The Learning Worm

We know about composting, but what about vermicomposting? The treatment of wastes using worms is commonly known as vermicomposting.

Why is this a more efficient, effective – and fun! – way for children to recycle? Ever since Darwin documented the effectiveness of earthworms at breaking down organic wastes and incorporating them into soil in 1881, numerous studies have demonstrated the importance of both burrowing and surface feeding worms in digesting wastes.  Worms are now being utilised to digest various organic materials from kitchen scraps to sewage sludge and municipal wastes, and more recently organic contaminants held within soils. 

Worms will consume any organic matter, and their use provides a highly flexible approach for the recycling of biodegradable materials on a variety of scales from the specifically designed individual system to tackle commercial waste on a local scale to the largest municipal waste disposal operation.

What Will Worms Eat, Especially In A School Setting?

• Apples/apple peels.
• Banana skins.
• Biscuits.
• Cabbage.
• Cake.
• Celery.
• Cheese.
• Coffee grinds.
• Cucumber.
• Lettuce.
• Pears.
• Pizza crust.
• Potatoes.
• Tea leaves.
• Shredded paper and cardboard.

What Else Must You Bear In Mind To Maintain Your Wormery?

• Avoid orange peel and other citrus fruits as they are too acidic for worms.
• Break up the food as much as you can, and worms have no teeth.
• Remember worms need four things: air, moisture, food and darkness.
• Cover the food you add to the wormery with bedding that is already there, or with some damp strips of newspaper. This keeps the flies away.
• Bury the waste in a different place each time, rotating around the wormery in sequence.
• Check that the bedding is not too dry, especially in hot weather. You can use a watering can to dampen the bedding. It should be damp but not soggy – a bit. like a wrung out sponge. If the bedding is getting too soggy, adds some strips of paper or cardboard.
• Cover the waste and bedding with weed free membrane or a sheet of black plastic after feeding, to keep the flies away as well as stopping the contents drying out.
• Keep a record of how much food you give the worms. Record the date, the weight of waste and where you buried it in the wormery.

'Worm Wisdom'

• An average acre of soil can contain several million earthworms, which can move up to a hundred tons of soil a year. There could therefore be as many as 20 million earthworms living in the ground under the Chelsea Flower Show.
• Earthworms have long been recognised for the benefits they bring to the environment. The Pharaohs of ancient Egypt were amongst the first people to recognise the importance of earthworms. In fact they were considered so indispensable to the agricultural economy that Cleopatra declared the earthworm sacred, and anyone trying to take them out of the country was subjected to the death penalty.
• Tunneling earthworms let air into soil. This allows plant roots to grow more easily. Aerated soil also absorbs water more easily, reducing the risk of soil erosion.
• Earthworms will eat anything that was once alive, but is now dead. However, like humans they do have some dislikes and they don't like garlic, onion, leeks or citrus peel.
• They are valuable in treating waste, combating pollution and help to keep gardens, woodland and fields free of leaves and other rotting vegetation.
• Worms consume huge amounts of decomposed organic material deposited on the soil, helping convert it into rich, fertile topsoil. They munch their way through this material, taking it in at one end and spewing it out the other to produce worm casts.
• Charles Darwin reported that each year earthworms brought more than 10 tons per acre of castings to the surface of a field.
• They are the single largest contributors to total soil invertebrate biomass in temperate regions. 
• Earthworms belong to a group of invertebrate animals that have segmented bodies. 
• Worms can regenerate. But a worm chopped in half will not re-grow into two worms. Usually it's only the head end that lives on.
• More than 3,000 species of earthworm exist in the world - although only about 26 species exist in Britain.
• Each earthworm has both male and female reproductive organs, and is therefore known as a "hermaphrodite".
• Mating worms must arrange their bodies in such a way that the male organs of one line up with the female organs of the other. Once the worms are in position, they swap sperm with a partner, and store it in their female tract. When mature eggs are released, the stored sperm is released and fertilises the eggs. The egg laying often begins the next day, and can last for months. The eggs are secreted out of the worm's "saddle", in a cocoon which can contain 20 eggs. 
• The common earthworm can grow up to about 8 cm long.
• It is claimed that the African giant earthworm can grow to 7 metres (22 feet).
• Worms were one of the first multi-cellular animals to evolve. Fossil worm casts have been found dating back more than 600 million years. That's 300 million years before the dinosaurs.
• Worms cannot see or hear.
• They have between one and five pairs of hearts and are mostly muscle. 
• The earthworm has no lungs and takes in oxygen through its moist skin - it is a skin breather. If it dries out it will suffocate. Its skin is covered by mucus-secreting cells. The mucus serves not only in respiratory exchange, but it also lubricates the worm's body and eases passage through the burrow.
• Earthworms move by contracting and relaxing their muscles in waves. They have muscles running around and along their bodies. When the length ways muscles tighten they pull the body segments closer together. A worm moves by first lengthening itself and then drawing in its tail section towards its head which is held in place by its bristles (setea).
• Pound for pound they can be 1,000 times stronger than the strongest man.
• Earthworms bodies consist of about 80% water and they are cold blooded.
• Earthworms can live for 3-4 yrs on average but have been found to be as old as 15 years!
• They are basically nocturnal; they come to the soil surface at night when temperatures are lower and humidity higher.
• Earthworms live across the world; however there are some climates and conditions which do not provide a suitable environment for them. It is rare to find large numbers of earthworms in deserts, at high altitude, or in areas constantly under snow and ice. Whilst some species can live in water most species cannot tolerate sea water.