Iowa Worm Farm

06/02/2026

Indigenous microbes: 1
Adam: 0

This was my first IMO collection attempt of the year… and it failed.

IMO stands for Indigenous Microorganisms. The idea is to place cooked rice in a healthy natural area and collect some of the local biology that already lives there.

When it works, it can become a useful tool for composting and soil health.

When it doesn’t work, it becomes a colorful little mold museum.

I checked this after 5 days, and my best guess is that I let it sit a day or two too long. So I’m resetting, trying again, and checking earlier next time.

That’s part of the point of Iowa Worm Farm. I want to show the process — not just the pretty finished results.

Attempt #1 failed.

Attempt #2 is already underway.

May this one rest in moldy peace.

06/01/2026

What are we voting for?

Not politically.

With our money.

With our habits.

With the things we keep choosing, even when we say we want something different.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. My family has an ongoing conversation about our local McDonald’s. The service is inconsistent enough that even my kids notice it.

My response to them has been simple:

Until we stop giving them our money, they have no reason to change.

Of course, they still want the fries.

And honestly, I still want the fries too.

That’s the uncomfortable part.

Because this isn’t really about McDonald’s. It’s about all the things we keep choosing because they are easy, familiar, convenient, or comfortable.

It’s easy to talk about what other people should change.

Farmers should change.
Companies should change.
Stores should change.
Neighbors should change.

Maybe they should.

But what am I still voting for?

That’s the question I’m sitting with this week.

Full post here:
https://iowawormfarm.com/blogs/field-notes/what-are-we-voting-for

Every purchase is a vote. A reflective Iowa Worm Farm post about convenience, chemicals, food choices, and asking better questions about what we choose to support.

05/29/2026

Work in progress… and apparently I now haul giant plastic cubes around town.

These are the first IBC totes headed to the new Iowa Worm Farm shop, where I’ll be converting them into composters.

The plan is pretty simple:

Take local organic material that would otherwise be treated like waste.
Compost it.
Feed it to worms.
Turn it into something useful for soil, gardens, lawns, and local food systems.

Nothing fancy yet. No polished “after” photo. Just the beginning of the next phase — one tote, one load, and one slightly overconfident truck strap setup at a time.

The new shop is still a work in progress, but this felt like a small milestone worth sharing.

More composters coming soon.
More worms coming soon.
More controlled chaos coming soon.

And yes, I checked the straps approximately 400 times.

05/26/2026

“Education costs money.”

That’s something my dad has said for as long as I can remember.

I’ve been thinking about that phrase a lot lately as I work on the new Iowa Worm Farm shop. Progress has felt slower than I wanted it to feel, but I’m starting to realize something important:

Slow doesn’t mean failing.

Sometimes the extra time, extra cost, extra mistakes, and extra uncertainty are just part of the education.

The better question is:

Did I learn something?

This week’s Field Notes post is about learning through the messy middle, letting joy be part of the work, and remembering that progress does not always have to hurt to be real.

Read the full post here:
https://iowawormfarm.com/blogs/field-notes/education-costs-money

A personal reflection on learning, progress, uncertainty, and the reminder that growth does not always have to hurt. Sometimes the cost of the lesson is tuition.

05/23/2026

A few months ago, I shared that Iowa Worm Farm had officially outgrown the 70 square foot storage room inside my insurance office.

Well… this is the news. 👇

IWF now has about 750 square feet to work with here in North Liberty.

I’m calling it “the shop,” because that’s exactly what it was in its previous life. This building is about 115 years old, and at one time it was the actual shop for the farmstead.

Now it gets to be a shop again.

There’s something I really love about that.

It reminds me a little of Toy Story — when something old gets pulled back out, dusted off, and given a new purpose. I’m grateful to have the space, and in a weird way, it feels like the space is happy to have work to do again.

The plan is to build a larger indoor composting system so Iowa Worm Farm can divert more local food waste from the landfill and turn it into high-quality, biology-rich compost for the worm farm and our lawn care projects.

More compost.
More worms.
Less landfill.

It’s very much a “coming soon” situation. I’m still one guy, and I’m trying to do this the right way. That means testing, learning, adjusting, and probably saying “well, that didn’t work” more than once.

But this feels like a big step.

From 70 square feet to 750 square feet.

Let’s grow. 🪱

05/21/2026

767 pounds of coffee grounds diverted from the landfill.

That’s what Dunn Brothers Coffee in Coralville has helped Iowa Worm Farm accomplish so far.

Instead of going to waste, those used coffee grounds are getting a second life in our composting and worm farming systems — helping us turn a local waste stream into something that can go back into Iowa soil.

Huge thank you to Alex and the Dunn Brothers team for being willing to try something simple, local, and useful.

This is the mission in action: less waste, healthier soil, and more local resources staying local.

Also… 767 pounds of coffee grounds is a lot of coffee.

My worms are either thriving or preparing to open their own drive-thru.

05/18/2026

What’s on my mind this week?

Doing the right thing.

Or at least doing the best thing I know how to do with the information I have today.

This week’s Field Notes started with a few different moments that somehow all pointed in the same direction: a farmer defending the way he farms, my kids feeling embarrassed about dancing at a wedding reception, and my own reminder that most of what I worry about is outside my control.

The line I kept coming back to was this:

No one is watching us dance.

Not as much as we think they are, anyway.

Most people are busy thinking about themselves, their own choices, their own fears, and their own uncertainty.

So maybe the work is to do the thing anyway.

Dance if you want to dance.

Build the thing you feel called to build.

Do what you currently believe is right.

And stay open enough to admit that someday you may learn a better way.

That’s what this week’s post is about.

https://iowawormfarm.com/blogs/field-notes/no-one-is-watching-us-dance

A personal Field Notes reflection from Iowa Worm Farm on doing the right thing, questioning what we believe, and staying open to growth.

05/11/2026

I read a question in a book that has stuck with me:

**“How are you complacent in the very thing you say you want to change?”**

That one is uncomfortable.

At Iowa Worm Farm, I think about this a lot when it comes to waste, soil, local systems, convenience, and the gap between what I say I believe and how I actually live.

I say I want less waste.
I say I want stronger local systems.
I say I want to support locally owned businesses.

And still, I catch myself choosing convenience.

That doesn’t mean I’m failing. It means the work is real.

I don’t think the goal is perfection. If perfection is the goal, most of us will quit before we start.

The goal is awareness.

To notice the little contradictions. To pause long enough to ask whether my daily choices are aligned with the way I say I want to live.

Maybe real change doesn’t start with a giant announcement or a perfect system.

Maybe it starts with one uncomfortable question:

**What part do I play in keeping alive the very thing I say I want to change?**

Read the full post here: https://iowawormfarm.com/blogs/field-notes/the-part-i-play

A reflective post from Iowa Worm Farm about waste, convenience, local systems, and the honest work of noticing the part we play in the change we say we want.

05/08/2026

**Worms made it to the big stage.** 🪱🎤

Last week, Iowa Worm Farm completed the first phase of a soil-health project with North Liberty City Government — including the primary seating area at Centennial Park North Liberty,seating areas on both sides of the public pool, and a large section of Red Fern Dog Park.

Thank you to the City of North Liberty for trusting me to help develop and complete this first phase. This wasn’t a one-size-fits-all application. We worked through the goals, the sites, the timing, and the plan together — and then we got to work.

The goal is simple, but also kind of huge:

Can we help public outdoor spaces become healthier, more resilient, and less dependent on synthetic inputs over time?

That’s what regenerative lawn care means to me.

It’s not about a magic product.

It’s not about blaming anyone for how things have always been done.

It’s about asking a better question:

**What if more of the resources we already have locally could be turned back into healthier soil, healthier plants, and healthier public spaces?**

That’s why Iowa Worm Farm exists.

Yes, we raise worms.
Yes, we make worm castings.
Yes, I am now apparently the guy who gets excited about grass in public parks.

But the bigger mission is turning waste into value — keeping resources local, feeding the soil, reducing reliance on inputs that have to be manufactured and shipped from far away, and helping natural systems do more of the work they were designed to do.

This started in my own lawn a few years ago.

Then it became Iowa Worm Farm.

And now, we’re getting the chance to apply that same soil-first thinking in public spaces used by families, kids, dogs, neighbors, and the whole community.

Small worms. Big goals.

Let’s grow something good, North Liberty. 🪱🌱

05/04/2026

Will you be okay without me?

That is a question I ask my kids all the time.

It sounds a little strange, but the real question underneath it is this:

Am I helping build something strong enough to stand without me?

That idea has been on my mind a lot lately.

As a dad.
As a business owner.
As someone trying to grow Iowa Worm Farm.
And as someone working with soil, lawns, and living systems.

A lot of modern business is built around dependence. More inputs. More replacements. More things that keep people needing the next thing.

But I’m trying to think about it differently.

With soil, lawns, gardens, and even people, the goal shouldn’t be endless dependence.

The goal should be resilience.

Deeper roots.
Better function.
More life.
Less force over time.

That’s what this week’s Field Notes post is about.

Full post here: https://iowawormfarm.com/blogs/field-notes/built-to-thrive-without-me

A reflection from Iowa Worm Farm on fatherhood, business, soil health, and building resilient systems that need less intervention over time.