Worms Eat My Compost

Thank you to Sabine with the Seattle Urban Farm Co-op who got me started with some new worms from her own backyard bin. By changing a few small things our worms are much happier and thriving in their new home.
I have  added bedding on top of the vegetable scraps as well as two large pieces of wet cardboard, and have let the whole Worm Inn stay out in the rain. A large amount of fruit has been added but with the additional bedding and cooler weather fruit flies are at a minimum.  Hoping to have our first harvest of worm casings in the next month or so!

Funeral March

To put it bluntly, the worms are dead. A series of mistakes led to the untimely death of 1 pound of red wigglers over a 1 week period. The following led to their demise:

• No bedding on top of worms. A layer of moist bedding should have been placed over the top of the worms and pulled back to add food each day then replaced. The bedding got worked into the mix over time and I didn't replace it causing the worms to get dry and expose them to the elements.
• They starved. Most vermicomposting information suggests that you weigh your food scraps for 1 week prior to getting started so that you have a good idea what 1/2 pound of food scrap per day looks like. We go through so much food scrap that I skipped this essential step an instead added food scrap as it was produced. When the funky smell started in the worm inn I found about half of the worms were stringy and thread thin in the middle.
• They might have been exposed to a bit of direct sunlight...a major problem for creatures used to living in the dark damp earth.

It is upwards of 90 degrees here now and I am at am conflicted about getting more worms at this point as they need to stay cool and would be moved inside the house. 

Welcome Home

The worms finally arrived last week. I soaked shredded newspaper in water for the bedding and placed it in the worm inn before placing our new 'pets' inside. I decided to give them a night to get used to the surroundings before introducing compost. When I went to check on them in the morning about a dozen or so worms had escaped out the bottom and were floating in the receptacle bucket-thankfully still alive! Apparently I had made 2 mistakes: not adding enough bedding, and not cinching the bottom of the worm inn tight enough.

A few days in and I think they are happy. I have added vegetable cuttings twice and I think they are eating them-a little difficult to discern when there are newspaper shreds, dirt, worms and vegetable matter all mixed together. We won't have enough worm poop to add to the garden for a couple of months so we are trying to be patient and let the worms do their thing.

Hopefully no more escapees!

The Great Worm Experiment

The Great Worm Experiment

Twice a year we do the seasonal cleanse at our practice. This Spring we had a particularly eager group who were mostly new to eating organic, local, and seasonal food. I participated in the cleanse (and will do another in June), and was inspired to start some new projects that I have been mulling over for some time. I have started my first organic vegetable garden, am making my own homemade yogurt and alfalfa sprouts, have installed a shower timer to cut down on water usage, and lastly I have decided to give worm composting a try.

After much online research I decided that worm composting (vermicomposting) would be fun for my boys to participate in and would feed my growing garden while cutting down on the food waste we add to our yard waste bin (to be turned into compost by Cedar Grove and sold back to me as a consumer!).

There are various options to house the worms including: open bins, closed drawer style bins, and flow through systems. I went with the flow through system after reading reviews and other blogs and purchased a container through The Worm Dude.

We are all set up in the garage and just waiting for the worms to be delivered today!

I will be blogging about our experience with our new friends.

More soon...

Dr. Wada (and family)

Bootcamp recap

Tomorrow is the final day of the 4 week boot camp we signed up for as part of our ongoing research in weight loss and healthy living. Three days a week we have been getting up and driving to Renton at 5:15am for a 1 hour workout with a trainer. There are a number of different boot camp workouts offered in the area, we chose Victory Get Fit Club because they offer a women only camp and because it is taught by a fantastic trainer named Marissa Mancke.
Week one was brutal. A combination of the early hour and the intensity of the workout left us both completely nauseated and sore! By week two the nausea had improved and we were getting used to waking up at 4:45am. By the end of the second week I felt a big positive shift in my energy level and mood. Now, four weeks into our journey I feel much more energized and fit and have come close to accomplishing my fitness goals (we have final measurements tomorrow).
I am so happy that we have done the program and would highly recommend it to anyone needing to jump start their exercise program and do something to really challenge yourself.

Sound Natural Medicine Babies

Chronic Fatigue with Gall Bladder Disease

Patient Testimonial

I first visited Dr. Lisa Wada after 5 months of invasive testing by 6 different doctors.  I was suffering from what felt like the flu for several months.  No individual could find anything wrong with me and it came to the point that I figured this flu and fatigue I was feeling could be all in my head (which was also suggested to me by two doctors).

I went to visit Dr. Wada after I thought maybe it possibly was something I was eating so wanted to see a naturopath and nutritionist.  After 30 minutes with Dr. Wada, she diagnosed my problem and blood tests later confirmed my diagnosis of Epstein Barr Virus and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.  Dr. Wada listened to me and looked at my symptoms in a different way than all the other professionals I had seen.  She truly delved into exactly I was feeling and found out that I was at my last rope.

After some time Dr. Wada wasn’t content with my progress and she kept asking me about my gall bladder as she thought that it maybe was the root of the evil in my body.  I had had 3 tests done on my gall bladder by other doctors, but at her insistence I went to a gastric doctor who took Dr. Wada’s advice and took a closer glance at the gall bladder.  Two weeks later I had my gall bladder removed.  I never would have pressed the issue if it hadn’t been for Dr. Wada’s recommendation.

Dr. Wada is kind, caring, and takes the time to really understand her patients.  She has changed my life as I am a calmer person, am off several medications that I had been taking for years, and am on the road to recovery.  I call her my “Dr. Angel” because I truly believe she saved my life as I was going 100 miles and hour and had amazingly high levels of stress which only exacerbated my virus.  I can’t say enough about the doctor that has helped me through so much.  She is truly a brilliant physician.

S.Short June 2009