November 2021

The days are growing shorter and colder (with occasional exception) here in Cincinnati. The worms and I are settling into a good routine. We composted 775 lbs of waste in November. Thanks in large part to the 530 lbs of donated Halloween pumpkins! Thankfully, without the pumpkin seeds being ground up and concentrated, I don't anticipate a repeat of the okara incident (see September). The wormies have been happily munching away at pumpkin meat. We will have to see how many cocoons we get as a result.

I also was able to meet and talk with a lot of different folks from the community this month. I met with Tony Staubach, the new Food Waste Diversion Coordinator for the county. He was able to provide me with lots of good people to reach out to, who work in the farming-sustainability-composting sphere in Cincinnati. I was also able to meet with Olivia Wilmink who ran BetterBin, which recently became part of CompostNow. She started her compost company a few years ago. It was fun to hear her story, its not every day you meet someone in this industry.

This month I also made a trip out to Grailville, a Loveland gem. They have walking trails and a rich history of women's activism. I met with Terrie Puckett, the Executive Director. She graciously agreed to host a compost drop off site for Back2TheDirt. A dropoff site would allow me to make my services more affordable because I could drive to one place and still service multiple families. I don't know if anyone will be interested, but my fingers are crossed.

During our meeting, Terrie told me that Grailville serves as a place for women to "try...and to fail." She and I both hope it works, but either way, you don't know until you try.

Fun Fact: Worm have 5 hearts. Unlike mammals and reptiles, their 5 hearts are composed of single-chambered aortic arches which pumps blood through their body.