Charles Darwin called earthworms ‘the intestines of the soil’. Worms can eat up to 75% . . . → Read More: How to make a wormery]]>
We’re joined today by Jo Middleton, who blogs at Slummy single mummy, with a fabulous tutorial on how to make a wormery. Perfect for a school gardening club project and for getting kids closer to nature. Here’s Jo’s guide:

How to make a wormery

Charles Darwin called earthworms ‘the intestines of the soil’. Worms can eat up to 75% of their own body weight every day, turning waste into rich and fertile compost. After decades of dependence on chemical fertilizers, people are returning to traditional non-toxic methods of gardening, and composting is one of the easiest ways to get eco-friendly.

Worm composting, or vermiculture, is a fun and easy way to turn your organic waste into plant food and is ideal for people who don’t have space for a full size composter. You don’t even need a garden – you can keep your wormery indoors and produce compost for houseplants and window boxes. A wormery is also a great way to introduce children to gardening and the environment as they can help to build and care for the wormery.

Building your own wormery

Expensive wormery kits are available to buy ready for assembly, but it is actually very straightforward to make your own. You will need a container, wood or plastic, that you can make holes in and fit with a lid. Worms are surface feeders so your wormery doesn’t need to be deep. 8in – 16in should be ample and you need roughly one square foot of surface area for every pound of waste per week.

Make air holes around the upper perimeter of your tub and in the bottom for drainage.

• Support your tub on bricks inside a tray, to collect any liquid that drains off. This liquid (leachate) can be used as plant feed.
• Fill the bottom of the tub with a 5 – 10cm layer of drainage material such as sand or gravel.
• Cover the sand with a dividing layer, something that will let moisture seep through but not worms, such as wooden slats or a section of carpet.
• Add a 10 – 15cm layer of damp bedding material. Shredded newspaper works well – get the newspaper wet, but not soaking – about the consistency of a damp sponge.
• Add your worms! These need to be special composting worms, often known as brandlings, tiger worms or red worms. You can buy theses at fishing shops or worm bin suppliers. (www.bucketofworms.co.uk)
• Add a layer of food.
• Place a thick layer of damp newspaper over the top. This keeps in the moisture and keeps out the light.
• Finally, make sure your wormery has a tight fitting lid. This protects your compost from rodents and flies.

Keeping your worms happy and healthy

Start off with just small amounts of food while your worms settle in. As they multiply you can add larger quantities, but make sure it is well chopped and only add more waste once the previous batch has been composted. Don’t feed your worms more than they can handle – excess waste will just rot, upset your worms and produce nasty smells.

Like humans, worms thrive on a varied diet and have particular likes and dislikes.

Worms like: coffee grounds and tea bags, fruit and vegetables peelings, cereals and bread, crushed egg shells.

Worms don’t like: meat and fish, fats or greasy foods, dairy products, rice, pasta or cooked potatoes.

Worms like a moderate temperature and eat more when they are warmer. Don’t let them overheat though, so keep out of direct sunlight. They can be kept inside or out, but will benefit from being indoors in the winter, maybe in a garage or shed.

Keep a good level of moisture – not too wet and not to dry. You can add extra dry bedding or moisten with rainwater or leachate if you need to. Your worms will regulate numbers to fit your wormery and should not try to escape if wormery conditions are right.

Once the worms have settled in you can sit back and watch them turn your rubbish into high quality compost! Depending on the size and conditions you should have compost ready to harvest in around 3 – 6 months.

Happy wriggling!

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Jo Middleton is a freelance writer, blogger and marketing consultant and writes the award winning blog Slummy single mummy.

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More kids gardening projects

For more kids gardening ideas visit our School Gardening Club section

Photos: Alexander von Halem and Clarity J

happily shared with the outdoor play party and your green resource

This week’s school gardening club motto was ‘how cool is that!’ When the children arrived for the  club I don’t think they really believed us when we said we were going to plant flowers in wellington boots – but that’s just what we did.

The aim of the school garden is to be as eco-friendly as we . . . → Read More: School gardening club: quirky eco planters]]>

This week’s school gardening club motto was ‘how cool is that!’ When the children arrived for the  club I don’t think they really believed us when we said we were going to plant flowers in wellington boots – but that’s just what we did.

The aim of the school garden is to be as eco-friendly as we can while still creating a beautiful space. Inspired by the wellies, teapots and bottles I’d pinned onto our Kids Gardens Pinterest board we set about gathering some quirky eco planters to create our own wall of colour. The plan was to re-use and upcycle what we already had, were about to throw out or could find in charity shops. And it’s amazing  just what you can find to transform into a plant pot! 

First we made sure every planter we were going to use had drainage holes in the bottom. Scissors or a craft knife did the job well in most of the containers and we used a drill for some of the metal items. And of course some planters, like the steamer and colander, came with drainage holes already in them.

We used cable ties to fasten the planters to our fence, with some ribbon here and there to add some extra colour.

The eco planters were filled peat-free compost and a selection of spring bulbs including snowdrops, daffodils and tulips, with some winter pansies to add colour over the next few months. The children just loved how great the wellies looked.
 We also made some planters to group together on the floor, using kitchen items to tie in the idea that we’ll be eating lots of the things we’ll be growing.

The eco planters have already transformed the drab metal fence that makes up one wall of our school gardening club plot. This fence is visible from the main entrance to the school, giving a little glimpse of the secret garden it hides. Imagine how glorious it’ll look when all the bulbs are in flower.

More school gardening club ideas

If you’d like to read more, here are all our school gardening club posts

happily shared with sunday showcase and craft schooling sunday and  the outdoor play party and  your green resource