Even before I took up tropical fish again after our move back to Calgary I had started to compost our vegetable and fruit cuttings in an attempt to think globally but act locally. My first attempt at composting (which is still going on) was with an outside box containing about one cubic meter of volume. There are lots of problems with this box, however, such as wading through snowdrifts to get to it and having only about five months a year for the material to decompose. On top of those problems, the mould that grows in the bin irritates my sinuses making emptying it a trial. Then after hearing about using earthworms, and learning that their castings increase the amount of nutrition available to plants, I decided I needed to set up a vermiculture (worm-growing) bin. My first trial was with some worms from various sources such as the CAS Labour Day fish auction, a local gas station, and a friend. But most of the food spoiled instead of being eaten by the worms. So needless to say the worms were not allowed into the house, but stayed outside in the garage. A conversation with a local retailer of vermiculture supplies here in Calgary, also known as The Compost Queen (telephone 282-4765), resulted in the advice that there was not a sufficient number of worms to do the job, and she recommended purchasing either from ½ to 1 pound of worms. Even though I haven’t spent the time counting them, ...

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