They're here.

Okay, so the worms finally arrived last Friday. We set up the worm tower with bedding and fresh food scraps and then just dumped them in. The instructions said to check on them in three days. So we did. I think some of them were too stressed and didn’t make it. But most of them look pretty good and healthy. They were crawling in and out of the food, which was a good sign. It smelled a little funky; not rotten or anything. But it was definitely an earthy, humid smell. Dead worms maybe? Checked on them again yesterday and it seemed a little wet, so I added a bit of paper. And then today I added some coffee grounds and eggshells.

I read in the instructions that we should avoid citrus peels in the worm bin. Oops. There were a few citrus peels in that original handful of food. Must remember to put those only in the outside compost.

I think I’m going to leave them alone for the next few days. It’s hard to not futz around with them because I’m down in the basement doing laundry and I get curious about them so I turn on the light and open it up. And they apparently HATE light, which is why they will stay in the bin. Other worms, I’ve read, may CRAWL OUT of the bin. Boy wouldn’t that surprise the dog. She probably would try to eat a worm that was crawling around on her floor.

See more progress on: start a worm compost