mt. marcy

You won't believe it, but I paid money for worms, maggots and manure last Saturday. I read worms were good for the compost, so I decided to get some. I'd seen a sign that said "bait" in the african-american part of town, so I headed that way. On the way I was talking to Jacob and told him what I was doing, he informed me that Wal-Mart sold worms, too. But I decided since I was already so close to this place that I wouldn't change course. I walked in expected to have to explain why I needed worms, but instead I walked into a composting goldmine.

Delvin and Caroline, the shop owners and also my new best friends, are expert gardeners and composters. In fact, Delvin has taught two of the community farms and at Baylor how to garden and compost. He said he was doing the organic thing thirty years before people knew what green living was.

He showed me his garden and I quickly learned to stop saying, "oh, I wish I had planted that" because then he would pull up a plant and give it to me. He even said he'd come out to my garden and teach me. So nonetheless, I left with peas, garlic, onions, worms, and maggots in a bag of manure. Okay, I didn't say I want maggots and manure but he convinced me they would make my compost a composting machine.

He was funny- he said the worms would reproduce quickly and soon I'd have to give them away to my neighbors. My neighbors would absolutely die if I brought them a bag of worms as a gift. He must have seen the look of shock in my eyes, because he followed up saying I could bring my extras to him and trade them out for something else.