Worms Go To School

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If your school has not already joined the “green wave of composting” what better time to start than during International Compost Awareness Week (May 7 – 13). The 2006 theme is Get Flower Power...Compost! Simply revamp an Earth Week display to include more compost information and a worm bin (vermicomposter) with red wigglers. Not only will these lowly workers divert unwanted food from landfill, but also create rich fertilizer called castings (worm poo) for the school’s plants.

If you plan to aquire a backyard composter as well, all staff, including the custodian and lunchroom supervisors, should be on board. To set up a worm bin in your classroom, check out suppliers or make your own. Toronto area supplier Cathy Nesbitt presents workshops at schools and her website www.cathyscomposters.com offers excellent information. Worms suitable for vermicomposting are red wigglers that retail at $40 a pound, the amount needed for the average bin the size of a blue box. As worms are sensitive to light, bins need to be opaque with a lid. Drill holes in the lid for air as well as in the bottom for more ventilation and to allow any excess water to escape. Tape fine netting over the holes and set the bin on a tray.

The bedding, damp as a wrung-out sponge, is basically a “sea” for the worms to be able to burrow in freely. Fill the bin with shredded, dampened newspapers (let tap water sit out 48 hours for any chlorine to evaporate). Also include some soil for grit.

To feed your red wigglers, collect apple cores, tea bags, etc. in a large jar. Once or twice a week a designated student buries the food scraps (in a different location each time) at least two centimetres below the surface of the bedding for the worms to find. To avoid fruit flies, put orange peels in the outdoor composter. Red wigglers like food chopped into small pieces for faster decomposition. Do not include meat, fat, bones, dairy products or oils. Sprinkle in crushed eggshells at least once a month to offset acidity. Red wigglers eat their weight in food scraps and bedding everyday; it won’t take long before you discover how much food to feed them.

Your new pets are not just a squirm of pretty faces. Besides environmental and scientific studies, their presence contributes to a variety of subjects from math calculations to history lessons with Darwin. Art and creative thinking can decorate their home. Write poems, stories, skits and songs (Pretty Worman Wiggling in the Bin). As worms are very prolific, skills in public speaking can be honed while promoting worm bins to other classes. As well, junk food decreases as children bring in bananas, etc. to feed the compost critters.
In a few months, when the bedding has turned to castings, it will be time to harvest (screen the soil). You will need a bucket to gather that “black gold” as well as materials for fresh bedding. Do not feed the worms for a few days prior to harvesting to allow existing food to be consumed. Also, if your worm bin is too wet, the lid should be removed for a day or two.

This task is relaxing, fun and rewarding. It is an opportunity to allow slow learners to shine with the high achievers in their observations to discover baby worms, unhatched eggs, any sowbugs that may appear, sprouting seeds, and rotting veggies. Set out a microscope to catch even more of the magic!

To begin harvesting, students sit around a large table placed in a well-lit area. Dump the bin’s contents onto plastic sheeting or dampened newspaper; this prevents moisture from draining away from the baby worms. The empty worm bin is given to other students to make up fresh bedding.

Separate the large pile of compost into smaller piles for each student. As worms do not like the light, allow a few minutes for them to burrow. Children then gently scoop the castings from the sides and top of their respective piles into a bucket and set any worms, eggs, and non-decomposed food to one side to be returned to the worm bin along with the damp newspaper. The bottom of their earthy piles will reveal a delightful ball of worms. Oh Joy!

Return the worms to their bin with fresh bedding. The harvesters have castings to either sprinkle on the school’s plants or be bagged and sold as a fundraiser. During the warm months, some of the red wigglers can be placed in the nature garden and into the outdoor composter.

As Paul Taylor of Compost Management stated, “I believe we have a lot of work to do in changing society’s attitude towards organics. We’ve been taught it’s unhygienic to touch this stuff and we should just throw it away. Instead we have to learn to see organics in a positive light and as a source of our soil’s fertility in the future. Composting will help children develop a healthier attitude.”

Compost is more than a fertilizer, more than a soil conditioner... it is a symbol of continuing life. Let’s make May 1st Worm Day.

For information about the Composting Council of Canada, visit: www.compost.org

Larraine Roulston is the author of three illustrated children’s adventure books that help teach composting, for more information visit: www.castlecompost.com