plan to get things up and going again this week.  I think they’ll need to relocate to the garage.

Are there any composters among you with suggestions for keeping my worms safe?

Two years ago, I was intrigued by the wonders of worm composting.  I really wanted to start one, but there was something holding me back.  A traumatic childhood experience left me with an irrational fear of worms.  I won’t try to explain or justify it here… I know that it is ridiculous.

I’ve had pretty big gardening plans since I first saw this house and know how great a compost could be.  Maybe mine didn’t have to have worms.  Maybe I could just do a regular smelly compost without the help of any creepy crawlers.  On the other hand, maybe a bunch of worms working, for me, would help me overcome my fears.  I was so torn.

In the meantime, Megan shared my intrigue and ran with it.  After hearing of her worm success, I decided that I had to give it a try.  

I called my sister countless times to make sure I got it all right.  How many worms did you start with?  What kind of bin do I need? Are my drainage holes too big?  Are my worms too small?  How do I know if I’m feeding them too much?  I’m sure that all of the answers could have been found on the internet, but I was taking a big step and needed the kind of hand-holding that only she could provide.  All the way from Boston, she talked me through what turned out to be a pretty painless process.

It was so simple, it can be pretty much wrapped up in the pics…

Starter Bin w/Ventilation and Drainage Holes

Worm-Ready Bin w/Newspaper and Soil

My Lil’ Wigglas… Awaiting Their Big Move

Welcome home boys and girls!

Hope you guys like green beans!!!

G’Night… Now go make Mama some of that Black Gold

And here’s Stella… reminding us that, as always, she helped

So I guess now all there is to do is wait… Thanks again, Meg!

xo

I go back to work in a few days (already!) and am feeling under pressure to be productive in what little time I have left.  Nevermind an amazing vacation, quality time with B and too many days spent doing absolutely nothing… it feels like crunch time.  It’s too late for me to start the vegetable garden that I had planned, but it’s never too early to get a head-start on next year.  With that in mind, I did some long overdue weeding yesterday (please, don’t judge).

While I was back there, I remembered how much this ugly green shutter really annoyed me… like, what IS your purpose?!  In the middle of my garden/compost site prep, removing this shutter became my new mission. How could I go on, forced to look at that?

Brandon: “Babe, is there any particular reason that you are taking that down, right now?”

Milissa: “Because I don’t like it.  It’s ugly and I want it off!”

Brandon (failing to hide the wonder in his eyes): “Okay”

And… TaDaa!  (If you’ve been following along, I won’t need to tell you what I found)

In fact, if you’re up for a little game, the teacher in me has to ask… How many old windows can YOU count on this back wall??

Space is clear, shutter is gone.  Next step is to keep the weeds from coming back and consult with Meg to get my compost going.