Iowa Worm Farm

10/15/2026

114,500 square feet of turf covered in Living Rain today.

That’s the most ground I’ve ever covered in one day.

Both the truck and me need a bath!

10/12/2026

What’s on my mind?

A clump of mulch.

Look closely at the little white threads running across the wood. They look almost like tiny root hairs. This fungal growth had woven through the mulch enough to hold separate pieces together.

I found it beneath a customer’s tree while returning for the final Living Rain application of the season. Last year, I applied fungal spores and foods before adding wood mulch. This year, I returned for several applications.

Those threads are called hyphae. Together, they form mycelium. Decomposer fungi help break down organic matter and move nutrients through the soil food web.

Living Rain changes with the seasons. The fall blend focuses on fungal inoculation and support for fungal growth, with decomposer spores and microbial foods. As trees enter dormancy, some fungi can continue growing in cold soils when conditions allow.

I can’t tell from the photo whether these particular fungi came from my applications or were already present. What I could see was fungal growth holding the mulch together.

I was happy to find it.

Sometimes a clump of mulch is worth stopping for.

Read “The Little White Threads Holding It Together” in Field Notes on the Iowa Worm Farm website.

Curious about Living Rain or our Groundwell lawn and landscape program? Reach out.

10/10/2026

Found a great spot for an IMO (indigenous micro organism) trap today.

I’m pretty pumped to see what I catch.

This is the first time I’m setting one next to a log covered in turkey tail mushrooms.

Did you know that Turkey Tail mushrooms are one of only a few species that can break down micro plastics?

10/08/2026

Sometimes the weather makes the schedule.

I didn’t wake up this morning planning to inoculate 200 pounds of grass seed.

But the North Liberty City Government called. The weather was finally cooperating, and it was time to overseed the dog park.

So, we made room for the work that needed to be done.

We’re trying something new this year. A perennial ryegrass from United Seeds in Omaha called Lateral Rye. I discovered it while researching seed for my own lawn and was intrigued by its ability to spread laterally, filling in bare spots and potentially crowding out weeds.

I’m using it alongside my existing grasses. Variety is the spice of life, after all.

When I learned the city was overseeding, I shared what I’d found, and they decided to give it a try, too.

Today I’m inoculating the seed with beneficial biology, followed by an application of our Living Rain extract after planting.

I’m optimistic. Now we just need Mother Nature to give those seedlings enough time to establish before winter.

Sometimes you can’t plan around nature. You just have to recognize the opportunity and show up.

Here’s to 200 pounds of possibility. 🌱🐾

10/06/2026

“Holy Moly Wormman!! I am ecstatic!” 🪱🌱

When a Master Gardener sends you a text like that, it makes your whole week.

One of my customers in Iowa City had a trouble spot between the sidewalk and street. After pulling the knotweed that had taken over, she was left with a lot of bare ground. She asked for help.

I pretreated the seed with beneficial microbes, seaweed, humic substances, and nutrients. After spreading it, I watered it in with our Living Rain formula.

Five days later, this text arrived. 💚

She reported germination starting at just THREE days—even though the temperatures had her expecting at least ten before seeing anything.

“Nothing makes me happier than good seed germination!”

For me? Getting to surprise a Master Gardener is pretty hard to beat.

That same care and curiosity go into **Groundwell, Iowa Worm Farm’s lawn and landscape health program.** We handle the mixing, equipment, and application of Living Rain, with the goal of supporting healthier soil and stronger, fuller lawns.

🍂 **This fall:** There’s still an opportunity to give your soil some attention before winter. Reach out about a Living Rain application.

🌱 **Looking ahead to 2027:** Groundwell applications can be scheduled as often as every 30 days. You choose the number of visits to fit your goals and budget.

Applications are **$15 per 1,000 square feet**, with service focused within approximately **15 miles of North Liberty**.

Interested in fall, next year, or both? **Message Iowa Worm Farm or visit the Lawn & Landscape page at iowawormfarm.com to get an estimate and request service.**

Let’s see what we can grow together. 🪱

10/05/2026

“How do I use your worm castings on my lawn?”

People kept asking. For a long time, I didn’t have a convenient answer.

That question led to tanks and pumps, courses, a microscope, and four years of work on my own lawn. Now it has led to Groundwell by Iowa Worm Farm.

Groundwell is our lawn and landscape health program. Living Rain is the liquid biological amendment we apply. We handle the mixing, equipment, and application, with the goal of building a better lawn through healthier soil.

Last Friday, I also built Daisy: my first 240-gallon compost pile in the new system at the shop. Parts of the system still aren’t finished. But Daisy exists.

Apparently, I’m learning that taking the next step doesn’t require knowing every step after it.

We’re accepting inquiries for fall applications and the 2027 program, starting within approximately 15 miles of North Liberty. The website now has a lawn-size estimator and service request form.

This week’s Field Notes shares how it all connects:

Meet Groundwell, Iowa Worm Farm’s lawn and landscape program. See how Living Rain developed and request fall or 2027 service near North Liberty.

09/08/2026

I’ve been thinking a lot about change—and the choices that quietly keep us stuck.

Sometimes a choice isn’t a clear “yes” or “no.” It can be indecision, avoiding an uncomfortable conversation or continuing to respond the way we always have.

Last week, two people offered to help with my work at the Iowa Worm Farm. Instead of treating their offers as polite comments and moving on, I told them exactly what I needed.

That was uncomfortable. Accepting their help may be even more uncomfortable because it will require me to explain the desired outcome and give them room to accomplish it their own way.

Maybe being ready for change doesn’t mean abandoning our standards. Maybe it means separating the standards that matter from our personal preferences for how everything gets done.

What do you say you want to change—and what choice might be helping your current situation continue?

Read the full post: https://iowawormfarm.com/blogs/field-notes/the-choices-that-keep-us-stuck

Change requires more than awareness. A reflection on perfectionism, asking for help, trusting others and the small choices that can keep us stuck.

08/31/2026

I skipped my cold plunge this morning.

I know.

Scandalous.

It left me thinking about one of the phrases I repeat whenever I want to quit:

“You can do hard things.”

I still believe that.

But what if working hard has never been my problem?

I’ve always believed I could become the best in the world at something. I haven’t done it.

That hurts to admit.

I can look back at an enormous amount of work. I can also see my attention spread across a hundred different things.

Right now, I believe my best opportunity is perfecting Iowa Worm Farm’s extraction and brewing process for lawns.

Doing that may require something harder than lifting another bucket or working another long day.

It may require choosing one process, observing it carefully, and allowing 99 other interesting things to remain unfinished.

Maybe focus isn’t only choosing what to work on.

Maybe focus is deciding what you’re willing to leave undone.

Read the full post, “The Hard Work of Being Patient”:

https://iowawormfarm.com/blogs/field-notes/the-hard-work-of-being-patient

Hard work can become a distraction. Here’s what brewing soil biology is teaching me about patience, focus, and giving one process enough time.

08/25/2026

I always thank people when they offer to help with Iowa Worm Farm.

And then I keep carrying the buckets myself.

Last week, that caught up with me.

It was about 90 degrees with no wind, and I was loading the first bin of my new compost system—105 five-gallon buckets and roughly 3,000 pounds of material that needed to be prepared and lifted by hand.

Eventually, I sat down on a bucket.

When I tried to stand back up, I couldn't.

You might think that would have been the moment I decided to stop.

It wasn't.

Apparently I'm still learning the difference between being *able* to do something myself and needing to do everything myself.

But the experience uncovered something else that I'm a little nervous to admit:

**What if I ask for help and no one comes?**

And maybe an equally scary question:

**What if somebody does?**

That's what this week's Field Note is about.

Maybe accepting help isn't admitting that I can't carry the bucket.

Maybe it's recognizing that I don't have to carry every bucket myself.

https://iowawormfarm.com/blogs/field-notes/what-if-no-one-comes

I’ve always been good at doing things myself. But building Iowa Worm Farm is forcing me to ask a harder question: What if I actually ask for help?

08/17/2026

“No one is going to believe this.”

Both glasses contain water from the same well at my Iowa Worm Farm shop.

The orange water came directly from the hydrant. The clear one passed through a gravity-fed filtration system I built using layers of rock, sand, and pyrolyzed charcoal.

The visual difference is incredible—but I’m waiting for the laboratory results before drawing conclusions about what the filter is actually removing.

Building the system also taught me something I wasn’t expecting.

The hardest part was washing 300 pounds of sand, approximately 20 pounds at a time, until the water ran clear. I repeatedly wanted to decide it was “good enough” and move on.

But if the filter didn’t work, I would always wonder whether the design had failed—or whether I had compromised it by rushing.

Somewhere in all that rinsing, I realized I was treating the task as time standing between me and the finished filter.

But washing the sand was the work.

And those hours were my life, too.

This week’s Field Notes is about doing the work correctly, staying present while doing it, and what 300 pounds of sand managed to teach me.

Read “Until the Water Ran Clear”:

https://iowawormfarm.com/blogs/field-notes/until-the-water-ran-clear

Building a gravity-fed water filter taught me that doing the work right matters—but so does being present for the slow, repetitive work along the way.