Its true! A company I order gifts from sent me a surprise gift. A paper shredder. I use the little crank freebie to shred up the bedding now, all nice and even like easter grass. The worms love it and I can fill a bin in less than 10 minutes since I mount the shredder over the bin with an electric drill on the crank jib (you didn't think I'd keep the hand crank). Just have to gear the drill down a little bit. It should help on the compost time.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), February 16, 2001

Answers

Jay, is it possible for a vermacomposter to be anything but an "underground' sensation?

-- John in S. IN (jsmengel@hotmail.com), February 16, 2001.

John, that's opening a whole 'nother can of....nope, I'm not even gonna say it.

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), February 18, 2001.

Jay:

Consider opening up a restaurant called, "Annelids." From Unmentionable Cuisine:

I include only one recipe for eathworms, invertebrate animals which are nationally abundant and which are now raised on many worm farms, chiefly as fish bait. However, Gaddie's North American Bait Frams, of Ontario, Calif., has for several years sponsored earthworm recipe contests that anually produce about 500 recipes! Gaddie says, "Worms (presumable dried) taste like shredded wheat. I like them best in oatmeal cookies, but I've eaten them with rice, sprinkled on top of salads..., with scrambed eggs and with steak and gravy." Another devotee describes the taste of salted eathworms as like jerky; they are said to be 72 percent protein and less than one percent fat.

The Chinese discovered this cheap, nutritious meal long ago. In China earthworm broth is said to be a good treament for fever, but it probably would not be a bad first course for any meal, if one is sick or not.

Earthworm Broth (Tio in tin tan)/China

Slit open some earthworms and wash them well to remove particles of soil. Simmer them in water until the broth is reduced by half.

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You might avoid the cleaning by having them in fine cornmeal for about a week beforehand. This is done for escargo. I presume the salted earthworms are slow-dried like jerky.

Enjoy

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), February 18, 2001.

Perhaps Jay knows the answer to this. I don't think the red wigglers that do the garbage composting are the same thing as earthworms. I've heard the red wigglers called MANURE worms, and read that our common earthworms and nightcrawlers do not eat the same things. I don't know if I could ever eat any worm, but if I did, it would not be a MANURE worm! Gives me the creeps just thinking about it. Now, once a plant as processed the manure worm's poop, that's another matter!

-- Joy F (So.Central Wisconsin) (CatFlunky@excite.com), February 18, 2001.

Joy, Tes, the worm types are different, but they are close relatives. The "common" earthworm and red wigglers are both members of the phylum Annelida of the group Vermes and this is represented by four classes. The class Chaetopoda are worldwide in their distribution and is comprised of of over 7000 types. Most N. American earthworms are in the order Oligochaeta, however, sandworms are in the order Polychaeta and are very popular as bait in coastal areas.

Ken, Thanks for the recipe. I may try it. Should go wel with my recipe for French style worm bread, which is actually quite tasty and of course, high in protein. I liked it better than snails and saute'd grasshoppers. :>)

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), February 19, 2001.

Sorry about the misstoke at the start. Should be "yes", not "Tes". Little keyboard and pudgy fingers.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), February 19, 2001.

Yes I knew you raised worms but I didn't know that you ate them too.. I just can't picture that..nor snails or grasshoppers. I am curious to know how you came about eating those things...was it curiosity? Couldn't be because you were starving..No offense intended..I just want to know.. what about grubs?

-- Lynn(MO) (mscratch1@semo.net), February 23, 2001.

I have eaten worm cookies. Not bad, but not spectacular either. They are not something you say, "I just gotta have another worm cookie." about? The question is, why go out of your way to eat something that isn't spectacular and are a lot of work to make? Now the worm soup might be an interesting thing to try, but the question here is, is the worm soup going to taste better than the bass I can catch with the worms. I don't think so!

Little Bit Farm

-- Little bit Farm (littlebit@calinet.com), February 23, 2001.