Wiggly waste eaters

I started worm composting about seven or eight years ago and I have to say its been a huge success. The only problem I had with it, is that I bought an absolutely massive bin, (the only kind on the market at the time) which in turn is propped on blocks to allow for drainage (to get a container under the tap to drain off worm tea). It means that to put waste in, I had to perch on another concrete block, open the lid and tip my smelly leftover food in. Now anyone who has been using a wormery for any length of time will know that you cannot leave waste on the surface unless you want your bin crawling with flies, and their even less attractive youngsters- maggotts. Which means that you have to bury the waste because maggotts can't dig, and so even if flies managed to lay their eggs on your food when it was still in your kitchen, they can't make their way to the surface to become full grown flies. Now picture me, leaning over the top of my worm bin, emptying in my waste, and having to cover it with something. I tried choir-type moisture mats, I tried damp newspaper. But you still have to lean in to cover up the food, so the only real option was burial. I left a fork by the worm bin and dug a hole for the waste food.

Soon the can-o-worms appeared on the market, it looked like a great idea. Lift off a layer, put in your food, put your mat back on, put your empty layers back on, and close up your wormery. In fact it looked too easy to be true. And far too easy to earn you real eco-credentials. So I left it a few years. But a few months ago I finally succumbed. One wet february day too many of almost falling into the old worm bin as I filled it, and I went on line to by my can-o-worms.

I got mine on e-bay, because I knew I had enough worms in my old bin to get started and I wanted to get it from somewhere as close to home as possible. (and yeah... buying it off e-bay saved me quite a bit). And now I wonder why I waited so long. It really is as easy as it looks. And because its only waist high, there's no more climbing or digging. (Click on the picture to be taken to the wiggly worms site which has loads more information about worm composting and some excellent video podcasts, so you know you're doing the right ting even if if looks too easy!)
My only problem with the new can-o-worms, is that our dog realised that there was food in it. Old mouldy food, but food none-the less (poor mite, we never feed her) and so presented a challenge. It took her all of one day to figure out how to get the lid off so she could rob some of the day before's bread crusts. Now that's all very environmental, recycling our scraps by feeding them to the dog, but I pay a small fortune for expensive dog food to keep her healthy, and after a few days in the can o worms, I'm not sure the rotting food could be very good for her.
I've had to solve the problem by putting a large plant pot on top of the lid- and so far so good. Pity it's not in sunshine, and I could fill the plant pot with trailing petunias, and hide the wormery completely. Any suggestions for a shade-loving pot loving plant that grows as fast as petunias welcome!!
The old wormery won't go to waste as I can pile the nearly composted garden pile into it and end up with much finer compost that I would have got by just leaving it where it is. (I'm too lazy to do more than give it a token mix once or twice a year although the dog has taken to burying things in it, so i at least its gettign some aerating) It also frees up a corner of the garden to start a new, fresh compost heap for this year!!

LED spotlights

I've been looking for some time for replacement for halogen spots, and at first glance it doesn't look too difficult to find. There are a few manufacturers making a CFL version of the standard GU10. But when you look closer you realise that these are for 220v lights. For some reason the spots in my kitchen/ diner, where I have a massive 14 of these lights, are run off transformers, so run as 12v, therefore are not suitable for cfl tubes which require a high voltage to generate light.

I had been looking at LED bulb, but none of them seemed to be able to produce enough light for a kitchen area. But now I've found some, so I've ordered two of them to see if they provide the light I need. If they do, I'll have a massive power saving- 3w per bulb compared to 50, so I'm a bit sceptical to say the least. But I'll give them a try. If they work, given how much time we spend in the kitchen, with the lights on, we stand to make a massive CO2 saving.
Watch this space...