Wiggly worms

This weekend we set up our first ever worm farm.  Several people have asked me, "What's a 'worm farm'?"  Basically it's a plastic storage bin with some dirt, some kitchen scraps, and some red wiggler worms.  Indoor composting!  We've been wanting to do this for a long time and finally took the plunge.  First we lined a plastic storage bin with torn up newspaper that we misted with water, added a little bit of straw, some dirt, and a few kitchen scraps and we have a worm farm.  Don't forget to drill holes in the bin's lid for ventilation.  Also, worm farms needs to be vegetarian, though not vegan.  Egg shells are great, but meat and fats are not.

At first the worms wanted to explore.  I'd open the lid to find several toward the top.  We put the bin on top of a table with the lid off and had my floor desk lamp shine on them for a few days.  Of course they don't want to be by the light, so this makes the worms dig down into the bin to avoid sunburn.

What does this have to do with parenting or diabetes?  Well it was a great family project and educational experience for the children.  The youngest three had a lot of fun playing with the worms until I told them the wigglers needed a nap.  Diabetes?  Ok, this one is a stretch, so let's see if I can pull this off.  To keep my diabetes in check, I need to eat healthy foods.  We're working on planning out our garden that will have plenty of non-starchy vegetables - perfect for a diabetic wanting to be in control.  The worms will make us some great fertilizer that will go into our garden and help us to have a great veggie harvest.  Does that work?

We're looking forward to watching the worms turn our kitchen scraps into something useful for our garden.  If you'd like to make your own worm garden, here are some links I have found useful (search for "worm farm," "worm composting," or "vermicomposting"):
Making a Worm Farm
Setting up a basic worm bin (YouTube video)
Worm Composting
Plastic worm bin