Cathy's Crawly Composters

Click here to crawl home

Order your Red Wigglers today!

Back to the Worms

Squirm of Worms joins Gaggle of Geese, Pod of Whales, Pride of Lions as collective noun.

Columbus, OH - May 10, 2002: Avid worm composters have struggled for years with what to call the increasing hoards that are chowing down their kitchen wastes. "Do you call them a herd, a bunch, a mass, a handful?" The awkwardness of description leads to the obvious solution and that is to declare:

"It's a Squirm of Worms."

Vermi- or worm-composting is a popular method of recycling organic materials. Using red wigglers (Eisenia fetida), vermicomposting converts food waste, grass clippings, leaves and other organics into a nutrient-rich humus or compost, of value for growing plants. It's a method used by apartment dwellers, home owners, classrooms and, increasingly, in industrial applications to recycle organic waste.

"I estimate that there are well over a million people in North America who have chosen to welcome redworms into their home and have them chow down on their discarded organic materials," said Mary Appelhof, author of the best-selling book, Worms Eat My Garbage. "People have been asking for a way to describe their batch of worms. And I'm relieved to finally be able to say that it's a squirm."

The wiggly decision was made official at this week's International Composting Symposium held in Columbus, Ohio through discussions between Appelhof and The Composting Council of Canada.

"We've been having fun trying to figure this out for a number of years," said Susan Antler, Executive Director of the Council. "I'm sure that this term will quickly be adopted by worm supporters around the world. No one would want to squirm out of this."

"There are about 4400 named species of worms worldwide," said Appelhof, a biologist and educator who has been studying worms for 30 years. "The red wiggler is one of the best suited for vermicomposting. It's tolerant of a wide variety of temperatures and conditions, it reproduces in a confined environment and it is capable of eating up to half its body weight each day. Worms are natural recyclers and produce worm castings or vermicompost full of nutrients useful for plants."

"Worm composting is simple, it's easy, it's fun," said Antler. "All that you need are an aerated container, bedding such as shredded newspaper, worms, moisture and to follow a few maintenance procedures."
Bees have their swarm and now worms have their squirm.

Back to the Worms

Click here to crawl home