April 25, 2006

The grass is looking great. For weeks it seemed we would go through a typical first year with new yard. We bought this place brand new in December 2005, and they had just finished leveling the top soil and seeding. Twice over the winter, all the straw had blown away. And twice we replaced it and re-seeded.

Sometime in January, Vince bought earthworms online. I had no idea what he was up to, but in the time they were being shipped I started to get worried about where we would put them. I began to research more and more online, and the more I read the more I fell in love with what these little creatures were about to do for us.

A few months later, we have a full vermicomposting system processing all of our vegetable scraps into a rich worm manure called vermicast. Eager to start using more than we had, I found a worm farmer in Shelbyville, TN, about 40 minutes south of here. Last week, Vince and I used all the vermicast we bought from him in both the solid form and making a worm tea that has really made our grass and garden take off without getting into the cycle of depending on chemical solutions. With that, Vince and I paid the farmer another visit this afternoon.

Luckily, he and his wife still had plenty of vermicast left, but the sad news is that the couple is selling the worm farm, all 16 acres for $200,000, including a 2,000 square foot double wide trailer, two ponds, a barn, and the worm farm business. As they admited to us both, they are just getting too old to manage it and never really had the marketting drive to make it all work.