The New York Times has two stories today that speak to our Gimpy Girl hearts. The first requires little money and is not for the squeamish. The second requires big bucks and has something for everyone.
Urban Worm Composting talks with New Yorkers about the ups and downs of keeping worms in the city.
The story is fine, but the graphic is not — too much food in too small a bin. Worms are not going to be happy and neither are the apartment dwellers when flies arrive and the bedding begins to smell. Read our post for more information on successful worm composting.
This second story is akin to Architectural Digest for the Gimpy. It showcases homes in Colorado and Paris featuring the latest in Universal Design to make life easier. The homes are fabulous and so are the designers. Here’s a quote from one:
‘I want people to know no matter whether they have mental or physical disabilities’ — change that word to differences — ‘they are only disabled if they can’t do what they want to do. Architecture can eliminate disability by design.’ You see my point. If you are in a house where you can do what you want to do, you’re not disabled anymore.’
March 6th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
Oh, I know about “too much food in too small a bin”! I shared a back porch with a lovely couple who worm composted, and had the bin on the porch. One day, I was curled up on a bench, quietly reading a book with my glass of iced tea, when I noticed that worms were escaping the bin and crawling all over. Too much food + too small bin + a hot Chicago summer = disaster!
(The situation was dealt with and was not repeated.)
March 7th, 2009 at 8:57 pm
Yuck! Exactly! Do worms right and they are little hassle. Do worms wrong and you end up with a mess. We’ve come to think the perfect worm bin may be an old Coleman camping cooler - they’re well insulated against heat and cold, have the little spout to drain off worm tea and you can pick them up cheap at garage sales.
March 27th, 2009 at 10:45 am
Wow, Marty’s idea of a camping cooler worm bin sounds perfect!