Vermicomposting

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.

Sarah B.Hufbauer
300-8152