What is left of my time is used to create new resources for the Waste Education Services and Energy in Schools programmes, and to try several other activities, like editing a scrapbook, having a go at maintaining the website, nec.org.nz, doing research on packaging and food prizes, and giving workshops on worm farms to kindergarten and primary school children, together with Sarah Langi and Mary Curnow from the waste education programme.
The transformation was made possible by Manipal University through adopting innovative and scientific methods in the areas of solid waste management, rainwater harvesting, making vermin-compost, energy conservation and waste water recycling.
THE Christmas break is an ideal time to start a worm farm at home.
Some final tips for worm farm lovers to make sure the little wrigglies remain happy and healthy and do the job they are supposed to do.
Featured classes include "Best Cultivation Practices," to address watering, trellising, feeding, weeding, pest management, pinching and pruning, and "Feeding the Soil" which will focus on fertilizer types, uses, signs of deficiency and worm composting.
Composting, worm farming and planting are popular, although eating the final product is a winner, she says.
Weaving a success story in organic farming of paddy using green manure on three lakh hectares of land without use of the urea, a chemical fertilizer, Bihar has taken a lead in sustainable agriculture by developing vermiculture on a large scale with involvement of 20 entrepreneurs and 40,000 farmers.
When much of the city is crying out over the pathetic urban waste management, three students from Modern College of Arts, Science and Commerce have come up with a model on ‘urban domestic waste management using vermitechnology’.
Reduce the amount of food disposed in landfills by placing all organic waste in worm farms or compost heaps.
Macarthur Centre for Sustainability will host a "Worm farming for kids" workshop on Thursday, January 5 from 10am to noon. Learn how easy it is to turn your food scraps into fertiliser for your garden with the help of worms.
This is the start of our windrows in Tennessee, some of the worms will come from the harvesters to start the vermicomposting, we can work the pH range and the N-P-K value due to the feed selecton, this is one of many ways we can custom fit to your agriculture needs.
The school already has a wind turbine, solar panels, a wetland, worm farms, chooks and eco-friendly packaging in the canteen - it’s a real environmental champion.
The second proven commercial operation that uses manure, along with other silage spoilage, is vermicomposting. The largest vermicomposting facility in the Western Hemisphere is in the FLR. It produces 2.5 million pounds of the highest grade certified organic compost annually, with an estimated value of $5 million to $7 million.
The garden site now has a shed, raised garden beds, worm farms, a shipping container for storage and plenty of food growing already.
Monitors collect lunch scraps daily, feeding them to a worm farm and about 25 chickens in a split-level run.
"These young innovators have also implemented lots of water-saving features at the kindergarten, which means they can look after their own organic food garden with water from their tank, as well as feeding it with their composting and worm farming activities.
Some people seem to think once worm food such as horse or cow manure dries out,it is useless.This is not true! In this video i simply added water to a large cup of dried horse manure,and drained the water off.Then put it in a worm tub.Two days later?Worms don't lie!
When i heard about this idea i thought it was genius and just had to try it!!! It's a Worm Composting Tower that goes directly in the garden.The worms come and go as they please...breaking down your kitchen waste and improving your garden soil all at the same time....
So if u've been thinking about getting into vermiculture...id say this is a good, easy, and cheap way to go...
"The building in Edson was built for recycling and processing it," said Auriat. "But over the last 10 years we've gotten a lot more involved in education programming and we do worm composting. We just need more space for that portion of what we do."
On the garden front, they want more community and church gardens, plus gardens on fraternity lawns, municipal land and vacant private land. Schoolchildren and teachers could do with more school gardens, cooking programs, greenhouses, high tunnels and worm composting, plus field trips to help at area farms and a summer farm camp — maybe a seed to grow into a full-fledged farm school.
Good ideas coalesce as locals learn to adapt
Read more: http://www.centredaily.com/2011/12/01/3005024/good-ideas-coalesce-as-locals.html#ixzz1g3vJJge1
About a year later a friend offered me her worm composting farm complete with worms. It was commercially made with four stackable trays, and a runoff spout at the bottom for excess moisture. It was on legs, and came with a digging tool, so I didn’t have to put on gloves every time I buried kitchen scraps. I decided to give vermiculture a second try.
The second term will run from Sept. 6 to Dec. 6. It includes such topics as pesticide safety, native plants, integrated pest management, lawns, diagnosing and preventing disease, plant propagation, small fruits and berries, tree identification, worm composting, perennial and woody plants, water-wise gardening and bees.
Wade began worm composting in his classroom and encouraged students to promote composting in the cafeteria, which led to compost bins being placed in each classroom.
Students at Truckee Elementary now think twice before chucking their apple cores and peanut butter and jelly crusts, thanks to a worm composting program funded by a Tahoe Truckee Excellence in Education grant.
Excellence in Education's Thanks for Giving: Truckee Elementary School worm composting
This farm is seriously rad, in a way that the younger kids at the school might not even grasp. The greenhouse is chockablock with innovative solutions: rainwater catchment, wind energy, aquaponics, worm composting, solar panels, and a weather station that lets students monitor conditions in the greenhouse. By the time they graduate in 8th grade, P.S. 333 students will probably have encountered more sustainable living and urban agriculture ideas than most adults in New York.
That class, called vermi-composting, comes complete with a bin and about 500 worms. These aren't just any worms; they're red wigglers from Georgia.
"Some people raise sheep, some people raise cattle, you guys are going to be worm farmers!" Carol Blair told a group of gathered children aged six to sixteen.
You may have read the recent article about a worm composting program we started at the Boys and Girls Club. We expect the offspring of these worms to join a composting program at the community farm turning vegetable waste into organic matter that enriches the soil. The initial produce will go to the kids working at the community farm and their families.
In recent years, the college has sent fruit and vegetable waste from preparing meals at Stevenson -- melon rinds and carrot tops, for example -- to the college's George Jones Memorial Farm. The farm receives about 200 pounds a week and turns that waste into fertilizer through its worm composting program.
"Around the building we're putting in worm farms, vegetable plots and compost bins to complement the internal facility."
"We're semi-rural, so a lot of [the pupils] come from lifestyle blocks and they've starting making worm farms at home. It's great to see them getting so involved."
Like at other community gardens, there are beehives, worm farms and compost bins. Volcanic stone walls look ancient but are newly laid for communal beds.
At Waimataitai, pupils have reduced their waste through litter-less lunches, worm farms and recycling.
Camberley Kindergarten - successful and imaginative development of a vegetable and fruit garden to benefit the health and knowledge of children and their families, demonstrating sustainable practices such as composting and worm farms.
The average person throws away 4.5 pounds of trash every day, according to officials with the North Carolina Cooperative Extension, and for those who would like to reduce that amount, there will be a workshop on Wednesday from 3 to 5 p.m. to explain how to do just that.
Composting and vermiculture workshop to show ways people can reduce wasteRead more: Mount Airy News - Composting and vermiculture workshop to show ways people can reduce waste
I brought home a cottage cheese size container full of red wiggler worms (Eisenia foetida), the best ones for composting because they stay near the surface and are said to eat about half their weight in garbage every day.
"From now on I'm going to use vermiculture (composting using earthworms), which does not require a major investment, and I know that many people will see what I'm doing and want to replicate it," she said.
The fuel for the organic produce, nutrient-rich compost, will come from the Waynesboro Boys and Girls Club, where uneaten snack and dinner items will be composted at the club by 10,000 worms.
Langelo said she started with a couple pounds of worms from a worm farm when she first began her vermicompost bin. “Two pounds of worms can recycle a pound of food waste in 24 hours,” she said. “Just add the worms to the top of the prepared bin and they will make their way into the bedding.”
Thanks to Goulburn Produce and Tumbleweed, two compost bins and two worm farms have been donated as prizes for the most enthusiastic schools or pre-school organisations in joining in National Recycling Week activities and the colouring- in competition.
"They are learning about gardens, compost and worm farms.
Piper squeals in fascination as a pink worm squirms in her fingers.
She is in prep and is interested in making healthy soil with a worm farm."
The Wintles have drought-proofed their garden with six tanks giving 107,000 litres of water and use seaweed fertilisers, mulching, worm farms, composting and native beehives to keep it healthy and productive.
The composting worms most often used are Eisenia foetida, commonly known as red wigglers, and can be purchased at garden centers, bait shops or from suppliers on the Internet. This type of worm has adapted to living in decaying organic material, and it thrives in rotting vegetation.Read more: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2011/11/09/1828017/vermiculture-let-the-worms-do.html#ixzz1dgp0wDCG
Vermiculture: Let the worms do the dirty workRead more: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2011/11/09/1828017/vermiculture-let-the-worms-do.html#ixzz1dgonYCoX
Composting with worms is a great way to recycle kitchen scraps, even year-round, when outdoor piles are frozen. One pound of red wigglers (not earthworms or nightcrawlers) eat a pound of scraps per week, and if they’re happy, they’ll have babies and you can compost even more.
She is especially interested in worm composting to create urban scale systems that produce clean soil and healthy food. “I get to live into my values,” says Nancy. “I feel very blessed.”
LEARN VERMICOMPOSTING: Oregon State University Extension Service has come out with booklet on worm composting or vermiculture that tells you how to do it and gives instructions on how to make a worm bin. Download the free publication at the OSU Extension Service website.
The vermicompost is a simple process through which various species of worms are used to enhance the decomposing and recycling cycle of organic matter to produce nutritient-rich compost that works as an excellent fertilizer, soil conditioner, and a natural pesticide. The chief objective is to compost organic wastes not for the disposal of solid organic wastes but also to produce superior quality manure to feed our nutrient/organic matter hungry soils.Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/314076#ixzz1d9wp6L6F
This is my method for worm composting, based on eight years of experimenting.
In the giant worm bin - the technical term for it is "continuous flow vermicomposting system" - the worms will eat their fill, leaving behind worm "castings," as the crawlers' excretions are politely known.
A worm factory is a multi-tray system that can be adjusted as needed. The bottom tray collects the worm castings that have broken down the household waste into organic soil. It can be emptied monthly as the worms consume the compost.
This looks like a great program and a wonderful idea to get into the schools:
Earth Matters is excited to offer a new and exciting composting education program to Nelson schools with their Worm Bin Library! Teachers in Nelson and area can sign out a worm bin, ready with worms and an educational presentation by a local composting educator to use in their classrooms. Students can have a hands-on experience with worm composting, learn how it reduces our carbon footprint, and see how it transforms food scraps into healthy soil.
Inside, we took out most of the seats, because the staff sleeps and lives on it while they’re traveling. We added an indoor classroom, with a mini kitchen and worm composting. We carry around a solar oven and a bike that generates energy and makes light bulbs light up, and set those up as different educational stations when we visit places.
Wilson Insurance has made it to gold medal status by reducing office waste by more than 25 per cent by implementing a recycling program in both of its Fredericton offices. It has also started a green bin program with the use of an army of red worms to aid in the compost process. People are so intrigued with the workings of red-worm composting that staff has already had to add more bins to accommodate all of the organic waste.
Master composter training includes workshops on the art and science of basic and worm composting, field trips, certification and all training materials. Training enhances the skills of community leaders, activists, educators, environmentalists, gardeners and recyclers, according to organizers.
Gardeners often refer to compost as "black gold" because it's so good at enriching and improving the soil. But even if you aren't a gardener, compost can boost your lawn, trees and shrubs. "The healthier and richer the soil, the better all plants will do," Hundley says.
“We’re using a natural process to divert food from landfills and prevent global warming. We like to think that we’re helping solve the food waste problem.”
Guests with environmental advocacies will also be treated to actual demonstrations of vermiculture and composting and a tour of the 408-hectare mango orchard.
"Nine-year-old Allison Caldwell-Pratt didn't appear grossed out in the slightest as she used popsicle sticks to prod through a pile of worms and dirt at the George Leach Centre on Thursday. "They were really squiggly," she said, after visiting the Clean North display about worm composting. "It was awesome.""
Green features include: reclaimed barn wood furnitureSolar tube panels for heating water, super insulated building and windows, worm composting and on-site garden and reflective roof.
Chicago's green brick road: Buildings show off their eco-pride
On September 16, 2011, the first composting system at John Eager Howard School in Reservoir Hill got underway. The school now has worm bins, and the effort got started underway on "Parking Day" with vermiculture (worm composting) presentations to teachers and students in pre-K -- 2nd grade. The students had the opportunity to put compost into the bins and see the worms in action.
Relatively new players in social enterprise will also speak at the conference. For the keynote address, Ramon Uy will narrate how his original farm waste management idea evolved into organic fertilizer and vermiculture ventures with Negros cooperatives, while son Ramon Jr. (“Chinchin”), who upscaled his father’s fertilizers into branded goods, will follow with a presentation on how he extended the business into Veggie Eden, a brand of organic vegetables, fruits and herbs.
| Social enterprises as business success stories |
“The eco center also serves as a training center for composting, vermiculture, permaculture and creative recycling practices that provide sustainable livelihood for locals living in the area,” Guerrero shares.
The workshops go through the basics of how people can start a worm compost, Mundt said. They also produce and provide their own worms and give them out in bins for others to start their own compost.Wriggling your way to a less smelly world
The worm composting system works in a multi-tiered worm tower, or “worm pagoda,” as Davies calls it. The bottom tray must be filled with red wiggler composting worms, newspaper or cardboard bedding and food scraps. The worms, which eat half their body weight in food each day, devour fruits, vegetables, peels, stems, cores, coffee grounds and tea leaves. When the time is right, system owners add another tray. The worms will eventually move upwards and leave their rich compost behind.
Composting isn’t just garbage, it’s cool
“Composting: Yard waste and worm composting” will be held Nov. 12 9 a.m. to noon in the GSA building. This class will teach methods of making compost and about using worms to compost.
The compost program will use a few different kinds of composting systems including worm composting, turning, and thermal.
Tarrant County Master Gardeners are offering classes in rainwater harvesting and composting. The rainwater harvesting class will be 9:30-11:30 a.m. Saturday at the organization's Community and Demonstration Garden, 1100 Circle Drive (at the Resource Connection), Fort Worth. Class fee is $10; attendees can make and buy a rain barrel for an additional $45. Contact Patsy Miller, 817-275-5306. The hands-on composting class will be 9:30-11:30 a.m. Oct. 22. The class will include yard composting, worm composting and compost tea. Attendees will tour the Compost Corner at the garden and see different types of compost bins. The class fee is $10. Bins, $65, will be for sale.
Vermiculture is included in the gardening project.
AMS Students "get their hands dirty" with community gardening project.
You can add red wiggler worms (available at some garden centers or online) to a scrap bucket under your kitchen sink. They break down the garbage, and their castings add to the rich mix.
This looks like a great system!
But Wellborn’s effort is a bit different. First, there’s the size of the worm bin. It has a 1,500-pound capacity. Then there’s the fact that four households share it. And the fact that the city of Eugene is funding the effort.
Worm Farming
"The class pets are red wiggler worms in a worm farm that teach the kids about recycling by turning food scraps and other organic garbage into nutrient-rich soil." Pekin preschool integrates traditional curriculum with outdoors
On the other side of the gym was the University of Maine Master Gardener table, which had a composting bin with red wiggler worms. A symbiotic relationship sprang up between the two tables, and the red wigglers received big boosts to their diets when, at regular intervals, Daisies came to deposit apple cores in the worm bin.
Some say they are the most important livestock in an organic system.
Bob Ellis co-founded the Australian Worm Growers Association and helped develop a code of standards for farming and breeding compost worms.
Worm farms, compost heaps and keeping chooks in the backyard are just some of the handy hints contained in Forge’s book Frugavore.
The grant enables them to begin a school wide vermicompost, and a living lab greenhouse, where the new horticulture program at the school, which was a result of the grant and school's implementation of it, will utilize.
The young farmers learned about weather, cross-pollination, nutrition and other science related to their garden. They also set up a worm composting bin, after a representative from Latta Plantation came out to speak about the benefits of compost as a fertilizer.
What does their garden grow? Veggies, worms and wisdomRead more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/10/03/2661135/what-does-their-garden-grow-veggies.html#ixzz1ZpNz5YNb
Great workshop program in Sydney-take a look:
The City's green workshops are inspiring inner city residents at home, with at least half starting worm farms, growing their own food and slashing energy and water use.
Sydneysiders cut back on water & energy after City's green workshops
“The aim of making these worm farms was to produce fertiliser for our school vegetable patch so we would have healthy produce for this term’s inquiry. This term one of our mums came in to share her knowledge of food and healthy eating.
Billions of composting worms slithering around on two worm farms in Brixton, near Waitara, have a purpose - they're busy creating organic fertiliser.
One plan is a worm farm, starting small, then growing the project to the extent where the waste from the hospitality division and the canteen as well.
The City's green workshops are inspiring inner city residents at home, with at least half starting worm farms, growing their own food and slashing energy and water use.
Sydneysiders cut back on water & energy after City's green workshops
An enviro group meets at lunchtimes and about 30 pupils will visit Copthorne worm farms at the beginning of term 4, teacher Nicky Gray said.
Be inspired by achievable garden designs or learn more about worm farms and composting as well as other practical ideas for your garden such as water tanks and solar-powered watering systems.
Researchers are looking at combining worm farms, hydroponics and fish farming into one system.
“A highlight of the day was the ‘Ask the expert’ discussion panels, which covered topics such as worm farming and composting, the benefits of locally produced organic food, building a food garden and a cooking demonstration,” said Mayor Matson.
Big crowds turn out for Randwick's Ecoliving Fair & Garden Awards
Ridgefield is the first district in Connecticut to have a sensory garden at every school, according to Pembrook. Second-grade teacher, Lisa Whelan plans to improve the BMES garden with worm composting. She hopes to get this started next month.
This is a good article that discusses various ways communities and businesses are composting organic waste:
A growing part of his business is a vermiculture operation that produces what he calls “the platinum of soil amendments.” Garrity takes composted material from his aerated piles and feeds it to his worms; it spends a month in the worm bins.
"Vermiculture which involves the production of earthworms, using potential wastes have attracted a huge market not only in the province but outside as well. “Producers of earthworms or practitioners of vermiculture increased since its technology and profitability was introduced since 2005 and these groups and organizations are now reaping its benefits,” Agunoy said."
Butler County residents are invited to attend a Nature Recycles Workshop on September 22 from 6 - 8 P.M. where participants will learn how worms can turn table scraps into compost for plants. The workshop will be held at the Butler Soil and Water Conservation District, 1802 Princeton Road, Hamilton, Ohio.
Butler County to offer Worm Composting Workshop
On Saturday, Sept. 17, from 1-3 p.m., the Belfast Co-op is hosting WormMainea's Mark Follansbee, who will lead a workshop on composting with worms. This event is free and open to all and will take place at Waterfall Arts, located at 256 High St. in Belfast.
"Microorganisms used in vermiculture (type of organic farming), like eisenia foetida stop the formation of humus, which affects fertility of farm land. Also, heavy elements like lead, cadmium, mercury cannot be eliminated by vermiculture, and are absorbed by food stuff. Zero budget natural farming is the solution for this," he said.
Adopt zero budget natural farming for better produce, profits
The extravaganza is coined a "multicultural event" celebrating local/eco-friendly business and old world crafts, with live demonstrations related to solar power, canning, preserving, weaving, natural composting and vermiculture (the process of using various species of earthworms to create compost).
