Our new Worm Box

Remember that time I tried to keep worms?  Remember, it was going to be a really enlightened way to deal with kitchen scraps, except I had no idea what I was doing, and the worms had to live in the basement which was too hot, then too cold, then too wet and somewhere in the middle we unleashed a torrent of fruit flies on out little duplex the horrors of which cannot be imagined. Matt (rightfully) banished the worms outside, where they eventually froze, long before turning any quantity of household waste into dirt.  (So yes, there was a bucket for of frozen, rotting food with worm carcasses on our back porch for much too long.)

Anyway, forget all that.  I've gotten from training in worm handing from an experienced vermiculturist- my mother-in-law. She promised us works and send us hardware, and we just recently put together the box.  Just as I was on the verge of caving and buying new wood, Matt decided we could put a box together out of old pallets, and found a bunch being given away. I was all enthusiasm until I realized how hard it is to break apart pallets. Matt soldiered on an knocked together a mighty nice looking box, complete with a fairly solid looking recycled lid (and hinges!).  This weekend, as part of our Mother's Day exchange, we took home a box of worms and some starter stuff for worms.  They got settled in their in the box yesterday (Fig 1).

Fig 1. The new Worm box, made of re-purposed pallets.

So let's discuss some of the design improvements of the current box.
1) It has no bottom.  It will drain directly into the soil, the only barrier is a wire hardware cloth, which keeps out mice.
2) Wood is more breathable than plastic. The moisture thing was a serious issue for the last worms, because they were sealed in a sweaty plastic coffin. We should have worked around that this time.
3) I know what worms eat.  Betty informs me that these red worms don't do much to orange peels or onion skins. Those were the main components of the first box- which, since no one was eating them, drove up the moisture and smell. We won't be sending the worms food the don't like, especially while they are getting settled.
4) The box is outside. The requirements for compost that lives beside the garage are much more forgiving that the compost in your laundry room. This is perhaps the biggest key to success.

And, since I've figure out how to add picture from my phone to the blog, may I present, a rhododendron bush that is ready to explode with color despite a steady diet of clouds (Figure 2), and my first ever rose that I grew in my own garden and it is so big and so red you may think you've never truly seen color before (Figure 3).

Fig 2. Our Rhododendron begins to bloom. It's magenta!

Figure 3. My rose. The image doesn't quite capture a hue of red so deep your eyes ache.

Perhaps more garden pictures can be shared once the rest of the things get settled. I like how lively they look in their little pots on the porch so far, but I'm trying not to get too attached in case I've misjudged what can be grown here.

A shift of perspective

Here is another science post- skip to the micro-news at the bottom if you don't want to slog through my professional drama.

In the last few months, I have been eyeing the finish line for a story, partly because I think what I do next will be more interesting, partly because I don't really think the current story is going anywhere. I've had some setbacks in getting the 'last' experiments done, but while Dr. Boss was out of town, I started thinking we might be able to publish without them. Now that he is back, I have been hinting, suggesting and nagging him to look at the data. Finally we sat down to pour over the data, and it was a really tough meeting. At first, I thought it was tough because maybe the science isn't as good as I thought- but I had answers for all his concerns. He just really doesn't understand what I do. I am not completely confident that this work can be published yet, but now I am starting to doubt whether that will be my biggest hurdle.

We agreed that I could give him a draft of the manuscript I've been working on since October to look at (finally) next week. Now I realize that this manuscript has to be great- I have to explain my research, my results, my logic to my boss so that he will start thinking I am a brilliant independent scientist. I am frustrated and confused, because if I have to tell him that- what does he think of me now?

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Micro news! Last WISC discussion for the year was a success- 5 of us had a nice talk about mentoring. You should have them- or at least recognize them. It has suddenly gotten quite cold here, I guess that means it is winter. Tragically, this means the worm bin froze solid. I think this will be a project to restart in the spring...Matt and I have decided making Irish cream is going to be our new 'thing,' so add that to the list of holiday traditions. We also finished the majority of our holiday shopping. And Happy Hanukkah!

Worm Bin

Early one weekend morning before Matt was up, I got inspired to start a worm bin. It's like a compost pile, but more urban- ie, it's inside. Everything I read about itdescribed the process as "easier than taking out the garbage," "no smell," and "too easy for instructions." So I found an arbitrarily sized plastic bin, ordered some red worms online and started saving scraps from the kitchen. Unfortunately- the scraps got ahead of the worms, which is probably not an ideal way to get the bin started. Because, without worms, a worm bin definitely smells. So the worms arrived, and had a lot of catching up to do. This probably set a bad precedent. Matt asked me if I think of the worms as pets, I suppose because I worry about them a bit. I don't think of them as pets, more like a slightly malfunctioning appliance.

You see, being an organic appliance without instructions, there seems to be quite a lot of tinkering to deal with. First to get the wetness right, otherwise the worms try to crawl out. And if the worms aren't doing all the eating, fruit flies start breeding. And if there is too much wet, and not enough air, all the old food creates an array of horrific smells. Currently, I've drilled some holes in the lid to circulate air, added extra cardboard to moderate the moisture and set a fruit fly trap in the basement. It's still a work in progress, but I hope someday we'll have the hang of composting our own food scraps on site.

I'm still feeling too full!

Matt and I got to have a great weekend too. On Friday, our upstairs neighbor hosted a neighborhood and friends Pizza tasting party we called the G6, to figure out who had the best tasting pizza in Squirrel Hill. We got pizzas from the 6 pizzerias in Sq Hill and sampled from all of them while watching the first hockey game of the new season. Great fun!

Saturday I turned into a vegetable, a nice change of pace from the fast-paced month of September, and what promises to be another fun busy month.

Sunday we celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving. All the joys of American Thanksgiving, but it arrives in October. How could we say no? J hosted, we've been eating turkey everyday since- hot dang! Life is good!

Other news, Matt finally ordered his new Netbook- the toy he has been considering for weeks now. My worm bin is still a work in progress, especially as the weather fluctuates in heat and humidity. I am excited to start piloting some modules at the end of this month- or early next- with the HHMI fellows in responsible conduct of research and bioethics. Still a lot up in the air yet, but it is coming up quite quick! Much like my pending trip to Toronto for the Canadian Science Policy Conference.