Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Growing and learning every day

Wow! Did you see the newspaper articles (VA Gazette and Daily Press) last week announcing how Williamsburg Montessori was able to get WormWatchers using the HRClean grant. This month four more schools purchased WormWatchers with this simple grant. Teachers in the Hampton Roads area take advantage of this opportunity to purchase equipment that teaches hands-on science.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

WormWatcher Tip of the Week: Dig In and Learn! Humor Helps.

WormWatchers,

       We all hesitate at first to dig into the bin. Yet digging in and exploring the work your worms are doing is the most educational part of worm composting! When composting outside, we don't get to see the details, and I believe its why we so often fail at other forms of composting and give up on it altogether. Once you go through composting over 9 weeks, you will find yourself becoming an expert.

        Every two weeks, it helps to get a closer look at your bin. Around the second or third week after you start a new bin, it looks as though nothing is happening. Then, voila! The worms start making babies and black trails (castings) appear throughout the bin.

        I learn from my worms. Depending on the amount and type of food, the soil may be too wet (if an odor is present, then add paper) or too dry (worms need moisture to breathe). Healthy bins are odorless! When I open my bin, I like to mix the soil to see how my worms are enjoying their food. Turning helps aerate the soil on top which speeds up composting. Then I add moist shredded newspaper on top to encourage mating. This also helps food to stay buried - unburied food can lead to fruit flies. I like to limit feeding to once a week and digging a hole along one side of the WormWatcher so the food is easily visible along the sides. Some folks collect scraps in a pot - this helps speed up decomposition as well. The smaller the scraps, the faster the composting.

 EPIC worm video: Worms Gruntin in Sopchoppy Florida



I heard about this contest from a Florida vendor at the American Association of  Aquariums and Zoos: the annual Worm Grunting Contest.  This film clip tells a story about worm farmers and this unusual contest:  a great message and  fun earthworm facts.

Have a good week!

Thursday, April 1, 2010

WormWatcher Tip of the Week: Inspirational tips for Teaching!

Quick reminders:  Bury the food, add moist shredded paper on top to create a playground for materials to encourage mating.  The worms will keep processing the compost and make it finer if you forget to feed them.  By the way, melon rinds or whole fruits (bananas) make great vacation food when covered with soil about an inch below the surface.

Can you feel the creativity in the air???  Spring is a great time to get excited about gardening and worms.   Check out the items below for some much needed inspiration!

Video to share with your students:
White House Planting the Spring Garden (March 31st):


VIDEO TO RELAX AND INSPIRE!
No Impact Man:  book and movie (available on Net-Flix): No Impact Man: The Documentary - No Impact Man(2009) NR –(My comment: Lots of  VULGAR LANGUAGE)  Watch first – great discussion primer!!

http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/No_Impact_Man_The_Documentary/70112474?strackid=65f9bc3040156e7f_0_srl&strkid=405018660_0_0&trkid=438381

A Fifth Avenue family goes very green when writer Colin Beavan leads his wife, Michelle Conlin, and their baby daughter on a yearlong crusade to make no net impact on the environment in this engaging documentary. Among their activities: eating only locally grown organic food, generating no trash except for compost and using no carbon-fueled transportation. Laura Gabbert and Justin Schein's film premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.

Worm font!
http://www.dafont.com/the-worms.font  (thanks HRA!)

 Demonstration Examples:  A special thanks to HRA for these photos!


Tuesday, March 23, 2010

WormWatcher Tip of the Week: Harvesting Worms and Worm Castings

Fellow WormWatchers,

If you have been composting over 30 days, dig around in the soil once in a while to see how your worm population is doing.  Is it increasing or decreasing? Many of the bins we have been visiting are showing signs of reproduction.  Opening up the soil adds a little extra aeration and helps you get a better sense of what is happening and how happy the worms are.  Just check out the moisture, add paper if too wet or water if too dry (use the squeeze test if you are not sure – a few drops when you squeeze a handful of dirt.)   If you see lots of worms, consider harvesting them for the garden.  Don't be shy about adding paper, worms need fiber in the bedding.

Side note: if your hinges squeak, add a dab of olive oil and turn the hinge.  It goes away.

Many of you wondered how to harvest your worms – it’s simple.  Do not feed the bin for a few days.  Add a very ripe melon or any juicy treat to the top and leave overnight.  The worms will gradually move towards the food and make a “ball.”  Several of you asked what a worm “ball” looks like.  Here is one we harvested for a teacher:

Use a similar method to harvest the worm castings.

1. Move the content of the bin to one side.
2. Put in fresh, moist bedding (I recommend shredded newspaper)  and food in the other half of the bin.  Worms will gradually migrate to side of bin with new food and bedding.
3. Harvest your vermicompost (worm castings or worm compost.)  Don’t worry if you have a few stray worms left in the compost.


Remember that worm castings are very high in nutrients.  Numerous ways to use worm castings include:

· Potting soil (10-15% castings recommended by VA Extension Service, 50% by WormWoman)
· Fertilizer for starting seeds - sprinkle lightly in seed beds or seed pots/trays.
· Fertilizer for transplanting plants - put small amounts in planting hole
· Top dressing in garden (1/4 inch layer)

Happy Spring to you all! Next week, we discuss fun classroom activities.

Best,

Gina

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

WormWatcher Tip of the Week: Air Flow

Fellow Wormwatchers,

As we all experience the wild weather patterns of snow, wind and rain, I would love to hear how your worms are reacting.  For blind creatures, they are quite amazing and seem to react to the weather. I just heard a national speaker talk about soil food web at a gardening symposium.   After listening to his presentation, the evidence for the benefits of worm composting, worm tea and organic gardening were striking.  Many of you may not know my academic background in addition to teaching middle school science.   I began teaching after completing a bachelors in biology, a masters in marine policy, and a doctorate program all but dissertation in environmental science and public policy.   The speaker uses a detailed food web of microbes in the soil and relates it to soil ecology and chemical changes we make to the soil when we add man-made fertilizers and pesticides.  I really appreciated how revolutionary this information is and  I will attempt to share more, including his name and book information, in later WormWatcher tips.   This week let’s just focus on air flow.  As you know air flow and the worms are what makes the WormWatcher so successful.

Worm movement  is an indicator – of what?  Our guesses include relative humidity, barometric air pressure, oxygen levels in the soil, or ions in the air (a suggested hypothesis by a well-known local  meteorologist). What do you see?  We have been observing a lot this past week.  It’s fascinating to see how moisture levels vary in the worm bins and how it affects observations.  Depending on the amount of food,  the water in the soil and air varies.   We sometimes see:

Cloudy bins:  These bins are very wet when opened and you will see worms on the lid.  If so, try leaving the latch open to decrease the air humidity.  If you see this developing, try opening the latch overnight. So far, no worms have escaped and it makes the them return to their home for food.

Wet bins: I see more worms along the sides when the bins are wet – which is fun for students, but make sure the soil is not too wet and air pockets (paper/fiber) are present to keep oxygen levels high in the soil.    We want to keep the worm home healthy and avoid anaerobic (no oxygen) conditions!  The worms are working hard processing your waste.  Let’s keep them happy.   If you see the soil becoming mucky, add paper.   The worms often travel around the bin when it’s wet as well.  Sometimes, the bin is dry and they take a “bath”.  My educated guess on this move is to help them breathe since their skin needs to be moist  to breathe.  Aren’t they fun to watch? 

We very rarely hear of worm escapes – usually during major storms.  Strangely enough, our wormologist will see worm in one of his 200 bins usually when it happens too.  We always want to know when this happens so please let us know.   If you try reducing the humidity in your worm bin by leaving the latch open overnight, we doubt that worms will escape.    The worms prefer to stay in the soil when they have a happy home.

Next week, I want to share some great tips and information about worm castings.

Best composting wishes!  Gina

Friday, February 26, 2010

WormWatcher Tip of the Week: Cool observations!

WormWatchers,

Just a reminder to keep the food buried as folks add their food garbage to avoid “undesired” critters. I love adding several inches of shredded newspaper. Soil/compost manure works too if you have some around.

When composting really starts in the WormWatcher, it is fascinating and a bit nasty looking (to me at least). This “ugly” stage passes quickly, so have faith. Instead, perhaps this time capture your scientific spirit! Here’s some ideas:

· Test the pH of food and soil before, during and after composting. Does acid food make the soil more acidic? Does basic food make the soil less? Note trends and changes.

· Measure the temperature in different areas of the composter. Is the soil warmer in areas of decomposition/worms eating? (Note decomposition is similar to cellular respiration in organisms and energy is released.)

· Observe the movement of the worms (very fun to note during these snowy and stormy days!!). Why do they move out of the soil at times? Are they responding to moisture? humidity? Ionics in the air? wind, barometric pressure? Let me know what you infer!

Check out what other WormWatchers are saying about their wormwatching experience on my website. Also I will be posting more grant information later this week!

Friday, February 19, 2010

WormWatcher Tip of the Week: Fiber

Like us, worms like and need fiber. By fiber, I mean newspaper.  You can substitute cardboard or white paper, but it breaks down more slowly. The carbon/cellulose in the paper is an energy source for the worms.   If the paper has disappeared, it's time to add some new fiber to help aerate the soil, absorb extra moisture, and provide nutrition. Paper shredders make this so easy! I do suggest 1-2 inches of shredded paper on top for extra food coverage.  As you recycle your paper, you will be creating a playground for the mating worms.  Remember healthy composting should be odorless.  Add more fiber if you detect any smell. Sometimes when I leave food on the surface, there can be an odor - but the odor immediately vanishes once you bury the food with soil and/or paper.

Happy composting! Love to hear about your composting experience.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

WormWatching Tip of the Week: Moisture

Worms need moisture to breathe through their skin.   Worms are made of approximately 70% water, and they like their environment to be moist too.  The moisture in your bin will depend on what food you feed it.    To check the moisture, squeeze the soil and you should one to five drops of water drip from your soil clump.  If the  soil is too wet/mucky or there is a smell, add shredded paper.

(FYI, we also use and sell moisture probes if you don’t want to get your hands dirty.)

Worms do not like lots of water. If it’s very humid out or your bin is very wet, you will see them on the lid, up the sides and down in the well.  We are having lots of fun watching how they respond to NorEasters and huge storms – they crawl out of the soil as if they are anticipating lots of rain. Don’t panic, they will not escape the WormWatcher, even in dome top/greenhouse model.   If there is food present, they won’t want to migrate.

EXPERIMENT IDEA:  Could they be weather indicators??

Other Fun Field Observations from WormWatchers This Week: 
Potato buds are sprouting (unintentionally!)
Cranberries aren’t breaking down.
Worms are loving pumpkins – especially rotting ones.
Only the green outer skin was left from a watermelon.

Maintenance Tip:  Use moist newspaper that is machine shredded on top!  It helps keep the moisture higher in the bin.  Mix it with your soil when more fiber and air is needed.