Worms!

This is completely unrelated to jewelry, but as some of you may know my real job is writing about environmental issues. And, at times, it's hard not to get sucked into the enthusiasm of trying out something new that I've just written about -- like vermicomposting.

My husband, Joe, is a big gardener and has been wanting to get worms for some time now. He's completely transformed our yard that was buried in concrete when we bought it, turning our side yard into a native garden with a deck and fountain and our backyard into a lush flower and vegetable garden. (He also thankfully took over my orchids, which were fast becoming a stick farm because of a recent rush of custom jewelry orders.)

Anyway, after writing about vermicomposting, I finally agreed and became the best wife ever after surprising him with something called "The Worm Factory." The worms will eat up all your compost, torn junk mail and newspaper bits and apparently produce great fertilizer in the process.

Joe prepared for the arrival of these worms like they were new pets or houseguests -- asking when they'd get here, preparing their "bedding" of newspaper and even buying a shredder that is basically dedicated to the worms. They finally arrived on Tuesday and, well, you can see what kind of reception they got. Yeah, that's them wriggling around in that little bag.

Pretty cute huh? (My husband, not the worms)