Worm ball!

I cleaned out my worm bin today and removed all of the castings, which amounted to about 3.5 -4 gallons worth of material. This is what was left, a hefty ball o' worms that ranged in size from teeny tiny (whatever age that is!) to adult-sized. I've only seen this kind of images on YouTube so it was cool to actually carry a ball like this. Pretty nifty if you ask me!

I should add that I LOVE my vermicomposting bin. It cost me about $3.50 to start! I get rid of all my kitchen scraps and junk mail, have little or no fruit flies, no smelly garbage, I got lots of beautiful fertilizer, and I get to play with worms! 

Perionyx excavatus, anyone?

In Hawaii, these Indian Blue earthworms (Perionyx excavatus) are pretty common vermicomposting worms and are much more active than the *ordinary* red wrigglers (Eisenia foetida). I don't think you'd ever find red wrigglers hanging out on the insides of your worm bin. They grow faster, they reproduce faster, and zip around and are so much more fun to watch! My friend Jennifer gave me a bunch of red wrigglers and they are pretty sluggish compared to these that have, I dare say, personality! And yes, that is castings on the side. Poop all over the place!