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HOME & GARDEN
Spring, 2002

Worm Magic

Using worms to turn garbage into compost will delight the kids as well as the roses.

Worms… you can’t live with them and you can’t live without them. Despite the way Hollywood horror films have depicted these critters through the years, worms are worth more than their weight in gold for their ability to turn garbage into fertilizer. Cleopatra so understood the value of worms she made it a crime to kill them. It's no coincidence the fertile banks of the Nile were so fertile. No worms ... no pyramids, one might even say.

And if you've ever equated worms with slugs, think again. Worms work 24/7, never sleep, and their enviable industriousness makes our planet a much better place in which to live. How many of us could say the same of ourselves?

When it comes to worms, Kalamazoo resident Mary Appelhof is the "wormwoman." Her book, Worms Eat My Garbage: How to set up and Maintain a Worm Composting System, now in its second edition - has sold over 145,000 copies, been printed in Japanese and spawned a library of related books, videos and children's educational materials on vermicomposting (the use of earthworms and microorganisms to convert organic waste into "black, earthy-smelling, nutrient-rich humus.")

Appelhof concedes vermicomposting "is not for everyone" - at least, not yet, but her ecological enthusiasm is contagious and she is hoping that, household by household, more people will get with the program. With Masters Degrees in both education and the biological sciences and a background as a high school biology teacher, Appelhof came to worm composting 30 years ago after participating in an international environmental conference in Stockholm. She had already purchased tier first batch of worms intending to start a business raising worms for bait. She had reasoned that a worm business wouldn't require much of an investment.

When that first two-pound batch of worms arrived during a Michigan winter, she needed to do something quickly to keep them alive and so she built a container that she could keep indoors. During the winter, she found she could bury her garbage in the bin without any odor and, when spring arrived, she had worm castings for the garden. She used it on the third of an acre of broccoli and the tomatoes she planted that season with "spectacular" results. She says she harvested nearly a bushel of tomatoes per plant.

Even though her initial worm business earned her only $300 that winter, Appelhof had other reasons for sticking with it. Philosophically, her convictions had been set in Stockholm.

"I believed in it," she says simply. "I knew that no matter how many people would be composting with the worms I raised or I was responsible for other people raising, the world would be better off. I was going to restore and replenish rather than destroy and exploit the earth." She has since received the National Recycing Coalition's "Composter of the Year" award - and Renew America's special merit annual for her environmental accomplishments.

If you have any thoughts at all of trying vermicomposting - which makes an excellent science project for school-aged kids as well as a fun project for the entire family to undertake together -you really need to purchase Appelhof's self-published book (Flower Press) for $12.95 plus $2.50 for shipping and handling. It's the definitive guide with illustrated instructions for setting up and maintaining a composting system. You'll learn about the type of worms to use, the sex life of worms, the preparation of worm beddings, how to keep worms alive and harvest them for reuse, what kinds of foods to feed them and how to make potting soil from the precious vermicompost. If this sounds like more fun than anyone should expect to have in an afternoon, keep reading. Appelhof has taken vermicomposting beyond science to a fine art.

Although she manufactures smaller household worm bins for sale using the local Goodwill Industries, her personal worm bin is an insulated patio bench she keeps outdoors and describes in detail in her book. A standard birdbath heater immersed in a two-gallon jug of water and buried in the bin is adequate to maintain a 40-degree core, where the worms thrive. With just two people in her household, she harvests six five-gallon buckets of vermicompost twice a year.

The essentials of a vermicomposting system are fairly simple: an aerated container (Appelhof's models sell for $76 or $89 depending on size but any basic covered plastic bin will do); bedding such as shredded newspaper, moisture and proper temperature, and a small amount of soil and redworms. Worm bins are also available from other sources such as the Gardener's Supply catalog.

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