Wormhunt 2010 And Some Chicken Chat

I've been behind on blogging lately because I have been on a wormhunt of magnitude proportions.  Kojak style. Old fashioned police work- phone calls, cold calls, google searches...ok google is not so much old fashioned but it replaces the phone book so I'm counting it.

A week ago I bought all the necessary supplies to start a vermincomposting bin...except for the worms.  I figured I could just run into a fish bait store and grab some red wigglers/blood worms.  Red wrigglers are best suited for vermicomposting because they don't mind being contained. *I'll be calling these woms red wigglers instead of blood worms because blood worms is disgusting*

To my surprise, there are NO legit fishing stores near me. "Fishing stores" in Northern Virginia are all hat and no cattle.  They're pretty and high end, not at all like the fishing stores I went to with my grandpa when we went fishing/I went sleepwalking at 4am.  Those ones smelled like fish guts and had coolers upon coolers of worms, ahh, those were the days! If only I'd appreciated the amenities then.

I guess no one is interested in catching the three-eyed, sexually confused, trippin' out on pharmaceuticals and pesticides fish in the Potomac. Tranny fish, it's the wave of the future whether we like it or not! Here's a NatGeo article circa 07' about how Potomac pollution is creating hermaphrodite fish- http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/01/070122-sex-change.html

Second idea- pet stores! People feed reptiles live worms so I called every pet store within 50 miles and discovered that pet stores only carry freeze dried or frozen worms...meh, I need them ALIVE.

Third idea, WAL-MART. I called a worm distributor for the MD area (like I said, this was a serious search) and they suggested I try Wal-Mart because they wouldn't be selling worms until summer. This too was a bust. I trucked all the way out to the megastore only to find that they only sell Nightcrawlers and that's just not what I need. Sorry Nightcrawlers, it's not you, it's me.

Finally, I accepted the fact that I'd have to order worms.  The idea of paying for worms to be shipped when worms are everywhere seemed really rediculous but I do live in a world where we pay for water in bottles that's been shipped across the world so hey, why not worms? That's where Uncle Jim saved the day!

www.unclejimswormfarm.com makes starting a worm composting system easy AND they have free shipping AND they are the nicest people ever because they agreed to ship my worms a day early without flinching.  It's a fact that I love descriptives. Details are the way to my wallet, something Whole Foods realized long ago and apparently clued Uncle Jim in.  I didn't just buy "worms" from Uncle Jim, I bought, "Healthy Red Wrigglers raised in the beautiful Susquehanna Valley of Pennsylvania". SOLD. 2,000 worms please!

SO- why compost with worms you ask? Lemme tell ya bout black goooooold! Worms thrive in a damp environment where vegetables, coffee & tea grounds, eggshells and bread decompose (NO meat or dairy) because they feed on the microrganisms that break down the food.   

Here's where worms are truly magical, their poop/castings contain seven times the microrganisms as the ones they eat! Worm casts also contain five times more nitrogen, seven times more phosphorus, and 11 times more potassium than ordinary soil.  The casts are rich in humic acids, which condition the soil, have a perfect pH balance, and contain plant growth factors similar to those found in seaweed. Which is why worm castings makes for really powerful natural fertilizer referred to as "black gold". 

Below is a photo of spinach seedlings grown in (from left to right) chemical fertilizer, powdered horse manure, vermicompost, and nothing. Pretty amazing!

Regular composting is also referred to as black gold but it's hot and smelly and takes forever.  Using worms is tidy and doesn't smell and is waaay faster. I'm in a hurry to start the process so that I can add the castings to my little seedlings when I do a mass planting in a few weeks. I've started growing some lettuces and peppers indoors but am still, STILL, waiting on a huge seed order I placed to arrive.  From now on I will order seeds in December because I'm not good at waiting on them.

My red wrigglers should get here tomorrow or Saturday and I'm really excited to move them into their new home of moist newspaper bedding.  I made a huge veggie meal tonight and saved all the scraps for them. The 2,000 worms I ordered can eat 1lb of food scraps a day and the worm population should double in a month if they're given enough space and food. I'm hoping to be able to throw a good amount of garden waste at them in the summer so I hope they do double!

My worm compound will be in the laundry room of the house because worms are like humans, they prefer 72 degrees. They get slow in the winter and could die if exposed to mid 80's.

I was going to talk about the type of chicken I've settled on ordering but this worm post took on a life of its own!  I'll keep it short and just say that the Red Star chicken is the way to go.  They are quiet, good in fenced areas, friendly and high production, large egg layers AND people are selling them near me.

Red Star chickens lay brown eggs because their feathers are brown. The feather/egg connection is something I've just learned- fascinating. 

I'm going to build them a warm weather moveable pen as well as a winter house.  It's hilarious to me that their winter house is guaranteed to have more thought and style put into it than the house we'll live in!



Speaking of egg colors, I really want to order Ameraucana chickens at some point because they too are friendly, quiet, egg layers and their eggs are BLUE and GREEN! How cool is that?! Feast your eyes on the chicken of a cool color lover's dream!

I may just have to get both kinds but I have no idea if they can intermingle, if not, I'll have to pick a side because I don't want two big chick McManions.  That has Capulet and Montague feud written all over it! Check out these eggs-

Soooooo pretty! I always loved finding robin's egg shells in springtime as a kid because they are a uniquely gorgeous shade of blue but these pastel hues are just lovely. I had no idea chickens laid blue eggs! We're so sheltered now that grocery stores run the world. I think I owe it to people to sell blue eggs....we'll see.

PS: When I was looking for a Kojak pic I saw this-

This picture stopped me dead in my tracks.  My jaw dropped and I actually rubbed my eyes for a minute. I'm sorry, WHAT?! THAT was the COVER of People magazine at some point in time?? It's amazing how much standards have changed over the past 30years.  You'd NEVER see Telly shirtless, hairy and all necklaced out in THIS decade. NONONO, times have changed Kojak. Enjoy that soft, fuzzy blast from the past!