The guilt trip is over...

I have been on a guilt trip all winter.  Why?  Well, it is a long story.  I got a compost tumbler the first year we were in the cabin.  I had to, the soil up here is solid clay and I needed all the help with amending it I could get.   Every fall it was the same routine.  I would empty the compost around my roses before I tucked them in for the winter.  Then I would move the composter from the garden to the deck.  All winter I would fill it.  It was easy just step out the door once a week and scraps are put to good use.  I grew up on a farm and scraps were never put in the trash, that was wasteful.  They went to the pigs, chickens, or even the wildlife. 

This year I got sidetracked, and the roses didn't get tucked in (another guilt trip in itself) and the composter didn't get emptied, and because it didn't get emptied it didn't get moved to the deck.  Thus, no composting this winter and that has led to a guilt trip.  Every time I put egg shells and such in the trash there was a pang of guilt.  As you can see in the photo, there is no getting to the composter in the winter if it isn't on the deck.  That is the handle you see. 

I needed to do something.  My sister had given me a worm composter.  Since she has pigs and chickens, she has many other options for composting.  Thanks Sis.  It has been in the garage for most of the summer.   I couldn't take it any longer.  I took the step and ordered worms from Uncle Jim's Worm Farm.  They came on Wed.  Poor guys looked a little worse for the wear after their journey.

I quickly got them settled into their new home.  I used dampened shredded paper and some old potting soil.  Then gave them a helping of lettuce and a banana.  They quickly became happy worms.

I check them daily.  They are getting plump and seem to like the new digs.  Today after breakfast I happily put my scraps aside, knowing that they will not go to waste.  I ran the paper through the shredder knowing it will go to good use.  I am not the queen of recycling by any means, but I don't like to toss stuff in a landfill when it could be used to improve the soil.  

 

Happy worms + Happy Bonnie = Happy Plants - Guilt Trip