Fermented Satan

We have a vermiculture habitat in our kitchen.

Okay, so it's a worm bin. We put our kitchen scraps in a little tiny trash can, and periodically, I put the scraps into the worm bin along with some shredded paper. The worms (and with a host of other micro-organisms) break down the scraps and turn them into worm castings (and more worms). Worm castings are fabulous for the garden, and it seems a better use of our kitchen waste than just dumping them in the trash.

Of course, sometimes I wait a little too long before I get the scraps into the worm bin. They start to compost in the little trash can. Not that this is a big deal, it just smells a little. Unlike a properly turned compost pile, the contents of the mini trash can are decomposing anaerobically. Translation: It smells bad. I go ahead and give it to the worms anyway. They're perfectly happy with slightly rotting vegetable matter, and after a day or less, they even magically take care of the smell. (The smell is pretty localized anyway.)

A few days ago, I realized the little trash can was getting full, so I made some room in the worm bin for the contents, shredded some paper, and added everything to the bin.

Whoa, what a smell. I guess it had been a while.

"It smells like Satan," I told my wife. "Fermented Satan." For some reason, she left the room at that point. I'm not really sure why.

The next day, I took the lid off the worm bin to check on them, and there must have been at least a couple hundred worms writhing at the top of the bin. They're normally pretty reclusive.

"I guess they don't like fermented Satan," said Lori.

Huh. I guess not.