Students had the chance to help build a worm farm at IGS!

A worm farm is a container, usually made from plastic or wood, which houses red worms. We’ve chosen to go with wood because it’s more environmentally friendly.

So what does a worm farm do? Students learnt how worms help decompose food scraps and turn it into natural fertiliser for plants called worm tea.

The first step was filling up the container with bedding made from newspaper scraps, dead leaves, and soil. This gives the worms a cosy place to live and sleep, while also regulating the temperature inside the container.

Then, as the worms get used to their new home, we can start feeding them scraps of food from the kitchen cooking process. Worms love scraps from many different kinds of foods including vegetables, fruits, eggshells, and coconut fibres. They don’t like anything that’s been cooked, chilis, garlic, onions, salt, oil, or meat.

Making sure to follow the worm menu helps ensure the health of the worms, and the production of worm tea.

The students set out by decorating the box, and they even got to name some of the worms. After the decoration was complete, students helped shred newspapers to put inside the box as the bedding. We broke up clumps of soil and hunted in the school garden for dead leaves which also help make the worm farm feel like home for the worms.

After all that, we gently misted the whole bedding with water so the worms don’t dry out, and then put them into their new home. This week we will get to feed the worms for the first time!