Worms Worms Worms

There are very few things that my kids enjoy more than worms. Yesterday I went to run on the treadmill and found a bucket of 50 or so worms sitting on the treadmill mat. No dirt. No water. Just a ball of worms. One of my neighbors informed me that he got worried one morning at about 5:30 when he saw strange lights in his driveway and then he realized that my boys were wandering around with buckets and flashlights catching worms in the rain before the sun came up! They spend so much time digging for worms and looking for worms and talking about worms that it was just a matter of time before they became worm farmers. And so we have begun worm farming. For real.

John and I researched worm farming and have become experts. We built a worm box and filled it with dirt, shredded newspapers and a lot of worms. Worms compost dead leaves, dirt, paper, and food scraps. The resulting compost (or worm poop) is considered extremely valuable fertilizer. People pay for worm compost and use it to fertilize their gardens. I have seen pictures of plants grown in normal topsoil right next to plants grown in worm compost and the worm plants are much bigger and healthier looking plants. Who knew?

Then of course there is the demand for worms at our house for fishing bait. Worms reproduce about every six months.  So hopefully we are replenishing our own stock instead of buying from somebody else.

The worm farm has also been a great tool for teaching the kids about worms, sustainability, composting and responsibility. Jonah and Sam gave worm reports at school. I helped them make a big poster all about worms and they took them to school and taught their classmates everything that they knew! They were so proud of themselves! It has been a lot of fun seeing the boys so excited about nature! Wyatt loves collecting my carrot peels and feeding the worms and Sam prays for rain every night so that he can go worm hunting in the morning. I am really enjoying their enthusiasm.