How it all started... a winding journey

I have been interested in composting since graduate school. At that time we lived in an apartment, and I had a compost pile in the center of the common parking circle. It was not my property, so I kept is simple. A small pile on the ground that I would add food scraps to by digging into the pile. My wife called it the dead pig, because it resembled just that: a burial site for a pig.
WormMainea began in 1998 when I convinced my wife that we had to start composting indoors. In Maine you really cannot compost outdoors year round without heating your pile (either with hot manure or insulation-- neither were options for me).
So I ordered a pound of worms from a grower in Connecticut and built my own worm bin. I decided that I didn't have to buy an expensive worm bin. My composting experience told me that it didn't have to be anything fancy-- just a container to keep the worms in and the flies out.
My first bin was a tiered storage bin system with holes in the bottom for drainage and a screen to keep the worms inside.
I followed Mary Applehof's book and they were fed regularly.
After the first year I split them into a second bin, then a third, and so on until we had a basement with many worm bins.
Over time I experimented with other bin designs and communicated with other vermicomposters. In many cases the changes to my bin design were made to solve problems or based on problems others were having.
I eventually learned that a simple bin design will work. The bin design on the bin page shows my preferred design. All my bins are now like the one shown.
I also experimented with different beddings, food types, and additives. Lots of lessons learned there, too.
I gave worms to friends and gave demonstrations to schools and scouts and enjoyed my interactions with other vermicomposters via the Internet.
In September 2005 I was surprised to see that the Common Ground Fair didn't have someone advocating for vermicomposting. That was the spark that started WormMainea. In the spring of 2006 we decided to sell worms and start putting infomration on vermicomposting on a web site.

Objective

WormMainea is committed to educating people to bring them from curious about vermicomposting to having a bin in their home and advocating along side me.
My goal is to educate people about waste reduction and the benefits of composting as a means of improving your garden waste reduction and recycling.
WormMainea is a hobby and not a business . Vermicomposting (and composting) are pursuits that I enjoy. If I am not having fun, then I am doing something wrong.
My prices cover my shipping costs and the cost of making WormMainea pages and information available. This is a hobby and I am not doing it to make a profit.

Food Chain or Food Web?

We need to think in terms of food webs, not food chains. We must think of how what we do (including how our waste) fits into the food web. Why shouldn't our table scraps be food for another species? If your waste feeds a colony of worms (or a compost pile) that will make your soil better and garden more productive, GREAT! If your waste feeds a pig that you can eat, THAT'S GREAT TOO! Landfills give us nothing.

First Principles

I will strive for sustainability-- using the 5 purchasing principles: Buy Green, Buy Fair, Buy Local, Buy Quality, and Buy Less.

Buy Green: Buy organically produced products (produce or fibers) and products that were made sustainably.

Buy Fair: Buy products that are made with social responsibility in mind. Yes, you may have gotten that item for a deal, but consider the laborers who made it. Was it made in a factory or on a farm that has fair labor practices? What about consumption of resources, people, and environment? Are you willing to trade these to keep your prices low?

Buy Local: Buy products that are made locally. This not only saves transportation but allows you to check on the other principles. If you can go to where something is made or grown it is easy to speak to the producer/grower or see for yourself whether it is sustainable. Buying locally also supports our local economy, keeps your neighbors employed. This may mean buying from the little guy and paying a little more.

Buy Quality: Buy durable products that are designed to last. I am so tired of designed obsolesence in supposedly durable goods. I often curse engineers who make things that are crap. I hate buying something that falls apart or is cheaply made and breaks after a few uses. I strive to purchase products of quality that while more expensive work better and last longer.

Buy Less: Look for ways to reuse or repurpose what we have. Buying used certainly counts. Some things cannot be recycled. Can you sell it or give it away (Craigslist or Freecycle?). Can you find another use for it?

Remember that we as purchasers can influence the marketplace by voting with our dollars. What & where we chose to purchase tells producers what we want. You may pay a little more using these principles and you probably can't do this for everything you buy, but every little bit makes a difference.
Marketers can tell me that my stuff is dated or out of fashion, but so what?

If you have comments or questions feel free to contact me.