Powerful Schools works with Rainier Valley schools to support arts, mentoring, after school classes, tutoring, and writing experiences.
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What's
vermicomposting? Using red wiggler worms (very social and hungry little
guys) in bedding of coconut husks (COIR) and paper to digest our table
scraps from snacks and cafeteria to make rich, dark compost for our
garden beds and reduce our waste. We've now got 5 "Worm Factories" up
and running in classrooms at ORCA. If anyone's interested in more,
read Appelhof's
Worms Eat my Garbage, available at libraries and online. These
classroom bins will be great sources of experiments as many kids learn
more about soil in spring. We've just begun 3 larger blue bins (made by
kids from 4th & 5th grades) as well behind the composting bins
south of the basketball court.
After winter break we need to get our system of bringing the
scraps from Marletta's guided sorting of lunch waste out to the bins
for the worms to eat. Each bin can manage up to 5 lbs of organic waste
per week. We'll have a worm squad to do the job on a rotating basis. Up
until now, since we left our huge cement worm bins behind at the old
ORCA, Marletta's been asking her kindergarten parents to haul buckets
home to their personal clean green and worm bins. That's a lot of work!
What's coir? it's an ecologically friendly by-product of the
coconut industry. Coconut husks that use to be burned or discarded are
now being turned into one of the worlds finest organic growing &
composting mediums. As a completely renewable resource, it's a great
alternative to bog dredged peat moss. Peat bogs are valuable habitats
that support endangered wildlife and are disappearing at an astonishing
rate worldwide.
Coir hold up to 10 times its weight in water, resists compaction
for better drainage, has a pH of 5.5-6.8 and is reusable up to 4 years.
The NGA grant allowed us to stock our worm bins with this material
which is the cutting edge of vermicomposting.
Does anyone have any big 5 gal buckets with
lids to store the fruit/veggie/bread waste before it goes to the
worms?? if so, please bring them to Marletta or let me know.
