Anthrax and Botulism are both caused by soil-born organisms. They are probably in every garden on the planet. Has your child had chickenpox yet? That's a Herpes virus that attacks the nervous system and remains alive in your nerve tissue for life. Look forward to the neurological conditions it can cause forever, especially if your immune system is depressed by excess worrying. The fact that there are millions of other species in the soil, taking up most of the space, eating the microbes that make humans sick, is the safety factor. Getting an assortment of harmless germs on your hands and breathing normally, I argue, is safer than walking around a hospital or working in a crowded office. That's where there are high concentrations human-specific pathogens. Sanitizing everything in those areas also eliminates most of the competition that keeps the bad germs in check. Your garden is your happy place, not your mortuary. I have a worm bin. A large one. I'm worried about inhaling the powdered lime and the rock dust that I put in it and on the garden, but my only negative reaction to my worms is the 'gross' factor. I regularly harvest buckets of liquid that drains from my worm bin so that I can water plants with it. Pouring it from the bucket into my little watering can normally results in getting some on me and everywhere. Not dead yet. My dog drinks the worm juice when I'm not looking. The only days she acts sluggish or sick are after she gets her shots at the vet. After playing fetch with her for a while, I sometimes rinse the slobber off of my hands in the bucket of worm juice. (I do rinse them in the sink once I get back in the house though) I think the last time I got sick was in 2002. I was in Army basic training, under a lot of stress, sleep deprived, and sharing space with people from all around the country. People carry disease-causing germs in concentrations that can cause disease in healthy people, healthy soil does not. The stress of worrying about disease is arguably more harmful to your health than dirt. Humans have been farming by hand for something like 10,000 years or so before the queen of England declared she takes a bath once a week and thus made wash tubs common household items. Germ hysteria has probably done more to harm human health than guard it. Here is a link that might be useful: Chicken Pox

//////// wait a moment IIIIII ok that's better. I was stuck sideways. It appears to be outside. The smell should quickly get less worse. Maybe a temporary fan would help. I think it is the grass. I am more worried the grass is hot. Is it? What stops rain from flooding it. Nice paint job. It was nice of him to build it for you. It appears to be made with love. What is the bottom of the bin made of? Were the grass clipping still green? If so they are food not bedding. I would add shredded cardboard. I would shred a big bag of extra cardboard. Possible put it in a sealed container right next to or under the bin. I suspect he may sneak back from time to time with some more grass or veggies. I bet he is on his way home from Starbucks right now with 20 pounds of coffee grounds for the bin. Your job is to keep adding bedding and bake him a nice pie to thank him. Maybe put a lock on it :-) the bin not the pie. Feel free to add a cup of garden soil and egg shells. Note worms that live in garden soil are not the same type as worms that live in compost bins. Also if the gentleman has that much vegetable waste he might enjoy learning about bokashi. If he tires of that BSFL Black Soldier Fly Larvae. Keep him busy or he will build a second bin for you. Since the first bin is a boy the second one will be a girl and he will paint it pink.

I'd think some straw bales stacked around the outside would be good insulation from both heat and cold. Plus you could plant some salad on them. Burying the bin would also protect against freezing.

Thank You sbryce for the vote of confidence. Harrison said he had no experience with worms, therefore he needs the book. I have a 4'X3'X2' wooden worm box that appears to be about twice the size of this box. The inside is painted with fiberglass. For heat, I use an 18Â red rope light on a timer (total cost For HarrisonÂs Box: Paint will not stick to galvanized metal, so it must be washed with vinegar. Then I would paint the inside with fiberglass (after sanding the rusty places off). That is what I did with my worm box because fiberglass is much stronger than paint or polyurethane. Keep the drain in the bottom, but if you run the box properly, you will not need it. The wheels will not help much because these boxes are heavy when full, so they are put in one place and left alone. Harvesting is a continuous process. I feed my worms in a clockwise direction, adding scraps and covering the scraps with the compost from the other end. Imagine an empty area in the middle, and the VC is 6-8" high all around the sides with a gap going down the middle. When the VC catches up, then I harvest maybe 20# or so to build the gap back up. It is like a worm race around the inside of the box as the worms follow the food. Harrison- get the book and start with a pound in a Rubbermaid tote. Harvest in 3 months and you will have 2#s of worms(min) and 20#s of VC. Your tray with wheels (30"x18"x8") looks like a parts washer or something along those lines. It should hold 6 to 10#s of worms without a problem, but plan on regular continuous harvesting. ItÂs a way of life for those with worms in boxes.