When I see little tricks people use in their homes I steal them away. And I share! I love sharing. Sharing is caring. Do I sound like a Pollyanna? No matter, think what you like, hoarding great ideas is not in my nature.
Last year I had the pleasure and honor of seeing the kitchen and partaking in a homemade bread lesson with a humble but brilliant gentleman and his observant, well spoken daughter. This fellow, we'll call him The Wrangler, lives in an apartment. It's not a New York or Parisian apartment in that the kitchen is an actual room and not an idea, but it is an apartment nonetheless. It is not a house with a backyard.
But this space is not a negative one. It is full of life and projects and comfortable chairs and warm scents.
And Mr. Wrangler has hundreds of worms in his apartment too! You don't smell or hear or see or sense or know of them until you're let in on the secret. It's amazing. He's brilliant. (I should mention that I also had the delightful opportunity to gaze in at Marc's worm friends as well.)
Just think, you could get a nifty black box with some hardworking creatures and have you some deep dark soil in mere weeks, and be as smart as these fellows...
If you don't live in a city or state which makes composting part of its citywide garbage collection system, VERMICOMPOSTING might be just the ticket for you...
Check out this thorough article written by Nicole Spiridakis on this very intriguing subject in the SF Chronicle!
Great idea! I have a big compost pile now that I live in a more rural place, but I was always wanting to compost when I lived in an apartment. I'm sending this to some city friends.
Posted by: Lydia | 29 October 2007 at 08:24 PM
worm bins rock! we have a wriggly wranch in our apartment. The worms, unfortunately, move like molasses. It takes a super long time for them to eat stuff. One thing we do that works well is to occasionally pour water over them (they like a little wet anyway), and as the water runs through them and their stuff, it turns into super potent plant food. We pull it off the bottom with a spigot, cut it with water, and water plants with it.
Posted by: redman | 30 October 2007 at 12:28 PM
Today is a day of great joy1 - I read you for the first time. I was reading Ruhlman's blog beyond his NIC comments, and there you were. I cried. You touched my soul and shook the "rootcellar" of my life. Seven decades I have lived with a passion that has always been, in some way, about food. Julia Childs and the amazonic horde she brought to the kitchens came too late for my dreams of how life should be careerwise. Every time I hear of or see a woman chef (I think of the word "chef" as an honorific), I silently pray for their continued sucess at what she lives to do.
That's why I cried, wiped my eyes, and found your blog. I needed to say thank you for the passion, for the openness of what and how you do the wonderful things you do. I read all your blog entries fearing it might be just that one entry to Ruhlman. But no. Lady Chef, you rock! If I could get these old bones back to SF I would get to your establishment and try the lemon desert. A good lemon costs a fortune here where I live now. So until your next entry - Thank you!
Posted by: misterybus | 30 October 2007 at 02:00 PM
My ex was a worm farmer when we were together. He still is! Those worms make the best compost. Just be sure not to put any meat products in there. Go ahead and add newspaper, cardboard, napkins. They love the fiber.
We didn't keep the bin indoors, though. The worms had a nice spot on the patio. Only thing you gotta worry about is ants. Placing the bins' legs in containers of water with a little dishsoap in the keeps the ants away.
Yay for worms!
Posted by: kara | 30 October 2007 at 03:07 PM
Hey, thanks for reminding me to go feed the worms! Truthfully, with the arrival of our latest 5 months ago they been dealing with some abuse in getting infrequent feedings. But being worms, and the weather never to hot or cold in the house, they deal just fine.
Thanks Shuna, this is really sweet. Cyber hugs to you. I'll squeeze the loquacious little one for you.
Psst: Need any more muffins soon?
Posted by: Monkey Wrangler | 31 October 2007 at 07:00 PM