One of my favorite coworkers recently told me she was attending an evening workshop on worm composting. She’s smart, opinionated, and seems like a natural New Yorker...and then out of nowhere she reminds you that she spent a huge part of her life in Oregon and Seattle by talking about worm composting. It’s definitely much more Washington state than New York City!
Have any of you heard about this? From what I gather, you get a bin, some special trash-eatin’ worms, and throw in some garbage. Each day the worms eat their own body weight in coffee grounds and filters, tea bags, leftover food, moldy bread, vegetable peels, etc. Presto-change-o, you have top soil!
This sounds great in theory. I’m hoping to turn my fire escape into a pretty faux balcony with the help of some potted plants, and I guess some top soil would be good for that. But in a small NYC apartment, the increased temptation to rodents, ants, and flies (apparently fruit flies are really drawn to the compost) doesn’t seem worth it.
Have any of you done this?
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Worm Composting
at 11:55 AM
Labels: Everything else
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
I haven't, but I think it's interesting. I have no place to put anything outside, and I agree - the attraction of insects and creepy crawlies/flyers would put me off. But the tree hugger in me would love not to take a bag to the trash every 3 days. Let me know how it turns out, will you?
I saw a segment on Martha about this. David Hyde Pierce was the guest and they were creating compost together. I can't imagine doing it in an apartment.
Nate and I are really interested in composting, but have the opposite problem of you city dwellers - attracting large animals like deer, bears and mountain lions. :) If we ever build a greenhouse on the property (and we hope to), we'll definitely look into the worms.
I've never even heard of it. You know, before now. But it does sound interesting.
great week
Post a Comment