Update on the Worms

Morning, all.

No run for me today. Yesterday was a cut-back long run. I did 7.5 miles in about 1:09, which is about a 9:15-ish pace. I'm not quite back to where I was this time last year, but I'm feeling like my endurance is improving and I'm not running soooo slow. Part of it is that I think I'm figuring out how much I need to eat to be in a bit of a calorie deficit but not be totally exhausted.

A little update on the kitchen composting. After one week of putting about 1/2 of my vegetable kitchen scraps in the compost, I still don't detect any smell. I can't really tell if the worms are "working", but they are still alive. They kind of freak out and dive for the bottom of the bucket when I pull them out into the light, so I can't tell what they are up to in when I put them back in the dark. Hopefully munching on banana peels.

I think I'm going to run out to the garden in a few minutes to collect some carrots for beef stew tonight and some more flowers from my hedge.

Did I mention that on here before? I bought some flower seeds, but they really turned out to be seeds for a hedge with flowers on it. And then it got top heavy and they all fell over! Oops. Just when I think I have 1/4 of a clue what I'm doing, I realize I'm still completely lost.

Anyway, I hope everyone has an awesome Sunday. I may or may not attempt to make marinara sauce on my own this afternoon. I don't think I'll try to can on my own, but I may try to make it and freeze it in baggies. We shall see...

Worm Ranching

After seeing an exhibit about vermicomposting at the Smart House exhibit at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry I decided I was ready to take the plunge and actually set up a worm composting system in our kitchen. Every morning I throw away banana peels and coffee grinds... perfect garden food... and the only thing holding me back was my fear that kitchen composting would stink up the kitchen. Not so with the worms. As long as you don't "overwhelm" them, they turn your kitchen trash into fertile soil smell free.

Here's the worm farm in pictures.

Take one Rubbermaid



Punch some holes in the top (easier said than done)



Put in some starter dirt



And then the stars of the show





In the bucket



Covered with shredded newspaper (I think this is the only thing the Shopper Stopper has ever been good for)



And in the cabinet



To make compost, just add food in the dirt under the newspaper and the worms do the rest. Easy peasy.