Moving into the Worm Wigwam

The worms made the big move from their bins to the Wigwam yesterday. As the directions explain, the Worm Wigwam is different in that you keep feeding the worms and layering bedding, over and over and over again on top, until the whole mountain of worms and bedding and food and poo gets near the top. Then you crank the magic handle, and the poo falls out the bottom. (The hope is all the worms have migrated up with the fresh food each time and don't get cranked out.)

First, with the help of my trusty husband, we mixed up a big bin of peat moss and shredded newspaper for the bedding with lots and lots of water. About a half a bale/bunch of peat moss seems to hold about two watering cans full of water.

Next, we put in four layers of newspaper pages on the grate at the bottom then about six inches of the bedding. We loaded in the worms on top, just basically pulling them out in clumps from their bins. Then a little more bedding, then a little food mush, then some more bedding. Quite a production.

So the finished bin with everything looked something like a giant mulchy mountain in a big green barrel.

The worms crawled right into the new bedding, no problem.

I noticed a rescue mission was needed in the old bins, as not only were a few smaller, faster, friskier, slippier worms still in there, but also tons of little worm cocoons.

Crazy how you find things just when you need them- I used a thick blue straw off a souvenir mug from America's Favorite Traditional Amusement Park, with the top cut off into a little spoons shape, to scoop out the worm cocoons- sigh- one at a time.

I've got through two bins so far, and it is a snoozer of an activity. Plenty of time to think about environmentally friendly endeavors!

Speaking of which- I got logo options from a fantastic graphic designer yesterday. It was exciting to see some visual interpretations of Lilliworm, and it jump started my brain in terms of what else I might be able to accomplish with my environmentally friendly endeavors. Hopefully in the next few posts, I'll be able to pick a logo that gives the perfect look and feel to Lilliworm!

Big Digs

First- the castings I used on my flowers are working GREAT. I planted perennial bulbs in four pots and more around the sides of the house- ALL of them are coming up! If it ever quits raining, I can go out and take some pics to prove it. I may need to retreat to an ark soon.

Second- if you didn't go to the Venture Outdoors Festival, you missed a great time. I bought an environmentally-conscious Keen bag real cheap to lug all my stuff to work, me & the hubby & the poochie got to take a kayak ride, we got a free sycamore tree to plant courtesy of the Allegheny Land Trust, and learned about a sustainable feast and hiking challenge on the Rachel Carson Trail.

Finally- I got my new Worm Wigwam set up today!

A few concerns I have about the worms' new BIG DIGS: the instructions say its best to start with 20 lbs. of worms- about 10 lbs. less than I have right now- so I'm just gonna pray for an active next few weeks in the worm love department.

Next, my current bins are real contained- specifically, they have screened tops so I don't have to worry about unwanted visitors. The Wigwam looks like there might be potential for intruders- nothing big, just a few cracks/gaps that I'll have to cover with the extra screen just to be safe.

On the productive business front, I've been collecting advice and edits on my slowly growing business plan and I'm looking forward to picking a logo and working on some web copy soon soon soon.

Attitude is Everything- Even With Worms

I met with a team of fantastic people last week for 'business counseling' through Pitt. They encouraged me to start small at first (as I was hoping they would) and gave me a short list of tasks to complete before we meet again. I liked that they were reasonable, inquisitive, and open-minded to worms and environmentally friendliness as a business idea. Not one eye roll or sigh in the bunch.

I don't mean to turn this into a personal development entry, but it really helps to keep a positive attitude and take one step each day toward my goal of starting an environmentally friendly worm business. Even if its just a tiny bitty step, at least I am headed in the right direction.

Worms have taught me there's so much I don't know about so many things- but lucky for me, I have every day to learn it and plenty of willing teachers.

Speaking of worms- a fifth bin has now been occupied! Hooray for progress.

I screened the castings I harvested so far, too. I put the nice soft screened stuff in a giant super-tall recycled bucket, and put the left overs in an old coffee container to use on my own flowers. Those wormies are eating so fast now, I'm sure that bucket will be filled in no time. I fed the five bins two full worm bowls of scraps, plus a half head of lettuce and a giant bunch of grapes, all expertly processed into a slushy-looking, interesting-smelling scrap shake. Yum.

Back To School

I went to a helpful class last week sponsored by the SBDC at the University of Pittsburgh to help me write a better business plan. I got a little worried because they were talking so "big"- like about borrowing thousands upon thousands and financing short-term vs. long-term and square footage and use tax and employees and trademarks and....UGH!

To boot, they said six out of ten businesses fail within the first four years- mainly due to underestimating start up costs and overestimating profits.

All this made me think small. Like:
-focusing more getting my worms a bigger more productive home that can still fit in my basement
-getting them a few new consistent food sources and ordering some small packaging
-getting a cool logo and website designed that I can maintain
All that, and I don't want lose my focus of being an earth-friendly endeavor.

Some people jump into business with both feet, sign their savings away, and trust their business to employees they don't know guided by an unproven plan.

Stay tuned for a business that grows just like a worm bin: slowly but surely and almost all by itself!

Worm work

The worms have been multiplying like rabbits. I think it has something to do with the intense chopping up of the organic scraps by the new processor. I mentioned getting a little food processor for their food a few weeks ago, but a great friend from work one-upped me with my own worms by handing down a mega size food processor to me.

I'm telling you, this new processor could tear up metal scraps if it had to- plus, the glass bowl you load the scraps into is about three times as big as mine, which is huge time saver. Not that the worms were taking up so much of my time anyway!

Business plan update- I've been emailing some other worm-related businesses to get some advice and whatnot on some businessy stuff, and most are so pleasant and helpful and really give me a warm fuzzy feeling about my idea. But I got a mean response the other day. OK, maybe not mean exactly, but really discouraging and negative. Plus, he tried to sell me something at the end- no kidding!

Poo on him and his disappointing response. With so many other encouraging and positive responses...

Onward and upward!

The Tortoise and the Worms

The new food processor has turned my worms into EATING MACHINES!

They are chomping through their food 2-3 times as fast as before, plus the bins are more fluffy now. I am not sure if because they are able to move and eat faster they are making more little air pockets or what, but the castings look fuller than they used to. I can't wait til I have enough to share, and (eventually) enough to sell.

I have been working on a business plan now for a few weeks, and it's a lot of work. (Not that you want to hear another excuse for me to blog any less about slow moving worms.) I'm truly impressed with people who set out to start their own business and follow through no matter what. It's such hard work and hoop jumping, that I would bet 3/4 of those planning to do it get tripped up right away just looking at the business plan structure, knowing they have to fill all those answers in to make a valid story for their funding and future.

I am pacing myself and tackling one small section each day, sometimes writing just a paragraph and sometimes filling in a whole section in a sitting. There are so many rules, regulations, permits, and licenses with all different departments, you can get overwhelmed real fast.

But it's just like everything else. Take a deep breath. Keep your eye on the prize.

Onward and upward!

I come bearing gifts

With some credit left on Kohl's gift card, the worms got a great gift this past week: a snappy little food processor from Cuisinart.

Not that feeding wasn't a joy for me every time, but it may have been slightly harder on the worms. They don't have any teeth, and I am not the best food musher ever.

But using this new appliance, I was able to grind up four banana peels, several potato peels, strawberry tops, and coffee grinds into quite an interesting gooey mess that was far more palatable (and digestible) for the worms that what I had been giving them in the past- which was some very clumpy scraps with some pretty big chunks that I may have even had a hard time getting down.

In other news, I am going to get started this week on a business plan. I have some great plans for worms, recycling, and my financial future. If you listened to Joel Osteen this morning, you know the message was about setting goals and making plans to succeed.

Well, here goes!