Post #16-- Worm Follow Up

Hi!
The worm bin is doing great!
The first morning I opened the bin and I noticed two things: 1) The worms had indeed grown in size (as promised, they just needed time to rehydrate from their trip) and 2) Some were trying to escape!
I started panicking-- if they were trying to escape, it means something is wrong. I knew the bin wasn't too dry, so maybe it was too wet. Unfortunately, I had to go to school and promised to deal with it when I got home. I simply scooped up all the worms trying to escape and put them back in the middle.

When I arrived home, there were a few worms trying to escape, though not as many. This made me feel better. I scooped up as much bedding as I could and simply turned it over. I was airing it as much as possible, afraid that the bedding was too wet..

The next day we added some coffee grounds and some clementine rinds to the bin... every time I open the bin to either deposit material or check on the worms, there are always a few squiggling around on the sides... but it has been observed by many sources that I have gathered information from that worms like to hang out on the sides of the bin a lot... perhaps they just went up too far?? Hmm... Then I realized that this must be the case-- the bedding simply felt damp... I really didn't think it could be too wet. Then I realized that the worms "trying to escape" in the next few days were not nearly equal the number trying to escape the first day. Maybe they were just unused to their new home! Perhaps it really did need more ventilation like I then provided...

However you decide to say it, the worms seem to be getting along fine, now!
Another reason I know this is because the bin doesn't smell bad at all :) That is definitely a sign of a worm bin with problems... if the bin gives off offensive odors. This means that the bin is too wet or you are putting in the wrong types of food (i.e. dairy, meat, etc.) and the worms are unable to fully digest it properly (or some combination, etc.). However, the worm bin smells like... nothing! Okay, it smells faintly of coffee grounds, and you can just barely discern the citrusy smell of the rinds, but other than that it smells like nothing! And the smells I mentioned previously?? Yeah, you can only smell them if you stick your head in the bin. And when the bin is closed? Forget about it-- you can't smell a thing. Which was one of my mom's stipulations: it was not to smell or it would go. I am so happy and excited that we can compost now! And it's working out excellently.

So far we have added the following materials (plus some others, I'm sure):
-Broccoli, coffee grounds, clementine rinds, corn husks, tomato bits and more!!!

I'll be sure to take a picture and put it up soon!