Vermiculture

Earlier this week, we had a special guest come to visit to share with us about "vermiculture", or worm composting.

 The worms live in a large, plastic bin with shredded paper and fresh fruit/vegetable compost. For the most part, the worms live in the bin with the lid on, in a cool dark place.

We had to dig to the bottom of the bin to find the worms.

And once we got a good look at the worms, we were able to feed them carrot peels and fruit/vegetable scraps from our morning food preparation work.

After we all had a chance to feed the worms, we had to add the same amount of shredded paper to the fruit and veggie scraps.

Once the shredded paper was added, we lightly sprayed the top layer in the bin with water.

 Even though the worms in the garden are not exactly the same variety as the ones in the bin, it made it that much more exciting to find them in our garden! In our class, we decided to read the book, "Wiggling Worms at Work" by Wendy Pfeffer, to learn more about worms and how they help our plants to grow.