earthmomSimpleLiving

WONDERWASH - Green, Inexpensive Laundry Solution

2011-06-30T15:20:00.001-06:00

This is just the coolest thing ever - two little appliances for laundry - you would not believe how well they work!

(I saw this on Racheal Ray's show. You can see the segment here .)

First is the Wonder Wash:

The Wonder Wash is a pressurized tub. You put in your laundry and only a couple quarts of water, a tablespoon or two of detergent and easily turn a crank for a minute to 2 minutes. This washes your clothes as well or better than a commercial, full sized washer. Then you drain off the dirty water, put in a little rinse water, turn for about 30 seconds, and drain that off.

The key is that it's pressurized. You use hot water, and the lid seals and it creates pressure inside. I love my pressure cooker in the kitchen for food and this is the same principle - the pressure forcing the water and soap through the fibers of the clothing.

Here's Kevin giving a demonstration - Please note that these are not for children to use unsupervised! Adult supervision is needed ALWAYS!

Here's an updated demo - Mr. Duck Gets a Bath!

Why Use the Wonder Wash?

* Washes a 5-lb. load super clean in just a couple of minutes.
* Has a patented pressure system that forces detergent into the fabric at high speed for a fast, efficient, economic and very easy wash
* Is ideal for campers, single persons and even for the housewife with small frequent loads like hand washables and diapers.
* Is ideal for delicates such as woolens, silks, knitted dresses and cashmere garments.
* Uses far less water than even hand washing.

Here is a demonstration of the Wonder Wash on You Tube.

How Big Is It?

12" x 12" x 16" (L x W x H)

The Wonder Wash washes:
7-8 dress shirts or
10 T-shirts or
30 pairs of socks or
2-3 pairs of blue jeans

How to dry the wet, dripping, clean clothes?

With this spin dryer:

Here's a demo of the Spin Dryer on YouTube.

It should be called the SuperSpinner! It spins at 3200 rpm! (a standard washer spins about 700 rpm) The clothes come out just damp - not dripping at all - nearly dry.

You could then throw them into a regular clothes dryer for 5 or 10 minutes and they're dry. OR hang them up and they're dry in an hour or less.

Description

* Works in only 2-3 minutes
* 12.2 lb capacity for wet laundry, 5.5 lb capacity for dry laundry
* 3200 rpm spin speed
* Portable, only weighs 22 lbs
* Compact, only 13.7" x 13.7" x 24" (lwh)
* Much gentler on clothes than a conventional tumble dryer
* Removes mineral deposits and detergents, rather than baking them on
* Can be used as a standalone dryer, or with a tumble dryer
* If used with a conventional tumble dryer, cuts drying time by 30 minutes or more, significantly reducing energy costs and prolonging the life of your dryer and clothing
* Connects to any 110V outlet, no installation required.

For me, this solves a big problem. We bought this house (105 years old) and moved in with a big washer and dryer but the electricity wouldn't support them. Plus the back porch that is sort of enclosed is not conducive to doing laundry, it needed a big overhaul that would cost thousands of dollars. While we were trying to figure out what to do, time has passed and we go to the laundromat every week.

You would not believe how much this little thing holds and how quickly you can do a wash! It uses 90% less water and detergent than conventional washing machines! And takes 1 - 2 minutes to wash a load, 30 seconds to rinse, 1 - 2 minutes to spin dry. The spin dryer is so fast and forces so much out of the clothes through centrifugal force that it removes mineral deposits and soap deposits normally left in the clothes that bake on in conventional dryers. Your clothes last longer, your detergent lasts a lot longer, you save time and a LOT of water and electricity.

I just bought a Wonder Wash and Spin Dryer for my daughter and she could not be more thrilled! She lives in an apt building that has a laundry room but she's always trying to get in there when it's not busy, many machines aren't working, the dryer just eats quarters and never truly gets anything dry. It can be dangerous plus you never know what the person just before you put in there that can get onto your clothes. All good reasons to have your own little laundromat tucked away, pull it out once a week for a half hour and wash up all your clothes. She has a 2 year old and this is a lifesaver - no worries about messes. Her clothes can always be washed up in just minutes.

I'll tell you what, I'm happy with these neat little things! I wish I'd had them when the kids were teens and were in sports or working at fast food jobs. I can't tell you how many last minute emergencies we had from a kid needing a uniform cleaned to wear! With the Wonder Wash those uniforms could have been washed up in less than 5 minutes (even at midnight the night before they're needed - which is usually when I was notified by the kid!) and hung to dry. By morning they're freshly washed, dry and ready to go.

Here are a couple of real things to consider if you get yours - or are about to -
Don't buy a cheap knock off version. This is from Laundry Alternative's website about knock offs:

Be aware that there are several cheaper imitations of this product on the market, which may have one or more of the following defects:

The plastic lid cracks under pressure, causing water to leak during use;
The handle is not sturdy enough, and cracks;
The brackets are very weak and wobbly, and can even snap and break;
There is no water release valve, which means you have to pick up the machine after washing and turn it upside down to drain the greywater.
The water release valve is very stiff, and hard to fit in place each time. We recently modified our drain spouts, so they slide in effortlessly.
The knob that goes into the lid can strip the thread inside the lid. We recently improved the lid screw, so it cannot be screwed in past the past where it can damage the thread.

However, despite the above defects, these cheaper imitations typically sell for up to $13 more than our product. We know about these defects, because we receive a number of requests for replacement lids and handles. We have also tested several of these products and confirmed these defects for ourselves.

The links given here for the Wonder Wash and Spin Dryer all go to the Laundry Alternative website - I don't sell these (wish I did!) and don't get anything for referring you to them. I'm just overjoyed at this wonderful, green, planet saving, clothing saving, money saving solution and had to share!

Here are some great tips:

1) ABSOLUTELY do read the sheet that comes with the WonderWash. It gives you this table for determining how much water and detergent to use:

I recreated that little chart and printed it out and have it posted on the wall to refer to.

2) Use the right amount of water! At first you'll say "This can't possibly work!" and you'll be tempted to add more, but don't. Too much water for the clothes will make the crank hard to turn, it feels lopsided and it's alot of work (for nothing). When you have the amount right (which is really easy to do) it turns easily.

3) Don't race the cranking! The instructions tell you to turn the crank about 1 revolution per second. At that rate it turns easily and you can hear a bit of sloshing inside. If you turn it super fast you can get it going like a blur! But the real washing isn't being done. Just do steady steady for a minute or two and you're done!

4) If you add bleach to your wash, make it a tiny amount. You won't believe the effect even a little has! For a load of all whites, try one TEASPOON of bleach. Then, if you would like some fabric softener (nice for jeans and towels that tend to dry a little stiff on the line) add a TEASPOON of it to the rinse.

5) READ your bottles of laundry products! My first mistake was using a concentrated liquid detergent that was 2x normal strength. When the chart says to add 2 Tablespoons of detergent, if you're using a concentrated liquid that is 2x, you only add 1 Tablespoon! Same with those concentrated fabric softeners like Downy. If it's 2x, add half what you need.

6) When spin drying - be sure to balance the load when you put in the clothes. The instructions say to spiral the clothing like a snake to keep it in the middle, but I've found sort of folding it back and forth into the dryer balances it really nicely. You'll know immediately if it's unbalanced - it knocks rather than hums, and you must open it up and reposition the clothes.

I added a few inexpensive things to complete my laundry room -

- A plastic dishpan (to catch the water coming out of the spin dryer) $2 at Walmart
- A set of measuring spoons (for detergent, fabric softener, bleach) $1.50 at Walmart
- A plastic quart size cup (an empty plastic cup left over from a soda purchase)
- A timer (after I realized that when I counted a minute it was much faster than a real minute) $6 at Walmart

And a dryer rack. I bought this one first:

It's a very nice, chrome dryer rack. It was $25 plus shipping from Amazon.

Since then I've found these wooden racks

$19 plus shipping on Amazon's website and I found some also at Walmart. The ones at Walmart are $10 each but they can be a little hard to find in stock. I had to check 3 around my area to find some, and I bought the last 2 they had for my daughter.

It's really nice to have a couple extra racks on hand for times when you have quite a bit to catch up on (the washing/spinning dry only takes a few minutes and you'll fill up a rack very fast) or if you're washing larger items. The racks fold up flat and take very little room to store.

I have successfully washed my queen sized sheets in the Wonder Wash! One sheet in one load (2 minutes) and the other sheet in the next load (2 minutes). Laying them out across two racks makes it easy to dry them in a short time.

Just for fun - do you know how to fold a shirt like a ninja? I learned this years ago and can whip through a pile of shirts like a hot knife through butter! A couple of seconds per shirt and they look professionally folded.

Learn to fold a shirt fast here.

Enjoy! While everyone else is doing load after load the "old fashioned way" in water and fuel hogging washers and dryers (at 20 minutes per wash cycle, 20 minutes or more per dryer cycle) you're done with your wash in minutes!

Now go outside and play!

Update - Just had to mention - it's been 4 months now using the WonderWash and I just finished ONE bottle of laundry detergent!!! Using a tablespoon or two at a time to wash your clothes really makes the soap last, and the money! By now I would have bought and used at least 3 bottles with the automatic washer, I'm sure. Still on the first bottle of fabric softener, and first (small) bottle of bleach. :)

How to Quiet a Hyper or Energetic Dog Using a Backpack

2011-06-12T13:22:00.000-06:00

My little Rat Terrier now has his very own backpack!

I've been hearing about the benefits of doggie backpacks for some time now. If you listen to Cesar Millan - The Dog Whisperer - you'll hear him recommend dog backpacks at times.

This is a portion of the backpack page at Fun Stuff for Dogs:

How to Burn Off Pent-Up Energy in Small & Big Dogs with a Backpack

Pent-up energy can result in anxiety behaviors such as destructive chewing, barking, aggression toward animals or people, jumping or hurling themselves at doors or people, running in circles, and many other behaviors.

To manage high-energy dogs, put a backpack on the dog and fill it with something. For some dogs, the feeling of being "wrapped" in the backpack has a calming effect; these dogs do not require a breaking-in period to get used to it. However, if you feel your dog needs to get used to it, walk him or her first in the empty backpack.

Cesar Milan puts equal weights in each side of the backpack (a bottle of water, can of soda, jar of pickles, or whatever is appropriate to the dog's size). He lets the dog carry the load on a regular walk. For many dogs, this gives the dog a sense of purpose (Milan said in one episode of The Dog Whisperer, "That dog is going to take those pickles somewhere!"). It also helps them burn off pent-up energy in a constructive and physically active way.

I've seen this done successfully on The Dog Whisperer tv show. I have a wonderful little Rat Terrier named Cody. He's a high energy dog but thanks to Cesar he's a well trained walker. We walk nearly everyday in the park nearby and he is very good on the leash. He walks calmly beside me but he does tend to pull ahead or suddenly veer off for an interesting smell or tree. I correct him and he does great, but he always inches up ahead, wanting to take over the lead and always wanting me to go faster.

Adding weight gives a 15-minute walk the impact of a 45-minute walk. That's a really important bit of information if you have a high energy dog or if your time is limited and you still want to make sure your dog gets a good physical workout.

I finally ordered him a backpack - and here he is modeling:

Isn't he adorable? :)

I ordered this backpack through Amazon - The brand is Outward Hound (heehee) and the seller I bought from is PPE Pet Supplies. They shipped so fast it was amazing!

I chose this brand because of the quick release feature and the size and shape of the pack. This one seemed to be up higher and not hang down - important for a small dog - and it has nice pads for comfort. The harness attaches easily with 3 snap on buckles, then the pack attaches with velcro to the harness. You can leave them together all the time and treat the whole thing as one unit, or if you're out on a long hike you can easily pull off the pack and let the dog rest (leaving the harness on so you don't have to fool with taking it all the way off at each rest stop).

It arrived yesterday and I immediately put it on Cody. He slinked away at first but I kept telling him how cool this was and how important he would be as a Working Dog and he quickly stood still and patiently let me adjust the straps to fit him. He wore the pack around inside the house for 10 minutes or so and then we took it back off. He got a biscuit so the whole thing was positive and he was beaming from the attention.

Today was our Maiden Voyage - going out for a real walk. Cody happily ran up and stood to have the pack put on him (which thankfully goes on very easily. I'm sure if it was a difficult or laborious process to get it on, the dog will tire of standing still and it will not be a good experience). I decided that his main job would be to carry my water bottle for me on our walk, so I put a small 12 oz water bottle in the pouch on one side. I had poured out some water so it weighed 8 oz. Then I put another water bottle - same weight - on the other side to balance him out evenly. The pack itself weighs 10 ounces plus 16 ounces of water in the two bottles. Cody weighs 24 pounds (a bit overweight at the moment). I was guessing at the weight and what would be appropriate for him. He obviously wasn't weighed down, was anxious to go and I decided to watch him along the way for signs of fatigue. I also planned to use water for both of us to drink along the walk, which would lighten his load as he grew a bit tired.

The difference was immediate! Right out of the door he was a different dog. No matter how many times you would have told me, I would never have believed this unless I saw it for myself!

Cody stood still and waited for me to close the door and get going. He walked alongside me. We turned the corner on the sidewalk and he stayed ALONGSIDE ME. For the entire walk he was either alongside me (slightly back) or trailing me by 6 inches to a foot. The leash was slack in my hand for the entire walk. The park is less than a block away, so when we enter it he always makes mad dashes to the trees and it's a battle of wills much of the time as he insists on checking "peemail" on each and every tree that we pass. Not today! He steadily padded along beside me. Only about 50% through the walk did he pause one time to pee. And I believe it's actually because he needed to pee, not just the sniffing and socializing and exchanging peemail thing that he'll do on each tree if I let him.

He looked content, quiet, happy. He honestly held himself with more importance. With purpose! I never would have believed it. It was obvious that his mind was on his job and his job was carrying the water for me. Normally he motivates me to walk faster and faster. I slow him down when I become aware of it but sometimes I just enjoy the motivation and we have a fast workout. Today I was walking at least 30% SLOWER than ever. And he was keeping a good constant, never wavering pace. Normally we have a good fast walk that lasts 30 to 45 minutes. Today we had a slower paced walk that lasted 25 minutes. The last 10 minutes or so he was trailing me a bit and not as perky so I took that as the beginning of fatigue and we cut the trail short and headed for home.

Arriving at home he patiently waited to go inside. The minute I took off the backpack he went ZOOM all over the house with a burst of energy - then ran straight for a long drink of water! He was very happy and playful and then headed for his bed and totally crashed! I think he was motionless for an hour and a half! That lets me know it was a very good workout. I don't usually see him tired out unless we've been on an extra long walk.

I am sold - this is a great thing and is really working out for us. I plan to have him wear his pack each day on our walks, then just take him to the dog park across town once a week or so to run free with his buddies. Now I'm considering buying ankle weights for myself to intensify the walk! We could both stand to lose a few pounds so this may be the best way yet!

Just found some great additional info here -

(I'm laughing because I was right about the amount of weight so far, and I thought it was my great idea that if Cody carried chilled bottles of water in the summer, he'd stay cooler. :) Looks like that idea is already out there but good to know that I'm on the right track!)

* Put the backpack on without anything in the pockets at first. Let your dog get used to it. Go for 2-4 walks with the backpack empty.
* If your dog is ignoring the backpack after 2-4 walks (many dogs even become eager to put it on once they connect the backpack to a walk), begin adding weight a little at a time. Go by the size of your dog. For our Irish Setter, I started with a 12-ounce bottle of water on each side. For a Cocker Spaniel, I would start with an orange or something of similar weight.
* Be sure you have even weight on each side of the backpack.
* Go for 2-4 walks with each weight before adding more. Keep the first walk with the new heavier weight short; don’t try to do a two-mile hike if you’ve just added weight.
* Do not add more than 10% of your dog’s own weight to the backpacks. For a 25-lb dog, don’t add more than two and a half pounds total (a pound and a quarter on each side).
* In the summertime, larger dogs can haul chilled bottles of water. This can help cool the dog.
* Owners of small dogs sometimes use beans to add weight to their dogs’ packs. Beans conform to the dog’s body, making the load comfortable. Plus, you have good control over exactly how much weight you add, and can add more in small increments.

NOW, looking around at what else do I feed that isn't doing any work around here? Let's see, the worms are busy turning garbage into compost.... the little people are doing laundry... you know, that hamster doesn't do much except run in his wheel and look adorable. Hmmm, maybe he could carry my salt and pepper on the next hike...

EEEEK - Worms - Tragic Setback

2009-08-08T13:14:00.003-06:00

EEEEEK! I inadvertently killed off some of my worms!! :(

It's true, and through my own stupidity. I had a bowl of scraps that I was gathering while cleaning the kitchen. It was destined for my worms, of course. And that night we had made something we don't normally make - popcorn. There was some left in a bowl and it went into the scraps and that went into the top tray and .... well the next day the top tray was very very quiet. I investigated and sure enough, worm bodies were found. :(

I couldn't figure out what had happened until I went backwards in my head and realized the popcorn was the only 'new' item and then realized salt and then.... AWwwww. :( Poor worm buddies. I didn't mean them any harm, that's for sure.

The good news is that the top tray was relatively new. It was the one that I was using as a buffer to keep fruit flies at bay, and there weren't many worms up there yet. I checked the bottom trays and they are still bustling with activity and healthy worms. So it seems that just removing the top tray, dumping the contents and relayering it should do the trick. Hopefully the worms from below will come back up and find it safe and cozy and all will continue.

Doggoneit. One slip like that and you can lose your whole community! I got off lucky this time.

Worms Update - Fruit Flies and Adding 2nd Tray

2009-06-07T17:04:00.006-06:00

"Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana."
—Groucho Marx

For the last few weeks I've been noticing tiny fruit flies around the worm composter. Mostly little black dots on the wall behind it, and some in my face when I open it up. NOT a good thing! I read in my book that fruit flies are one of the biggest problems, and there are a couple of ways to try and fix it. The best way is to add another layer to the whole composter. Add moist leaves and/or shredded paper in a thick layer on top of any processing trays. Fruit flies tend to give up easily and won't fly through and out of that layer.

It's just over 2 months since I first started my worm composter, and I've been putting off adding the second layer anyway so I realized it is definitely time! In a new tray I added a little food in one corner, then about 3 or 4 inches of moistened dry leaves and a few more inches of moist shredded paper. Over top I laid the usual moistened newspaper (4 or 5 sheets thick).

It's been a couple of days now since I added the new tray and I have noticed a major reduction in fruit flies! I still see a couple, but NOTHING like before. I really think it worked.

Now I'm seeing some adventurous worms making their way upward and into the new tray, so obviously that second tray is my new working tray. I'm leaving the bottom one alone until they're all done with it and leave it, or it's all compost and ready to be added to the garden.

Since the 2nd tray is now my main working tray, I think I may need to add a third tray that is full of only the leaves and shredded paper, then just add food to the 2nd tray. That gives me one full tray on top all the time that is full of bedding matter only (no food) and should make certain that no fruit flies get out.

Another interesting note - today I drained off compost tea - the 'leachate' run off from the bottom. I turned the spout thinking maybe I'd have a little, and I filled this plastic container over four times!

I diluted it 50/50 and added it to my houseplants and mostly to my tomato plants outside. I have some potted flowers outside that got some too.

I have to say, there is a real cathartic effect of using certain junk mail as fiber for the worms. When you get some cheesy offer for a high interest credit card.... rip into strips, dampen and feed it to the worms! :) It's really very satisfying!

Worms are happy, I'm happy, so far so good!

Good Walk with Dog and Backpack

2009-05-17T15:46:00.001-06:00

Just got in from a good walk with Mr. Cody and his backpack. It's 82 degrees here and we walked briskly for 45 minutes.

BOY I wish I'd had one of these backpacks many years ago!! Cody has never been a bad dog on the leash but now he's the dream dog! Got stopped by several people asking about it... he is calm, focused, when we're done walking he's actually tired and very calm around the house for the rest of the day. WOW! I even let go of the leash without breaking stride so see what he would do. In a busy public park on Sunday - with kids and noise and other dogs around us.... he never left my side and never broke stride. I'm loving my dog and my backpack!

New - Better Worms for Composting !

2009-04-25T17:30:00.000-06:00

My little guys are doing very well - I finally saw the little cocoons that Brad (from Colorado Earthworms) was telling me to watch for. He said, "The cocoons are very small and look kind of like a lemon, once you start to see those you will notice little guys everywhere, the worms will lay an egg a week and each on can hold several young. Once they get to that point you are going to notice your compost disappearing a little faster." I was shy about disturbing the mass in my working tray and just wasn't sure what I was looking for but now I see them! And I see lots of little new wigglers!

Now, here's something interesting. Brad has been experimenting with European Crawlers, another type of worm. They are much larger, and really go to town on the compost. He started a little experiment with 300 worms in a bucket to see how much they will consume in a month. I told him to let me know the results, and I just heard back - sounds like these are a very good composting worm!

Brad says "I just checked on my little test, Amazing! Those little guys turned 12 cups of peat moss into castings in 2 weeks! I still need to sift it out but at first glance all the worms look fat and happy and the castings have replaced most of the contents of the bucket. I think if someone is looking to just make castings for the garden this is the way to do it. I bet if I took 10 buckets of peat moss I could have 10-20 pounds of castings in a very short time. Neat stuff."

Feeding My Worms

2009-04-13T22:42:00.001-06:00

I'm very happy and have to say that things are going better than expected with the Worm Factory! MORE importantly, my little worm buddies are very happy! Happy worms mean productive worms, and that means worms that STAY IN THEIR BIN!

I have read (several times) cover to cover the great booklet that came with my Worm Factory (from Colorado Earthworms). It's very informative and most importantly, tells you just what you need to do in order to get a good result. No more, no less. If you want to dive into worm living and worm breeding and worm history, you can find much more in the book "Worms Eat My Garbage"

One interesting thing I learned this week - I read online that worms don't like vibration and they won't be happy if they're kept in a heavy vibration area. Ah - that makes sense. Anyone who enjoyed the cult classic movie, 'Tremors', knows about worms and vibrations!

I was pretty concerned at first after reading repeated warnings to not overfeed, to keep the tray moist but not too wet or you'll drown the poor little worms. It seemed there was quite alot that could go wrong, so I peeked in once or twice a day and I hovered.

It's a good thing to chop up food into small pieces, but I don't take extra time or much effort to do this. I did put my egg shells on a cookie sheet for a little while in the oven to dry out and then ran a rolling pin across them. I used to do this regularly to feed my chicken flock, so it's fun to return to this habit. It allows the eggshells to break down easier and to be more easily processed.

We eat quite a few grapefruit and I was a bit sad to read that citrus is a no-no for worms. There is an ingredient that will kill the little wigglers, so the citrus has to go elsewhere. I've read conflicting views on coffee and tea... mostly coffee grounds and tea leaves are seen as perfect worm food but one source says it will cause the worm bin to become too acidic. I've been adding my jasmine green tea leaves daily and so far they're being received well.

A few other no-no foods - No dairy or meat, and although I've read that processed food is acceptable I would think it can't be very good for worms. It's not good for humans, and adding a bunch of chemical food additives to our nice, organic worm bin seems counter-productive. So I'm sticking to veggies trimmings and scraps, tea leaves, banana peels, a little leftover oatmeal. Along with leaves, some strips of junk mail paper, a few moistened paper towels. I have noticed that I'm throwing less away.

Here are my findings that have reassured me All is Well in my worm bin.

- The first couple of piles of food are obviously decomposing and the worms are actively involved in them.

- I added some nice old leaves from under the trees, moistened. Those seem to be well received. There have been a few worm parties in the leaves so far.

- There is no odor from the bin, or even when I open it to peek in. A nice damp earthy smell is all.

- The worms are active, they've burrowed down and are hardly visible at all, and I think I heard singing.

So far so good!

Update - 5/15/09 - Worms are bigger, more of them, happy. I believe I'm creating a Super Worm colony since I put alot of Jasmine Green Tea leaves in every day out of my teapot! Wooohooo!

Adding Worms to the Vermicomposter

2009-04-04T20:16:00.000-06:00

(Vermicomposter is a fancy word for Worm Bin. I thought I'd try to look smart today....)

They're here! Today the worms arrived to their new home!

I lifted the lid and pulled back the layer of moist newspaper that is on top of the tray.

Looks nice and moist and there's been significant breakdown of the veggie scraps and chopped banana peel that I added a week ago.

We slowly placed the worms on the bedding.

The booklet says it can take a week or so for them to adapt to their new environment.

A big pile of wiggly worms! Now our only concern is - will they get out?? eeek. I've been researching the possibilities and here's what I've learned:

Worms like it dark and hate the light. So leave a light on in the room and they won't venture out of the vermicomposter. That's what they say anyway. If I come into my kitchen some morning to find worms dangling from the ceiling, you'll hear me yell from coast to coast, and I'm not usually frightened by these things. I just would prefer that they stay put!

Choosing the right kind of worm seems to be essential. An antecdote in the booklet tells of a man who collected earthworms from his garden to put into his vermicomposter, and they just refused to stay inside. Earthworms require a different habitat and different food, so there was nothing there to make them want to stay around.

I bought my vermicomposter AND live worms from Colorado Earthworms. They sold me red wigglers - also known as Eisenia Fetida, which is a stout little species that's most suitable for the vermicomposter. It processes vast amounts of food, has a rapid reproduction cycle, and hopefully has a charming personality. From the ones I spoke with as I was adding them to their new home, I'd say they do.

Stuff I've learned already that surprised me:

- First is the different species of worms (see above) and realizing that these little guys are better for the vermicomposter but won't be as happy being set free in the garden. Earthworms burrow in the soil and do much better out there.

- Every 3 months red wigglers in the vermicomposter are expected to double in population! Each tray can hold about 3 pounds of worms, or about 3,000 worms. It's really better to not think about that. Since they're inside the house and all...

- Worms don't eat garbage directly. More like bacteria and oxidation breaks down the food matter, and when the particles are small enough, worms suck the food through their mouth.

- It takes some time to create good, useable compost tea and or worm compost from this system. Approx 3 - 6 months before one tray may be ready to add nice dark compost to the garden.

- Worms don't eat as much food as we'd originally thought. I had hoped the vermicomposter would use up my veggie scraps and tea leaves, etc on a daily basis. Instead I will be adding 2 handfuls of food scraps at a time to each working tray, most likely every 3 days or so. That means alot of scraps will still need to go outside into the usual compost pile.

"Are you SERIOUSLY going to keep these worms

INSIDE

the

HOUSE???"

How to Setup a Composting Worm Bin System

2009-03-26T12:10:00.000-06:00

It's here! My Worm Factory arrived! There are 3 Main Sections of Setup - assembling the bin itself, creating the bedding, and adding the worms. I finished parts 1 and 2 in 30 minutes. Now to wait a week or so before it's ready to add the worms.

First, assembling the unit:

Unpacking my box, I have:
- a Collection Tray,
- several Holding Trays,
- a Base,
- a Lid that cleverly has the tips and info printed right on it (easy to refer to), - a bag with small parts (bolts and nuts and a spigot and knob),
- a 16 page instruction book,
- shredded paper
- and a brick of something called "coir".

I start off here in the living room, so you can see there's no mess to worry about.

The first step is to place the holding tray over the base tray and attach them with a bolt at each corner.

This is very easy - the holding tray has a mesh bottom and the base has a mesh top already, so no need to drill holes or anything. Just twist the bolts by hand.

Next, I set the collection tray down into the holding tray (attached now to the base) and aligned the spigot holes. I found the spigot and large plastic nut in the parts bag, inserted the spigot through holes and screwed the plastic nut onto the back to hold it in place. To 'assemble' the lid you just put the knob over the hold and put the screw through and tighten. That took all of 3 seconds.

What I learned next is that when you use the vermicomposter, you add one tray at a time. So for now I only need to set one tray in place.

That's it for installation and assembly! My worm factory is up and ready to be filled!

Now to Create the Bedding.

First I lined the bottom of that empty working tray with 3 or 4 sheets of dry newspaper. I have some newpaper that's never been printed on (end rolls of blank paper from the newspaper office) and used it, but real newspaper is fine. The ink isn't a problem. Now to make the tray bedding.

The instructions said to soak the block of coir in a container with 3 quarts of water until it breaks apart and is moist.

What is coir? Turns out it's made from a part of the coconut husk and is highly absorbent. There's a wonderful photo essay on coir here if you'd like to really dig in. I put my coir block into a bucket and added the 3 quarts of water, thinking I'd have to pour it off later or somehow remove the water.

Instead, the block immediately broke apart and soaked up ALL of the water, faster than a sponge! The instructions say to wring out excess water but there just wasn't any.

This solid, hard block turned into wonderful, crumbly thick moist bedding material in just a couple of minutes.

The next part may prove to be a challenge:

You need to find a cup of active compost. I didn't anticipate this step, but the instructions said if you don't have an active compost pile or garden, use decayed leaf litter from beneath shrubs. It was about 10:00 at night but I grabbed my handy crank flashlight and jacket and ran out to dig under the bushes. I came up with a bit more than a cup of decent decayed leaf litter.

I mixed the crumbled, moist coir with the decayed leaf litter and then earthdad helped me spread it on top of the newspapers in the working tray.

Lovely!

Now it's time to add 2 handfuls of food scraps to one corner of the working tray. On the lid of the worm factory there are tips for what kind of scraps are good. Chopping them up makes them break down faster and become food so I used small pieces of chopped asparagus, some lettuce and cabbage, some chopped banana peels. (avoid citrus)

You then cover the food and fill the tray with 2-3 inches of dry, shredded newspaper.

Then take 3 or 4 full sheets of newspaper and wet it.

Cover the shredded paper with the moist newspaper sheets. (Again, I'm using unprinted newspaper from an end roll just because it was handy. Regular newspaper is fine.)

Place the lid over the material in the working tray. Store your remaining trays for future use, and leave your material in the working tray to work. It needs to break down for about a week before you introduce your little squirmy buddies into their new home!

Added Note: After rereading the instructions I realized that I should have combined the coir mixture with the shredded paper before I spread it on the tray (to start the paper breaking down faster). I later went in and mixed it up better.

I ordered my Worm Factory from Colorado Earthworms. They are close by so I'm going to go pick up my worm buddies soon. Stay tuned!

Coming Soon - WORMS EAT MY GARBAGE

2009-03-21T03:04:00.001-06:00

The Worm Factory Vericomposter is coming soon! It's been ordered! It will be set up for a week in advance before adding the worms. Should be interesting!

Bookmark this page to check back and see the photos and learn all about keeping worms right in your kitchen to eat your food scraps and junk mail!

Time to read my book - Worms Eat My Garbage by Mary Appelhoff