First WORMS are here!!

Here is our wonderful mailman 'Jim', who made a special extra trip to our house this morning just to make sure my worms did not get too chilled in the 40F weather. Jim said he kept the box of worms tucked under his jacket to keep them cozy on their way here, despite being mercilessly laughed at by his buddies at the Post Office! Good ol' Jim!...


Our kitty Pearl was rather suspicious of the mystery box from Vermont, then got worried and made scarce so she wouldn't get blamed for anything bad happening...




The open bag looked innocent enough....just some dry leaves....?

A G G G G H H H H H H !!!!!! WORMS!!!!!!!!!!



They were happy healthy Eisenia Fetida, red wriggler compost worms, and lots of them, all different sizes. They smelled nice, like a forest floor in Spring. Kind of cute! They felt smooth and cool in my hand, not slimy or gross. The ball of worms just sort of moved slowly en masse, like a little kitten breathing in my hand. An odd sensation.


Here is their temporary box, all prepared with fresh bedding and a handful of aged kitchen scraps buried in one corner. The bedding is mostly shredded cardboard and newspaper mixed up with some peat moss and wet down pretty well. Their 'official' home, a stacked worm bin 'ranch' should arrive tomorrow or the next day, perhaps along with my other pound of worms coming from Canada. Once I get the worm 'hive' set up I'll officially christen it "The Lazy 'S' Worm Ranch"

As soon as I laid the worms gently over the surface of their bedding, they began to start working their way down to escape the light. They all looked active and healthy.


Wormies are now safely tucked in their open bed in the kitchen with a light overhead and a thick loose layer of dry shredded newspaper over the top surface to keep them from 'wandering' until they are used to their new bedding. They'll prefer to stay in their damp dark compost soil bedding as opposed to wandering up into the dry layer with the light. Worms avoid going towards light, so they'll stay put until they get their bearings, after which I'll be able to put a lid on the bin and dispense with the light.
I'm now officially a worm rancher!