Great idea. You could even take them to work with you or on vacation. Instant worm fix anytime, anywhere! Kind of therapeutic ;)

these forums need a "like" button... just for post like this!

Smart! I have conquered my spying. I am limited to one check per week. But man oh man, do I check at length! ;D

Since a month has passed since beginning my mini-bin, I was curious to see how many worms I have now. I found the 10 original adults, 7 younger adults, 13 babies, and 44 cocoons :) While I was rinsing the castings/beddings off the cocoons, 4 of the babies hatched! Honestly, I may have not found all the cocoons or babies, but this is reassuring to see that even 10 red wigglers can do well in a not so ideal enviremont. But,I am careful to feed them sparingly, usually only a bite size piece of previously frozen fruit or vegetable. This food is placed on the inside of the jar next to the side so that I can easily watch it dissappear. It is very interesting to watch the food decay and often I see tiny new worms on the food.

Are you sure you are not curious how the worms in your main bin are doing, LOL.

otis11: I am very curious as to how the main bin's worms are doing, but since it hasn't been even 2 months yet, I am doing only some spot checks when I feed. My main concern was that these redworms came from my garden and although I think that they descended from red wigglers that I bought long ago, I wasn't completely sure. Seeing how well they are multiplying, I think that I have the EF's.

Too cool! - Now if a jar isn't enough - you could advance to an aquarium. Sort-of like those ant farms - so you can see more vertical action.

Ok the laughing may begin - make a nice cover (like your mixer or sewing machine cover) to set over it to keep it dark - and then you can watch to your hearts content and have more worms working away. Maybe I could make these and sell 'em!

You may stop laughing now.

Deetoo: LOL...but, I did for a fleeting moment think of knitting a jar cover with a cute cap cover that you see used for mason jars. However, reality returned and I realized that may be going a bit too far, as it probably wouldn't keep out the light. I am thinking that I may give this mini-bin away if someone is interested in starting their own worm farm. In another month, it may have about 90 worms,I think, so it will begin to get crowded.

I saw on a past post where some members mailed cocoons to others, but that really takes a lot of patience if you are a newbie. I am not sure how many of the recipents kept up with their free cocoons...that would be interesting to know. If the person who I have intended the mini-bin for isn't interested, I may just use them along with some from my larger bin to start a flow-through as that seems the most efficient way to get castings.

This is exactly how I showed my kids how worms help the environment! They each had their own jar, properly prepared, fed appropriately, etc., and they surrounded them with black construction paper.

Anytime they finished their work or had free time they could go watch their worms to see what was happening. They loved seeing the food gradually be pulled down, nibbled, and vanishing.

I think they learned a lot. But hey. Most teachers hope so in whatever they do. :)

Sorry. I meant my students. :/