This is a very old post but I want to correct the misinformation in the last post. Spring flowering bulbs will, and need to, start rooting as soon as you plant them. It makes no sense to say that they don't grow roots until February. Some will already be flowering by then. You plant them in the Autumn because there is still residual warmth in the ground which gets them started. If that were not the case you'd be planting them in the Spring. They cannot 'winter over the first year' if they don't have roots. They'd just rot. If you dig up a well established daffodil in September you'll see that it is already growing roots. 4 of Bud's plants were spring bloomers, one was a summer bloomer and one wasn't a bulb at all. It's also not true that 'everyone needs to dig up and divide at least every 3 years.' You can divide them if they need it. But it is not a hard and fast rule.

"Are BSF timid creatures, or am I most likely going to have them crawling on me or flying around when I'm checking out my bin?" Some people really love their BSFL, as much as we love our worms. They too worry about them when they have to leave them for a few days. My understanding is that when BSFL are about 3/4 inch long and smaller they are white. Then as they mature they turn black and hard like little armadillos. Then they hide. The flys that emerge are like large houseflies but they do not land on poop and then on food. They avoid people, poop and food and want to find a bit of rot to lay their eggs on. They fly erratically. Slow when they are just warming up. Then faster. They are black with some of their leg area white. I think you would like the fly and the mature larvae and not be afraid of them. The thing that is cool about the white larvae is if one puts lets say the remains of a fish that the fillets have been harvest from into the bin, the the BSFL boil over the remains so actively that the remains float over the top of the activity and wonder around the container while getting smaller and smaller until they are all gone. Maybe let your helper know that these types of things in the bin are normal so they will not be startled. There is the cutest youtube that shows a little girl with a handful of BSFL feeding then to her chickens. If they knew that even little girls are not afraid of them then they might be more ok with them. Me I do not even touch my worms except with a 10 inch stick. Not even with gloves on. Maybe the scarriest thing to ever happen was I had noticed a few things out of place around the bin lately. Things were a bit mess with the vermicomost. I thought I was just sloppy. One day I put food in the top of the bin and out of the bottom a mouse jumped and darted off of my leg. I screamed like a little girl. Then I laughed a lot because I screamed. Many people love furry mice as pets. Maybe not me. I wonder if he was eating my worms. I move the material around in my bin to learn what is going on. As I am more confident I know what is happening in there and as vermicomposting is not my newest hobby, and I am not possessed with knowing what is going on with the little guys, I am more likely to leave them alone. Then my activity with the bin would more resemble how sbryce advises. Like him I would flip the bottom material over for the same reasons. Or gain interest in flow through bins like I have. I would think the cloth worm inns would work nice for you. Just put the stuff food by the tons and bedding in at the top. Zip it in. Water frequently. Harvest at the bottom. Supposedly no need to separate worms. They do dry out fast but the activity of adding water is pleasant for some. Others may have fish tank change water they want to use. I would think that maybe the condition of the material might be gauged a tiny bit by just squeezing the bag. I do not have one. Some people sew their own. Having a strong enough stand to hold mega weight is important. I guess like not buying the first year of a car I am waiting for them to come out with the new and improved version. I think mine would dry out. That would be ... ... .,. very bad for the worms. A homemade plastic bin is more resilient in that way.

I ordered undercabinet fluorescent lights from CSN Lighting last July, and had a couple of problems with the order. First their website listed one price for the units, but when I select the items and proceded to the checkout, a different (and of course higher) price was used for calculating the total. Then, when I called to get the price problem straightened out, I specifically asked whether fluorescent tubes were included with the lights since the website said (and still to this day says) "This undercabinet fluorescent light bar is the latest in undercabinet lighting, complete with energy efficient T5 fluorescent lamps." which really suggests that the lamps would be included. Whereas the PDF specifications file from the lamp manufacturer noted that the lamps were not included. So, the person I talked to checked and said that the fluorescent tubes would be included with the lamps. When the shipment arrived, no fluorescent tubes. After several subsequent calls to them I was unable to get the matter straightened out, so I ordered the tubes from elsewhere and have decided to not give any more business to CSN Lighting (or any of the dozens of other CSN stores) My main lighting for the room, I ordered monorail track lighting from Arcadian lighting, and had a much better online shopping experience. They honored their 110% price match guarantee without batting an eyelash, and the person I dealt with there (Tony Lin) was extremely helpful. The order was shipped with two incorrect items, and Tony noticed it before the package arrived, and immediately shipped a separate package with the right items, and a prepaid shipping label to return the wrong items.

I'm actually surprised this doesn't happen more often. I have only been burnt one time ordering anything, and it was before the inet stores were mainstream and it was a mail order made through advertising in legitimate gardening mags. I paid up front, and it was to a legitimate "name" I knew professionally and the check was cashed immediately. And the business number was always on an answering machine and the calls never returned, the merchandise never came, and the money never returned. I pursued it through some government agencies I knew that particular business to be governed by. Yep, the business had new owners, they had quality problems and were inexperienced, and they just got in way over their heads. They had no business cashing checks for new orders, however when they knew darned good and well they would not be filling them. It was through the mail, across state lines, and if I had pursued it any further, would have been nasty for them, I'm sure. The funny thing is, one of the fairly prominent gardening mags several years later actually listed them as a source for certain kinds of material. LOL. So, I no longer bought that magazine, because those articles could not have been written by anyone current in that industry. I have ordered material of all sorts from many places in the world over the inet. It's a wonderful alternative to being locked into the few box stores I won't shop at who are dominating many rural areas. Yes, I am careful from whom I order, and often make sure they've had references from friends first or are companies I already know and trust. It's also a great equalizer for home based businesses, in that they can compete against the 'giants' on equal footing since they don't have to maintain a billion dollars worth of store fronts and overhead. One of these days, down the line, I think they'll be more highly regulated, and until that time, one just has to be careful.