Jack Harris was thrilled to plow his hands through globs of worms.
Big worms, long worms, teensy baby worms, he sifted the lot through fingers caked in what’s called black gold.
There’s gold in them thar worm bins. Find out yourself at a program about composting food scraps with worms at 7 p.m. Thursday at Legion Memorial Hall, 146 Alverson Blvd., Everett.
Participants will learn how to set up and operate a worm bin. They also can meet Harris, recycling coordinator for the city of Everett, who admittedly adores composting. He’ll have bins for sale and will answer questions. Guest speaker Don Bloom, master recycler, will discuss composting.
Worms also will be sold at the show.
Oh, goody.
Twice, Harris offered to let me run my delicate fingers through the slithering bin. No, really, I was good just holding my pen and notebook. I viewed his delight as he kneeled by the thriving tub, and admired his enthusiasm from afar.
Way afar.
But the tub didn’t smell. Properly tended bins don’t have anything but an earthy odor, Harris said. Aerated and covered with a tight lid, soggy newspaper and cardboard was gardener pay dirt. Red wigglers, known as manure worms (what a lovely picture), munched on rotted food like teenagers eat French fries.
OK, I didn’t actually see a worm nibble, but you get my drift. Worm poop, nicely called castings, is the black gold, perfect for spreading on gardens. There’s no need to hop in the car and run to a garden center for mulch. Get worms to make it for you for free.
“Save energy, gas and your time,” Harris said. “It’s a simple concept.”
He’s been the recycling coordinator for Everett for 10 years, coordinating waste prevention and recycling programs. The Evergreen State College graduate is working on a commercial food waste composting pilot program for the city.
At Harris’ Seattle home, a container in the kitchen is for coffee grounds, coffee filters, tea bags, salad scraps, banana peels and bread, all used to slop the pigs, I mean, feed the worms. Don’t bury cheese, oily foods or meat, which smell bad and could attract rodents.
You won’t need a pet sitter on vacation. Just leave the backyard creatures enough food and moisture to stave off hunger.
When you are ready to harvest the compost, put scraps in one end of the bin. The worms will scoot over there to eat, and you can scoop out castings they’ve left. Castings are dark and crumbly like soil and contain humic acid, which stimulates plant growth and controls harmful fungi and bacteria in dirt.
Your garbage bill might even drop. A two-foot by four-foot bin will handle eight pounds of kitchen scraps a week, the amount typically produced by two or three adults.
“We have distributed over 400 worm bins over the past four years,” Harris said. “I like to think that that equals significant diversion of kitchen food scraps from residential garbage cans.”
A herd of worms does more than eat all day. It’s estimated that eight worms will turn into 1,500 in six months. Now I know why it’s important to keep “bedding” in the bin.
If you’ve never researched how worms reproduce, might I suggest some light reading? Let’s just say there are no male or female worms, but they still attach to one another head to head in an inventive mating position.
My, my, my. We’ll let it go at that in case children are reading.
Harris was a tad persistent, wondering if I would be getting a worm bin. I’m not sure we allow them in Mill Creek.
“This meets my criteria as a perfect project,” he said. “Diverting from the landfill excites me. I have always been fascinated with and passionate about recycling.”
I told you.
Columnist Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451 or oharran@heraldnet.com.
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