As someone without a yard and only one houseplant (Oliver decided the others were litter boxes), one of my major issues with vermicomposting is what to do with the finished compost. I’ve actually given a bunch of it to my family in Maine before. But now that warmer weather’s here my porch is an ideal space for potted plants, so I can put the worms’ hard work to use. Worm castings are a great fertilizer—better than regular compost. How can I use it in houseplants?

• Mix compost directly in with potting soil or sand. The ideal ratio is 1:5. Don’t use much more compost than this or the soil will retain too much water and the plants’ roots will rot. This is exactly what happened the first time I tried this a couple years ago.
• Steep the compost in water and use the resulting “tea” as liquid fertilizer. Mix two tablespoons of compost per liter of water and let it stand for a day.
• Put a layer of compost on top of the soil. Same idea as the previous one, but it’s less work. It also retains moisture like mulch, but might actually encourage weeds.

Basil, dill, and chives

For the herbs that we planted, we mixed compost directly in with the potting soil. I don’t know if it’s the compost or all the rain we’ve been getting lately, but they’re going nuts. It’s hard to use them as fast as they grow. Unfortunately, some sort of sprouts that were seeds in the compost are popping up, too. I actually have to weed my potted plants!

The Boston Globe’s Green Blog turned me onto Whole Food’s partnership with Cork Reharvest. We don’t drink much wine, but for those of you who do, just drop off your corks at participating Whole Foods.

My Venus replacement blades have started breaking—always in the same place and always in a perfectly straight line. At first I thought it was a faulty pack, but when I got a new one, they did the same thing. Then I thought that it was because I was using an older model handle with newer blades, so I got a new handle. They still broke. And if I look closely at the base of the replacement cartridge, the plastic’s actually thinner there. Am I paranoid to think that Gillette is making it that way so we have to replace them more often? Is anyone else having the same problem?

It breaks right down the middle, every time.

So I’m writing Gillette off for good and switching to Preserve. Their products are made from recycled plastic, and through their Gimme 5 program they accept all #5 plastics for recycling, not just their own. (You can drop them off at participating Whole Foods or mail them in.) In this case, I think only the handle is recyclable, not the replacement blades, so it doesn’t cut down on as much waste as I originally thought, but I do like supporting responsible companies.

I’ve been using the Venus for years, so it’s taking a little while to get used to the new razor. The whole thing is as light as a disposable—presumably to use less plastic—and the head is smaller and has sharper corners. But it works just as well, and it’s nice not to start off the morning with resentment burning in the pit of my stomach.

I’ve looked into other ways of removing hair, and unless I’m prepared to use a straight razor or try sugar waxing (which I’m not), it looks like replacement blades are the way to go. The best thing to do is figure out how to make the blades last longer. I know I should dry them off between uses, but I’ve also heard of storing them in olive oil. Has anyone tried this? Does it work? What other methods do you use to make your blades last longer?

Are my links too depressing? It’s not all gloom and doom…

• Visualizing the BP Oil Disaster – If It Was My Home. Wow. Just, wow. It’s bigger than Massachusetts.
• Defending Boston from the Sea – Boston Globe. Urban planners discuss how to protect against the sea level rising.
• Roundup-Resistant Superweeds Spread Throughout the U.S. – Change.org. The best argument I’ve heard against (certain) genetically engineered crops. I mean, creating plants you can use more herbicide on?
• USDA Maps the Need For Small Slaughterhouses – Change.org. It seems weird for a vegetarian to want more slaughterhouses, but Eating Animals showed me that in order for animals to be humanely slaughtered, they shouldn’t travel so far and farmers should have more choice in slaughterhouses.
• Trader Joe’s Needs to Provide Greater Transparency on Where Organic Food Comes From – Change.org. I knew there was a reason I disliked Trader Joe’s…
• Companies Embrace Gardens – WBUR. I love the idea of starting a garden at work. (Thanks, Alison!)
• No ‘Poo Update – Greenupgrader. I kind of want to try this. But, like with the deodorant, maybe I’ll wait until Christmas break.
• The Locavore’s Dilemma – Slate. My current mystery vegetable is bok choy. What do you do with bok choy?
• Sex and the City 2 Is the Greenest Movie of the Year – Grist. Obviously, this is tongue-in-cheek, and I haven’t seen the movie (yet), but I do like that Carrie and Big deciding to be childfree is presented as a valid option.

Tuesday was the first day of this year’s CSA with Stone Soup Farm. The haul is pretty sparse this time of year, but the greens are lovely. As for the rest, we’re going to go really basic and make a green garlic and bok choy sauté.

Week 1: bok choy, salad greens, kale, broccoli, green garlic, and eggs (not shown)

I’m actually glad that there wasn’t more, since I picked it up with my bike. The eggs got jostled a little bit, but they didn’t break. I don’t know what I’m going to do with the pounds and pounds of produce we get at the end of the year, but the system works perfectly for now.

The only problem: using my bike to pick up my CSA share creates far higher levels of smug than driving our Prius.