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!

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!