I am not alone in this idea। I had someone come by my booth at Common Ground who told me that a worm bin and pound of worms the hot item at Yankee swap. Also, several people purchased worms and a bin from me this year as gifts for mom.
Worm bins need not be expensive or complicated. I think a simple bin is really a lot easier to use (and certainly easier to build!).
In my mind, the perfect gift would be a book on vermicomposting (like Mary Appelhof's book, Worms Eat My Garbage: How to Set Up and Maintain a Worm Composting System), a pound of worms and a new bin.
If you are already vermicomposting, you can provide the worms and make the bin. If you're an experienced vermicomposter, you can provide a vermi-consultation and skip the book. The more people we have vermicomposting the better.
If you are looking for other gift ideas, I recently created Amazon lists of my recommended vermicomposting supplies, as well as favorite garden tools and books.
You can view at:
Happy Holidays!
Mark
Originally published on November 25, 2009