Backyard Compost Pile - Grow Your Own Worm Farm

My Grandma Griffard was known in Ste. Genevieve as the "Worm Lady." Local Missouri fishermen would stop by her house to pick up a container of worms before heading out to the Mississippi River. I have memories of walking next to Grandma as she searched for the next worm pile to dig in. I can remember pulling out fat brown worms from an overturned pile and quickly filling up the worm bucket. She would tell me a story of the time she went digging and came face to face with a snake. Fortunately, her dog wrestled the creature and sent it to an early death.

The year Grandma passed away is the year that I started my first compost pile. I had read many gardening books, but I always skipped over the idea of a compost pile. I had a garbage disposal and landscape bags-- what did I need a compost pile for? Why would I want to spend time turning over some brown stuff and green stuff mixed with leftover carrot tops?

That year, I started a new garden bed in the back of the house. I was out of landscaping bags and a neighbor convinced me to try composting instead. I went over to her house and discovered thousands of plants blooming and apple trees bearing beautiful green apples. Compost, she said, was the trick to feeding the earth.

The first pile started out as a bunch of sod cut up from an area where I planted some new shrubs. I added some coffee grounds and a handful of grass clippings. I promptly forgot about that pile for a few weeks until one day, after a few days of rain, I realized that grass and weeds were starting to grow. So I turned the pile over and saw something move.

A nice, big fat worm.