Worm Food That Doesn't Involve Dead Bodies

We received the perfect gift this Christmas: a compost bin! And I don't mean that sarcastically. In fact, we asked for a compost bin! We've waited awhile to get it up and running since it's still winter but got too excited. This weekend had such nice, sunny weather that we got a little antsy to get the new bin up and running... and replace our nasty -yet thrifty- compost silo.

Yummy. You can see pumpkin from October.

Thankfully it didn't take too long. My husband moved the old compost-filled silo into a wheelbarrow. We then placed the new compost bin in the silo's place (no assembly required = extra bonus). Then we simply took turns to dish the old compost into the new bin.

You see only him, but I swear we took turns.

Surprisingly, our compost filled up most of the bin. It won't stay that way for too long though. The compost bin is more efficient than the compost silo. We are supposed to turn it three times a week to get compost within just 6 weeks. During that time it will shrink in size.

Looks as if it's always been there.

I began to see parts of our future gardening compost during my turns to shovel. Sure it was in between some moldy grass here some mushy tomato there; but it just made me so excited for the upcoming spring! I'm going to despise most of it thanks to my allergies, but I really can't wait to begin our garden. There will be more veggies, more flowers, more herbs... it's going to be beautiful!

Until then, my excitement will go into what else I can add to the compost. I mean the possibilities are endless since we now have a closed, rotating bin. Here's just a few things that we will add to our previous plant-based compost:
- Coffee Grinds (thanks to our new EkoBrew for the Keurig)
- Vegetable Leftovers (outside of bad veggies from the garden)
- Fruit Leftovers
- Shredded Paper
- Torn-up Cardboard
- Eggshells
- Hair from hair brushes (worth a try, just need to scatter it apparently)
- Pet Hair
- Dryer Lint
- Corn Stalks & Cobs

The main goal is to have a good amount of nitrogen and carbon. Oh, and did I mention worms? Thankfully, my husband was able to find a few compost-lovin' guys in the yard and tossed them into the bin. Another thing that makes this bin so awesome is that there's a way to collect what's called compost tea. By spraying this on your plants, you can help them fight off disease. Just another reason to love the awesome power of decomposition.

It's just like what Ms. Frizzle said: "it doesn't have to be delicious to be nutritious." And if you have no idea what I'm talking about then you need to read this to your children. Happy Rotting!