Setting up our wormerie

Today our wormerie arrived.  Very exciting! Jasmin put it together by herself so she was very pleased.  We now have to leave it a week for the worms to get established in their new environment.

It is amazing what you can compost:

Vegetables
Vegetable Peelings (Potato Skins Take Ages to Rot Down)
Onions in moderation
Citrus Fruits
Fruit / Peel
Coffee / Tea Bags
Bread
Pizza
Rice
Pasta
Flowers (if shop bought - ensure no insecticides are present)
Cereals
Crushed Egg Shells
Cakes/ Biscuits
Sugar
Cheese
Cardboard / Paper
Pet Human Hair (this takes ages to rot down)
Hoover Contents
Baked Beans

The wormerie should not have any flies or smell.  

We are hoping our worms don't escape….

our worms

adding compost with a few worm eggs in

building the base

getting ready for their new home

everything set up ready to go.

Jasmin learnt some facts about worms including:

Worms can eat half their own weight of waste each day. They are photosensitive (don't like light) and can live up to 2 - 3 years

Body - A worm has an anterior end (head) and a Posterior end (tail) and has 5 hearts. If you look closely you will see many rings around the body called segments.

Mouth - On the tip of the head there is a flap of skin called the prostomium which stops things going into the worms' mouth. Underneath the prostomium is the mouth. A worm's mouth is big enough to grab a leaf and drag it around. Worms do not have teeth

Eyes - Worms don't have eyes. They are very sensitive to bright light. They will try to hide as soon as exposed

Movement - A worms has muscles all round their body, and others that run the length of their body. When the circular muscles tighten up, the body becomes thinner and longer this movement squeezes their front end forward the other long muscles squeeze together and help move the rear end of the body towards the front end

Breathing - Worms do not have lungs but take in oxygen through their skin and it goes straight into their bloodstream. The skin must stay wet in order for the oxygen to pass through it, but they can drown if they are in too much water.

How do they grind food? - Worms can only take small particles in their small mouths. Micro organisms soften the food before worms will eat it. Worms have a muscular gizzard. Small parts of food mixed with some grinding material such as sand, topsoil or limestone is ingested. The contractions from the muscles in the gizzard compress those particles against each other, mix it with fluid, and grind it to smaller pieces