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I was invited to present two very different seminars at the 2009 Northwest Flower and Garden Show. On both Saturday and Sunday I donned my garden coaching hat and gave a hands-0n, interactive, kid-friendly “seminar” on worm composting. This was my absolute favorite, and I’m exceptionally sad that its unlikely I’ll get to have this much fun with kids at the show in the future (because this was probably the last year). Perhaps I’ll get to bring this to classrooms instead someday. Regardless, teaching kids about worms was one big highlight for me this year.

Coloring and Sorting Through Worms!

Honestly, I wasn’t entirely sure what my audience age range would be, so I had a few activities up my sleeve and no formal lecture planned. My best guess was that I’d have kids from 2-10 in my audience, and what kid this age wants to sit through a lecture? Fortunately, I my age guess was pretty accurate, and the kids loved the program.

I brought in two worm bins to illustrate types of bins families could use. One bin was full of actively working worms. The other was an empty wooden outdoor bin to show what they really look like/how they’re constructed. I also had lots of crayons and two-sided information sheets — one side with worm recycling for the kids to color; the other side filled with worm composting information, book ideas and more for the entire family. I brought in a tub filled with nearly-finished worm compost filled with loads and loads of wiggly worms. I also had some dry, finished worm castings to show what our garbage turns into after the worms are done. And, of course, I had some food items to show kids what part of our garbage the worms like to eat.

The kids piled to the tables as soon as the crayons and coloring sheets were laid out. As they got going, we talked about what worms eat and don’t eat. (My favorite response was, “Flaming carrots ’cause the worms might catch on fire and explode if they eat them.”) We talked about feeding the worm castings to our gardens to create more good food for ourselves — peas were a favorite choice among the kids to grow for themselves. And then the real fun began, I scooped up piles of working worms and put them on the tables. The kids dug through the muddy worm casting piles to pick out worms and millipedes and even a baby spider.

Feeding Worms & Tucking Them into Bed

They found partially eaten beet roots and garlic and egg shells, and we talked about how the worms convert this “garbage” to compost. Then, to wrap up, I invited the kids to join me in feeding the worms and tucking them in. Each child picked a piece of fruit or vegetable waste or even a damp napkin from the pile and put it in a hole inside of the active worm bin. Then, they covered them up and we closed the hatch. As one little boy said, “They’ll be nice and warm in the dark where they like to be now.”

Really, it was a fantastic experience. The kids were so much fun and so were their parents and grandparents who were taking loads of photos of the fun event. It was fantastic to even have a few kids in the audience who were already composting with worms at home or at their school. Some were very knowledgable about worm composting already! As well, I received many good questions from parents interested in starting their own worm composting systems, and I’m fairly certain I helped motivate a few to start up systems of their own.

Interested in starting a worm bin at home?  Consider trying out an inexpensive bin you can build in just about 30 minutes at home. Or, if you need a larger system or want an outdoor wooden chest style worm bin, please get in touch for pricing for a custom-built box from Garden Mentors.

And, of course, if you have children and would like to schedule a garden coaching session to include them, please get in touch. Garden Mentors offers programs to involve anyone and everyone in the family in the garden!