Monday, March 10, 2008

The Composting Saga


So I really really really want to compost! {Sidebar: It's interesting how my desires have moved from "I need a better haircut and a new Diane Von Furstenberg Dress" to "I need a bucket of worms deposited in my kitchen" in the last few weeks} Our burgeoning landfills are handled horribly, so that even the organic garbage we toss in there doesn't break down as it should because air doesn't get to it. I also want the composted castings stuff for my container garden experiments which should commence in a few weeks! However, I don't want to spend the money on it.

I'm worried I will kill the worms by way of neglect if I do vermicomposting. Using drums for composting outdoors might work out better for me, but they're like 200 dollars each! And there's always the possibility that the undergrads who live in the apartments below will dispose of an old keg in there/use it as a toilet/etc. I suppose I could construct a bin myself from wood, but it'd be stinky and the raccoons might get to it.

So presently, I'm just not composting and feel crap about it. Most of my garbage could be composted because I eat so many fruits and veggies and I'm not buying anything but food since I started this project!

I investigated Boulder's waste management situation and found that we have a composting drop-off location in town. Since I don't have a car however, it's a little far for me to haul my compostables. I have a friend whose apartment complex has a composting bin, and I suppose I could carry my veggie scraps there... but frankly that seems like a lot of work.

So I decided to buy some red wrigler worms and get to business using any cast-off plastic bin my friends would give me. Enter Craigslist - where I found someone in Nederland (the incredibly crunchy town up the mountain) who is willing to give me enough worms to get started for free! HOW COOL IS THAT? Now all I need is a ride up there to get them and someone's old plastic storage container to get started. I'll keep you posted on how this works!

Oh god, starting to panic about actually having to touch worms......

5 comments:

Sharon J said...

The worms I can deal with, it's the bloody slugs that get in there that I hate! I really CANNOT touch them!

Dani said...

Hello. I've found your blog through our apparently mutual friend Lea M-G. I imagine myself becoming a faithful reader since your blog is more or less what I would choose to blog about if I had the discipline to restrain myself to a single subject. Ha.

I began my own vermiculture experiment a month ago and it's been going wonderfully so far. The worms aren't up to processing the volume of veggies I produce yet, so I have a lot of frozen pepper ribs etc. in my freezer.

Another, possibly more attractive container for your worms is a wooden wine crate. Maybe a nice liquor store in your area would give you one or sell you one on the cheap.

Unknown said...

Oh good idea! I'll attempt to ask the liquor store up the street. Goodness knows I'm a good enough customer...

And sharon, there are SLUGS? I think I might need some gloves for this.

joshehr said...

I am very curious about your venture into vermiculture. There are so many benefits to it but I can't/haven't yet brought myself to delve into it as I'm in a second story apartment.

Grad Green said...

I'm excited to see how it goes. I got my worm farm in the mail today (I just can't face dealing with the worms too much) and will be getting the worms soon. I totally agree about how your "needs" change -- new shoes? Nah! Worms.

I hope they're not too freaky.
Love your blog.