Worm Appreciation

When I lived in a townhouse, I tried vermicomposting. I failed, all the time. Putting too much of the same thing in the bin, fussing over it too much, wetting it through, leaving it when I travel, ants, etc.

A farmer friend who gave me my most recent and first batch of thriving-in-captivity (sounds terrible, doesn't it) worms told me (in Tagalog): "I too made a lot of mistakes. At first I kept dumping only mahogany leaves in. They kept dying. But I realized that you have to think like a worm. You have to be a worm."

So I give them a varied diet (including an old unraveled coconut coir doormat that they love to take refuge in). I stopped stressing about the smallest details and gave them food and shelter with water, air, and energy passing freely through. I even did away with a cover.

So I now have a bin of worms, along with all the piles and pits that naturally draw them from the soil.