Hey,hi Linda & kathi, Kathi,yes, i love my worm bin.i have had mine for about a year now,i will never be with out it.How long have you had yours? Linda,ha ha ha,you should have a worm bin,every one should. I bought mine from The Worm Factory,you have to order the worms seperate,and they olny ship when it warms up a bit. Mechele just bought one,she can tell you when they will ship the worms.I absoultly love it,i throw all my kitchen scrapes in it,and get the reward of good black gold,and worm tea. The two big worms at the beggining are Cocoa & Sammie,you won't find cutier worms any where. Carol

Hi gg, Mine are the red wigglers,i started my bin last year,it is a three tire set up,and i just love them. All my table scrapes go right into the bin,there is no smell,no one even knowes it is a worm bin. Sadie said they were small and skinny,so, i am assumming they are red wigglers. My bin has a spicket on it,so you can drain it and get the liquid gold,( :0) ) for watering your plants,plus,every now and then,you clean it up a bit,and get the most fluffy,organic soil,so good. And, if that is not enough, you tripple your worms,in no time flat,you can sell them, or share with some one who wants to start up a worm farm of their own.It is a really neet hobby,and so earth friendly. Carol

I put a gallon milk jug of water in the middle of the bin with an aquarium heater in the water. I cover the whole thing with a black sheet and keep it in my unheated greenhouse. The worms are not as active as in the summer, but they have survived, especially next to the warm water. The food definitely does not decompose as fast. One day, after of a week of days with highs in the 20's, there was a frozen chunk in the side of the bin, but the worms appeared to have moved out of it. If no electricity, try moving the box in the sun. Cover with a "comforter" made of a black trash bag filled with styrofoam peanuts. Use binder clips to keep it from blowing off. Make sure the worms are still getting air. I think worms at school is potentially a great idea, but I haven't worked out the details yet for my school. My bins get fruit flies too easily to keep inside. And I worry about kids with mold allergies.

This is a great topic. Not just a great topic -- a crucial one for all gardeners. Critical for the well being of our planet. Why? Because we're grappling with the issue of improving our soiI. And our soil supports life on Earth. And we've gotten it wrong long enough to really mess things up. So I think it's worth carrying on this conversation. I'm a novice gardener with no training in botany, so I look to people like Kim for his knowledge and experience. I do have a background in biochemistry and medicine, so I feel comfortable with scientific information such as that provided by the University of California system. And I'm a passionate gardener, immersed in the experience, and have been mulching and composting in a big way. Regarding compost v mulch, Catspa is exactly right. Mulch is organic matter (leaves, paper, kitchen scraps, wood chips, etc) that have not yet broken down. They can rob energy from the soil, so we don't mix mulch into the soil. We lay it on top of the soil where it helps hold in moisture, and insulates the soil from heat in the summer and cold in the winter. Mulch eventually breaks down (faster when moist), and when it does, it nourishes the soil. Compost is organic matter that has broken down completely and aged. It's leaves and paper and poop, and urine, and kitchen scraps, and garden clippings that have been completely transformed into rich, nourishing soil. It looks like soil, and it smells like fresh dirt. In an established bed we don't dig compost into the soil either. We lay it on top where with time it works into the soil and nourishes it. In a new bed, compost should be part of the mix, but preferably throughout the bed rather than just in planting holes. Ingrid, if I were you, I would buy good organic compost and spread it on top of your beds. Lay 4" of mulch on top of the compost. If you've already laid down mulch, don't worry. Just add compost on top; it'll work its way down. Then I would start a compost pile. Don't worry how complicated it is. If you get it wrong, you'll still end up with compost -- it'll just take longer. There are lots of ways to do it, but here's what I do to keep it simple (and it WORKS): 1. Dig a hole. The bigger, the better. 2. Throw in all your kitchen scraps, leaves, clippings, paper-based trash, coffee grounds, and manure. Whenever you throw in manure or yucky kitchen scraps, make a little depression first, put your scraps or manure in the depression, and then cover them completely with straw or leaves so there is no odor to attract critters. I have tons of critters that rip up my garden, but they never bother my compost holes. If you're concerned, cover the hole with wire. 2. Keep the contents slightly moist (not wet). 3. As you're filling up the compost hole, the decomposing materials will shrink, so you'll keep finding more room to keep adding. 4. At some point stop adding stuff to this hole, and start another one while you let this hole sit. Do keep it slightly moist. 5. Enjoy your compost. Yes, it will happen. Faster if the carbon waste and nitrogen waste are properly balanced, and it's kept moist, and it gets to the proper temperature. Slower if not. But so what? It's practically no work, you're helping the planet by recycling waste, and once you have the cycle going with a couple of holes (or piles, or however you want to do it), you're going to have rich, nourishing compost for your garden. No, I don't turn it. No, I don't shred stuff first. No, it doesn't get anaerobic and stink. Yes, it does work. You can spread the compost on your garden beds. Or you can leave the aged compost in the hole, add soil as needed to fill it, and use that rich new area as your next planting bed. jannike