by Angela Pohlman, Wellness Category Manager
You may have met the Big River Organic’s owner Sue Krause when they were a Retail Ready Lab vendor back in May of 2019. Through your votes and purchases, they are now a regular vendor for Willy Street Co-op!
Where are you located?
The folks at Big River Organics are so pleased to join Willy Street Co-op as a local small business. We are located on the banks of the mighty Mississippi River in Cassville, Wisconsin. Once a coal-burning town with two power plants, the area is now rebuilding its economy as an eco-tourism destination. The pace is slow, like our river.
Why worms? What inspired starting this business?
Growing up as a kid, my family raised big gardens and composted using traditional methods. In 2006, I was working with two Madison south side communities on developing community gardens. At a training I met Will Allen of Milwaukee’s tremendous Growing Power urban farm. He gave me a bucket of red wiggler composting worms—I was “hooked!”
Tell us more about vermicompost—why would I use that vs. regular compost?
Vermicompost vs compost. Traditional compost is wonderful for our gardens and keeps food waste out of our landfill. The process is usually “hot” with thermophilic or heat-loving organisms transforming raw materials to finished compost. On cold days, an active pile steams, releasing methane and other gases. The vermicompost is a cooler process, with a greater diversity of microbes. A bit of magic happens in the composting worm as food waste passing through the gut is ground fine and mixed with enzymes. These compounds in the worm poop or castings are nutrient-rich for plants and make a superior soil amendment.
What other kinds of products do you make?
Bees and butterflies are losing habitat which includes important wildflowers used for food and shelter. We have created seed bombs which are small balls of vermicompost packed with wildflower seeds. We gather the seed from our gardens here in Cassville.
The seed bombs are for sale now at the Co-op. They make terrific gifts for a gardening friend or you can toss them where a splash of color and habitat is needed! If you are a by-the-book gardener, plant them at the edge of your garden or flowerbed this fall. The winter cold will insure the stratification needed by many wildflower seeds to emerge in the spring. Or, if you are a wildflower child, simply toss where some pollinator love is needed. Our seed bombs include milkweed, big and little bluestem, coneflower, zinnia, cosmos, borage, sunflowers and other beneficial seeds. The seed bombs are packaged in a compostable bag with a sprig of Russian Sage….super cute!
You can also special order a custom built worm bin complete with wigglers, bedding and instructions through the Co-op!
The bins are handcrafted out of cedar at Big River Organics, and include approximately 1,000 wigglers ready to compost food waste. I like the cedar because it breathes, allowing moisture to evaporate, unlike plastic units.
There is no smell, no escaping worms and it is a terrific way to teach kids about the benefits of composting. The secret is starting slow, burying a banana peel, apple core, or melon rind once a week under the bedding for your worms to munch. Once the food is gone, bury another fruit or veggie and it will soon disappear!
Our worms and bins are raised and built by us at Big River and we guarantee your complete satisfaction.
If a customer is feeling squeamish about putting worms in their house, how would you comfort them?
Red wiggler worms make terrific housemates! They like their environment dark and moist. You should feed them sparingly (one apple core or piece of melon rind) a week. Always bury the food waste under the bedding (shredded moist newspaper). Wigglers will stay happily in their bin unless the environment is too wet or overfed. Because wigglers like it dark, starting with a light source (bulb) above the bin will keep your new friends tucked in! This isn’t necessary, but if you are particularly concerned about escapees upon starting a bin, it provides extra peace of mind.
You were in the Retail Ready Lab—how did that impact your business?
I was thrilled to take part in the May 2019 Retail Ready Lab! I was able to meet Co-op customers at the three Co-op locations and chat about vermicompost. I started as a member way back in 1988 (when the Co-op was across the street in the current Social Justice Center). The Co-op is important to me as both a shopper and a vendor!
Is your farm open to the public?
Visitors are always welcome to tour our facility where we house our worms. Email us at skrause2630@gmail.com to schedule a visit! We have large bins in our building where we raise the livestock. To feed our wigglers, we recover fruit and veggie waste from grocery stores and Cassville Schools, keeping waste out of the landfill. The final product is vermicompost, the black gold which is a nutrient-packed soil amendment. Check out our website at bigriverorganics.com
Thank you for buying local and supporting small businesses!
