worms in motion

i took the bin, newspapers, dechlorinated water, worms, and manure to the childcare center today and had the kids assist in the setup after an entertaining vermicompost roundtable. we shredded the sunday paper together. i dampened and fluffed the bedding to about 6 inches deep. we added the worms together - they're so cute! i sprinkled a large coffee can full of manure over the worms and added a light cover of dampened bedding. while rick appreciated the concept of the clear bin, he also noted that worms like dark and damp. good point, so we taped black construction around the worms' new home so light is kept out and we can lift to view.
i have about 2lbs of scraps from sunday decomposing in manure that we'll add under the top layer of bedding on thursday for our wigglers to dine on over the weekend. on monday we'll add this week's childcare scraps to the bin and proceed daily from there.

arrival of the worms!

this weekend's worm search has been immensely successful. two pounds of red wigglers have been located and purchased and i have discovered a wealth of information and useful resources. membership in the permaculture guild led me to the vermiculture forum where i posted my plea. rick hossman of salado farms in elfrida az, 30 miles east of bisbee, immediately replied that he had boatloads of red wigglers if i was up for the journey. he has been really helpful with tweaking procedures to increase our probability of success.
another response to my post later turned up canyonland worms in carefree, and while i wasn't able to make it to the roadrunner park farmer's market robert was kind enough to meet me on sunday and hook me up with wigglers and advice that concurred with rick's - no need to go crazy aerating the bin. a few holes drilled in the lid are plenty as worms take oxygen in through their skin. rick also recommends manure instead of dirt for grit and allowing organic matter to partially breakdown before the first feed. so grateful for his advice!

the introduction of microorganisms will expedite the composting process. we'll do all of this in class with the kids in charge.
to add the worms just scatter them gently atop their new home of prepared bedding / soil and cover for few days before adding scraps to let them work their way into the bedding. ideally we can set up on monday, save the scraps for the week and add them thursday to allow decomposition over the weekend thereby giving the class more dramatic evidence of decay.
the only variable at this point is obtaining red wigglers in arizona in the summer. they won't survive shipment, they require a temperature between 55 and 80 degrees farenheit. so i need to find them locally. i've tried whole foods, local bait shops, and a couple defunked worm farms. if anyone has a lead i would be thrilled to explore it. i'm going to try prescott and payson (online) and a farmer's market or two tomorrow morning (saturday). i'm looking for 2lbs. if we absolutely have to use earthworms we can, they just take quite a bit longer. earthworms are best at further breaking down already partially decomposed matter.

a plastic bin with a lid and holes drilled for aeration and drainage works perfectly. a minimum capacity of 18 gallons with a 3-4' surface area will accomodate 2lbs of red wiggler worms, an ideal amount to decompose 1lb of daily food waste in approximately 2 months' time. red worms live and eat in the top 6-8" of material so a depth of 12-18" allows for 6-8" of bedding and 4-8" of organic material combined with a shovelful of topsoil for grit to aid the wigglers in digestion.
the bin i found is 1' deep x 1' wide x 3' long giving it a 3' surface area with a 22.5 gallon capacity and is made of clear plastic. perfect. let the drilling begin! that'll be tonight when the drill gets home from work.
the bedding consists of 1" strips of newspaper dampened with dechlorinated tap water. you can dechlorinate tap water by filling gallon containers and leaving them sit out uncovered overnight, this allows the chlorine to dissipate. i've done this for years for our drinking water. the bedding is the the right moisture when it feels like a wrung out sponge. it should be loose and fluffy in the bin so the worms can move through it freely. right before you add the worms, toss that shovelful of topsoil, manure, or finished compost on top of the bedding.

this blog has been created to journal my internship project - a pilot program for institutional composting, beginning with the childcare center at mesa community college and ultimately including the campus cafeteria's food prep waste. the earned credits will be applied to a certificate of completion in sustainable food systems (2011 being the first year this is offered in arizona). the experience will (optimistically) be applied to the implementation of a composting program at tempe elementary schools, followed by a systemwide edible schoolyard program.
a fabulous, gigantic, 3 cubic yard, composting unit is housed on the mcc campus in the garden area. this will be ideal for institutional composting of cafeteria waste. research has brought me to the conclusion that the child center would be better servd by an in-class vermicomposting unit. the advantages are many; hands on and constant accessibility, more rapid decomposition, less contributary organic matter required, not having to travel cross campus in 100+ degree heat to dump, turn, and dampen our mixture, and of course - the worms! there will still be an early morning field trip to the campus garden to donate some of our black gold with some leftover to take home or use in an end-of-summer group planting project.
i've found a few fun, short 'how to' films on line that seem to be child appropriate. we had originally discussed a powerpoint presentation, but i think that may be a bit dry for 7-12 year olds. i'm now trying to gather materials to construct a classroom vermicompost bin.