We Started with Worms (Austin)

I had done a lot of reading about homesteading and self-sufficiency for a while before I realized that I felt the call to do it. But when I felt God's purpose for me take a turn towards this path we're on, I
knew I wanted to start a garden. Living in a tiny apartment in a college town, I didn't have the space of my own but was able to locate the Cedar Falls Community Gardens without much problem. However, all this came to me in the start of the winter so I had a while to wait. But I wanted to do something while I waited.
So I bought two black plastic tubs, filled one with damp newspaper shreds and some potting soil, and ordered some worms. Worms can easily be bought online and shipped right to you, and that's exactly what I did. These red wrigglers are not the same as the earthworms you find in your yard, and they are considered to be the best composting worms around right now. If I recall my figures correctly, they can consume about five times their weight in food per week. So since I bought one pound of worms, they can handle about five pounds of food per week.
We are very happy with them. If you look in the photo above, you can see the nice black compost that they produce. We still only use one of the two containers because we don't produce that much organic waste yet, but the second tub is there to help separate the worms when this batch of compost is done.
Both tubs have holes in the bottom. This allows for drainage of "worm tea" and rainwater, but also helps when moving worms. If you stop putting food into a bin that's full of ready-to-use compost, you can put food in the second tub and stack it on top of the compost in the first container. The worms will travel up the holes in the bottom to pursue the food, and then you will have a container of compost that no longer has worms in it. It's a pretty ingenious system.
If you're curious about worms, compost, our system, or have any stories of your own, feel free to let us know. We would love to share what we've learned with you!

Lauren makes sure the potatoes are cut so the worms can digest them easier