A species of worms known as red wigglers can thrive in a container environment and consume many times their weight in kitchen scraps.

The conclusion of our film screenings are always capped off with drawings for door prizes. A consistent favorite is the gift certificate from Gardeners Supply, the Vermont company with loads of options for gardening tools and supplies, as well as other household items.

At Sunday’s screening in Hartford, audible shrieks of delight could be heard from the winners of bags of worm castings from Coast of Maine Organics, a New England company that’s been selling high-quality soil amendments for the past 15 years. Clearly the Hartford audience, invited by the Connecticut chapter of the Northeast Organic Farmers Association, was enlightened enough to know that worm castings — otherwise known as worm poop — is just about the best thing you can add to your garden. Lots of folks who didn’t win the door prizes had questions about how to get involved with worm castings at home and I pointed them to this previous post on this blog: http://www.safelawns.org/blog/index.php/2009/09/consider-worm-composting/.

As I said in that post, some folks still get skittish about the idea of bringing worms into the home environment, but it really can be done in a way that’s clean and odor free. And, for those of you who can’t stomach the idea, there’s always Coast of Maine or any number of other companies that can provide the finished product for you.