Vermicomposting

Vermicomposting can be a lot of fun, especially if you have kids.  Not interested in getting a dog or cat as a pet?  Then consider worms!  They really are incredible creatures.

Earthworms are natures expert recyclers.  They eat all kinds of dead plants and animals underground and turn it into a rich soil.  An Earthworm can eat organic matter that weighs as much as it does.


One type of Earthworm that we are familiar with here at Peterborough Green-Up is called a Red Wiggler.  Red Wigglers are red/brown and some can be striped, they are thin like a string, are about 2-5 inches long, and they live near the Earth's surface like under leaves or in manure piles.  They are also incredibly talented composters.  We use Red Wigglers in our vermicomposter in the office.  They make up the best darn compost in these parts of town!

To create a vermicomposting system you will need a vermicomposting bin, bedding that the worms can live in and eat; this could include newspaper cut into small strips and a mixture of grass clippings or dry leaves with no chemicals on them.  And you will need about 1/2 lb of Red Wigglers.  A great source of food to feed them would be fruit and vegetable peelings, coffee grounds, tea bags, egg shells, bread, oatmeal, dried leaves and composted manure.  Bad food to feed them are dairy products, meat and bones and pet poop.

One of the main reasons for having a vermicomposter in your home is to use the compost that the worms create for your gardens or starting seeds.  You can harvest the compost in the bin by dumping all of the contents onto a big plastic sheet and remove the worms by hand.  Be sure to watch for worm cocoons or tiny hatchlings.  Put them all back in the bin with fresh bedding and food.



If you are interested in starting a vermicomposter of your own we are hosting a series of workshops this month.  Unfortunately, they are completely full. If you would like to get started please contact us and we can see what we can do to accommodate your schedule to get you started this winter.

Happy New Year

Well you sure kept us busing during the lead up to the holiday season.  We want to thank you so much for visiting our store and making very responsible choices on puchasing gifts for your friends and family, if that is how you celebrate.  Your contributions as always will be going towards our programs. 

We have received such great feedback from you that it makes for a good new year resolution to keep working on our Green Store and programming here at Green-Up to provide to our community.

I have made my own new year resolution.  I am going to start smiling at people more often and saying hello.  There is nothing like a nice friendly hello or smile from someone in passing.  My other new year challenge is to eat only organic food for one year.  I've created a personal blog about it - Organic Food for One Year Challenge. 

We're not just eating certified organic food, but organic food in the sense that it hasn't been sprayed with any chemicals and hasn't grown from a genetically modified seed, but grown with responsibility to save our soil and to put good proper food into our bodies.  There are a lot of local farmers and people growing their own food organically without going through the certification process with the government.

I have to say that I am really looking forward to the growing season.  I am excited that our local farmers are beginning the planning process of growing so much amazing produce for us.  We are so lucky to have local food coop, and 2 farmer's markets in Peterborough.  One on Saturday and another on Wednesday downtown.