Worm Facts
Red Wigglers and other worms need oxygen
just as much as we do. But, they don't own a
pair of lungs so the only way they can get
the oxygen they need to survive is through
their skin. Oxygen moves into their bodies
through their skin and carbon dioxide moves
out. Take a look at a Red Wiggler using a
magnifying glass (or even better, a binocular
microscope). Can you see a barely noticeable
slimy layer covering it? This helps to keep its
skin moist so that it can "breathe" more
easily.
WHOA NOW ... THAT'S A MYTH!
Please don't cut the little creatures in half
to see if they grow into two worms. They
don't. You'll just kill it. Worms are delicate
animals and need to be treated with care. If
a tiny part of a worm is cut off (like the tail
end), it can heal and eventually grow back.
This is called regeneration. The best way to
get more worms is to give them a little bit of
TLC (Tender Loving Care). Before you know
it, you will have more than enough worms.
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HUGE APPETITE!
Red Wiggler worms can consume their weight
in organic material every two days. A bin
that has half a kilogram of worms needs to
be supplied with half a Kilogram of compost
every 2 days!
AAAAAAGH ... NOT THE SUN!
Our skin is sensitive to the sun and you
probably know what it feels like to get a
sunburn. Worms are even more sensitive to
the sun and con be easily harmed or killed by
exposure to its rays or to sun lamps. Their
best defense is to keep red under a layer of
soil. If you use a sun lamp to help harvest
them, keep this in mind.
MAKING BABIES!
Baby worms come from cocoons that are the
result of sexual reproduction. A mature
worm (one that is eight weeks old) can
produce two to three cocoons per week.
Three weeks after a cocoon is produced, an
average of four or five baby worms emerge.
URL: http://www.cciw.ca/glimr/classroom/chapter-7/worm-e.html
Waste
COMPOSTING and WORMY COMPOSTING
Organic kitchen scraps, such as vegetables and fruits and their peelings, coffee grounds,
tea, egg shells, etc. and yard wastes, such as grass clippings, leaves and plant trimmings,
make up almost a third of our garbage. Composting can keep all this out of our overloaded
landfill sites and produce a finished product called humus that returns valuable nutrients
to the soil.
Composting is a natural process where kitchen and yard wastes decompose into a dark,
nutrient-rich, sweet-smelling soil conditioner.
Organic waste in landfill sites creates methane: one of the gases that contributes to the
greenhouse effect. Methane is produced by organic waste decomposing without air
(anaerobic condition). Landfill sites produce about 38 percent of the methane generated
by Canadians. Composting can keep most of our organic waste out of landfills.
Composting is one way to help return fertility to the soil. According to the Worldwatch
Institute, about 25 billion tonnes of topsoil are lost from croplands around the world each
year. Nutrient-rich humus can be added to gardens, lawns and potted plants to help make
up for this loss.
MAKING GARDEN COMPOST
The composting process requires i) organic material, ii) air, iii) moisture, iv) soil and v)
container (or a hole in the ground). The organic material should consist of some kitchen
waste and some garden waste. Do not add meat, fish, fats, oils or dairy products as they
may attract animals. In addition, grass clippings treated with lawn chemicals, animal
droppings, human waste and disposable diapers should never be put in a composter.
You don’t have to do much more than alternate layers of organic wastes and soil, keep
them moist and turn the mixture frequently.
WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH YOUR HUMUS
Add it to your garden soil or prepare it for indoor use. To do this first put it through a
strainer to produce a finer dirt. Then bake it in an old pan for 2 hours at 100 degrees C
(200 degrees F) to kill weeds and insects. Package it up and give a gift of earth to a friend.
It’s worth its weight in gold!
VERMICOMPOSTING: THE PERFECT ALTERNATIVE
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A great opportunity to practise composting in a manageable, fun way: A worm box, little
worms called red wigglers and kitchen and yard waste - that’s all you need. Many schools
already have worm boxes in their classrooms and young people are happily feeding their
hungry worms waste that would have gone to landfill.
People are often squeamish about worms, but the lowly earth worm is perhaps the most
important animal in the soil. It makes more soil than any other creature, and its extensive
network of tunnels helps air and water reach the roots of plants. This also helps to provide
other beneficial soil creatures with air and water.
Vermicomposting is simply composting with worms. The best kind of earth worm to use is
the red worm (the red wiggler). These worms are incredible garbage eaters. They tunnel
through the earth eating their weight in kitchen waste every day so even a small bin of red
worms will produce many kilograms of rich, sweet-smelling compost. Worms turn the soil by
moving deep soil up to the surface and by dragging plant material underground, thus
helping to bring humus into deep soil.
Red wigglers reproduce very quickly. It takes about three weeks for an egg to develop and
as many as 20 little worms can be hatched from one worm egg. In three months they will
start breeding... making more and more hungry worms!
SETTING UP A WORM BOX
All you need is a plastic bin with a tight fitting lid (about the size of a blue box) and a
drainage tray. Drill a number of small holes (about 1 cm or 1/4") in the bottom and all
around the bin and place the bin on the drainage tray. The worms require bedding: dried
leaves, ground cardboard, peat moss, shredded paper or straw. The bedding can be mixed,
but the important thing is to keep the bedding as moist as a very well squeezed sponge.
Now add the worms and start feeding them. Remember they are hungry and eager to
devour your vegetable and fruit peels, coffee grounds, tea bags and egg shells. Don’t give
them meat, fat or dairy products. Food waste should always be dug into the bedding and
well covered. Put the lid on and place the bin in a sunny spot. Make sure air can circulate all
around the bin.
WORMY WONDERS AT WORK
After about three months you will notice that the volume of materials has dropped
substantially and the original bedding is no longer recognizable. It’s time to harvest your
compost.
Move the contents of the bin to one side and add new bedding plus a helping of food waste
to the other. Dampen it and replace the lid. The worms will gradually migrate to the fresh
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area in search of new food. After about a week, remove the lid under a bright light. (The
worms are shy and light sensitive, so they will dive out of sight when the lid is removed.
Scoop out the finished compost a few layers at a time and place it in a plastic bag until you
are ready to use it.
NEW SOIL FOR YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS
The harvested compost is so rich that it would burn plants if used straight as potting soil,
so mix it half and half with peat moss or soil. It can be added directly to soil in the garden.
What a useful gift! Put a bow on your specially packaged "home made" compost and deliver
it to family and friends.
URL: http://www.cciw.ca/glimr/classroom/chapter-7/compost-e.html
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