Got worms?

Last week, I posted about the different kinds of wealth there are in the world, and about how self-sufficiency can be a kind of wealth.

Since I bought this house, I've been developing a garden, turning my landscape of Bermuda grass into an organic, edible landscape that's good for birds, bees, butterflies, other wildlife, and us. Developing a landscape with a toddler, I've also been doing my research to minimize what poisonous plants I put in the garden. Unfortunately, these different priorities do come into conflict. So even though Lobelia, Cardinal Flower, is one of the best flowers for hummingbirds and butterflies, and a prominent part of the rain garden at Mesker Park Zoo... it won't be in my garden at this time.

I'm fortunate to have a Master Gardener and landscape architect for a neighbor. Fortunate, that she also supports my efforts to live greener. So yesterday when I got home from car shopping, she gave me some of her worms.

Worms?
Yes, worms. See, gardens need fertilizer. While a compost pile is one way of breaking down vegetable waste--something that I've already been doing--worms can break down kitchen waste faster, and it looks a little cleaner.

So now I get to start vermicomposting.