I did a Build-A-Worm-Bin workshop last night through Community Education in a nearby town. While I was running through my list of "props" and materials last Friday it hit me that it might be cool to set up a "before and after" display on one of the tables in the classroom. What I wanted to do was to set out my usual props (paper, cardboard, toilet paper/paper towel inserts, fiber egg cartons, waxed paper cups and paper plates, and all of the other usual items that I take along), but then I realized that a much more effective display would be not only my non-food items, but also an assortment of fruits and veggies such as those that people would normally toss out during normal food prep or refrigerator clean-outs. I wanted to lay all of that out on the table in a line and then place a container of castings at the very end so that the students could see the results firsthand. I don't know why I never thought of that before......
I didn't happen to have any food scraps to take along but I happened to be in town last Friday so I decided to stop and ask at the grocery store. I asked if they would donate a box of random veggie scraps and they agreed so I planned to pick it up yesterday. Well, when I got there the box was a little underwhelming- all old cabbage and romaine lettuce leaves. I was hoping for more variety but hey, I never look a gift horse in the mouth and I was happy to have what I got, and I did use it.
That is the backstory, lol. The point is that while I was hanging with the produce guy I learned that the grocery store sells "pig farmer boxes" of old produce. They use large boxes- I did not see one but they described it as "bigger than a banana box". They charge a dollar a box, which if it is really that big might be a good deal. I would personally not buy produce for my worms because I have plenty of other (free) food for them, but I thought I might pick one up for my guinea pigs just to see what is in there that they can eat. If even half of the produce was suitable for them it would be a great deal during the winter when I don't have much else for them- in the summer they get weeds and grass clippings and produce from our gardens. Anything in the box that the guinea pigs can't eat would definitely go to the worms.
Not sure if this would be a deal for any other worm farmers but maybe?