Glenwood Sunday Market

Yesterday was a busy one at Learn & Grow, with the second installment of Compost in the Concrete Jungle.  This time, we partnered up with Hume An from the Chicago Conservation Corps (who happens to also be a Roger's Park resident and vermicompost enthusiast) to provide all the materials to build indoor worm composting systems for free!  I think it's safe to say that this lofty endeavor was a big success, and we rest tight knowing that nearly 20 homes in the neighborhood are composting that weren't before.

Want to make a worm bin yourself?  The "recipe" is simple:

Recipe for a perfect indoor compost bin:

Ingredients:

• One plastic tub with lid (rinsed with soap and water)

o Note: size is approx. 4 sq. ft in size for a 2-4 person household

o NO MORE than 10-16 inches deep

• Drill with ¼” bit

• ½ to 1 lb. red wigglers (Eisenia fetida, available at wormwoman.com)

• Handful of soil

• Newspaper or brown, untreated paper

o No glossy ad pages, magazines, copy paper

• Spray bottle of water

• Food waste*

Instructions:

• Drill holes in the lid of your bin. The more the merrier.  If you have a deeper bin, you may want to drill some holes around the sides of the bin too.

• Shred newspaper into 1/4 to 1/2“ strips and lay on the bottom of the bin to form a bedding layer.

• Spray the paper with water until damp. The paper should only be as wet as a wrung out sponge and there should not be any liquid on the bottom of the bin.

• Add worms and handful of soil

• Add a small amount of food waste*

• Cover worms and food with another layer of newspaper

• Store in a cool, dark place and make sure that the bin will not be exposed to freezing temperatures (Ideal temp is 55-77 deg. F

• Feed worms no more than 1 lb. food waste, per day, per 1 lb. worms, making sure that there is always a layer of damp newspaper covering food and worms (keeps flies away).

*Follow food waste guidelines*

It is really that easy.  By the way, here are some guidelines about what you should and should not feed your worms:

Worm Food Guidelines:

Yay:

• (Most) fruit and vegetable trimmings

• Egg shells (rinsed and crushed)

• Coffee grounds and tea leaves

Nay:

• Onions, citrus fruits, and waxy vegetables (such as bell peppers and hot peppers)

• Meat and dairy products, oils

• Pits and seeds

• Yard waste or heavy duty cardboard (stick to newspaper, brown paper, and egg cartons as bedding)

• Pet waste

Have yourself a merry little compost, and check back with us - we want to know how you are doing!  The only way to make compost a part of your life is to make compost a part of your life.... what we mean by that is: assess your space, your desired level of maintenance, and how you feel you can best incorporate composting into your lifestyle.  If you have any questions or concerns, we LOVE talking about worms, so shoot us an email, or join the discussion group on our Facebook page" "Meet the Wrigglers",

By the way, both of us are gone next week, so you'll have to be responsible for your own learning and growing at the market.  We challenge you to approach your farmers and vendors and have a chat!  Ask questions about how to prepare that butternut squash, or canning all those tomatoes,  Our vendors are a fantastic source of information because - they eat their food too!!

Hugs and Basil,

Ann and Lauren

co-chairs, Learn & Grow @ GSM