Courtesy: CHAT Newsroom

By Angela Kazmierczak

Irvine students prepare new worm farm

Apr 28, 2023 | 4:59 PM

IRVINE, AB – Worms are known to benefit the soil in more than one way, so Irvine students are putting this knowledge to practice, by using food scraps and organic matter in their very own worm farm.

Students began fundraising for a vermicomposting system, a $40,000 project, last fall in 2022. But on April 27th, the Grade 4 students from Irvine School filled their flow through bed with manure and the school’s food scraps.

Eventually, the worms will digest the organic matter to create vermicompost.

Students were careful to balance the amount of nitrogen and carbon in the soil, so the worms do not become overwhelmed or sick.

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Nichole Neubauer says the vermicompost will be used in the school garden, and, with the remaining material, students will package and market the soil amendment for sale.

Irvine students were eager to prepare the compost and observed many new things:

“You get to learn more stuff about the colour of the worms,” said Chelsey Koenig.

“They’re cool. They’re slimy. And yesterday, I got to see like a baby worm that was see through,” said Enzo Moberg.

“They’re kinda like us because we don’t always eat the same foods. They need different foods,” said Walker Lightbewn.

Neubauer is excited for students to learn about AI technology in the flow bed and how they can reduce their carbon footprint.

The vermicompost will be ready for use sometime in the middle of this summer.