Now that you know how to feed me, I'm going to give you a few tips on how to keep all my friends and relatives happy.

Check bedding every week to see that it's not too dry or wet. Remember it should feel like a wrung-out sponge. If it's too dry, add water. If it's too wet, add more bedding. Also check to see if food is being eaten and decomposing. Check for odors. Odors may tell us that there is rotting food; if so, remove the extra food.

Place a sheet of plastic or a layer of newspapers over the top of the bedding. This will hold moisture in and will help reduce the chance of fruit flies.

Use a plastic garden fork rather than a trowel to bury food; a fork is less likely to injure us worms.

Check the areas where you buried food every week. Decide what foods your worms like and dislike. Also check for cocoons of young worms. They look like very, very yellowish jelly beans.

After six weeks you will start to see changes in your bedding. The bedding will become darker and will decrease in volume. As the bin becomes filled with worm castings (poop), worms will die. How sad! So you will need to add additional bedding if you choose not to harvest us.

Remember I like temperatures from 55-75 degrees and do best at room temperature.

Now I'm going to give you the straight scoop on redecorating my room (harvesting!) There are a number of ways to harvest the castings (worm poop) from my room (bin).