Ballyheada National School, Ballinhassig

Our New Wormery!

(Gearóid D.)

The 27th of February, 2013, will go down in the history of Ballyheada N.S. as we welcomed our first residents into the school!

1kg of Tiger Worms from our local fishing tackle shop in Halfway were specially delivered to our school for the new wormery. The excitement was immense and prolonged for weeks in anticipation. Denis McCarthy, our local carpenter, made our wormery in advance. We were fortunate to have Donal O'Leary, a Master Composter, to help us set up our wormery. 4th Class and the Green-Schools' Committee gathered into the hall. Donal gave us some very interesting information on composting and Tiger Worms and demonstrated how to prepare the bedding first. For the bedding, we needed cardboard, leaves, newspapers, pencil parings, flowers and finally food waste (banana skins, apple cores, tea bags, pencil shavings, orange peels, vegetable peels, etc.). Everything had to be soaked in water first before it could enter the wormery as worms need to live in a moist environment or their skin will dry out and also they do not have any teeth so the material they 'eat' must be soggy!

Everyone's excitement was mounting until the Tiger Worms were released! There was a loud cheer and our hands were numb from clapping! Donal let us get a close up view and he let us hold our new residents!

Ballyheada Green-Schools' Flag here we come!

Interesting Facts about Tiger Worms!

(Compiled by The Green-Schools Committee and 4th Class)

• They got their name from their stripes.
• They are both male and female.
• They breathe through their skin and they like to live in a cool damp environment.
• Tiger worms are surface eaters and live over ground whereas earth worms live underground and are not suitable for a wormery.
• Tiger worms don't mind being put into containers.
• Worms can have 5 or 7 hearts.
• Worms do not have teeth.
• Worms do not have eyes so they use their skin to feel where they are going.
• They eat about half of their own body weight a day.
• Worms are 90% water so when they die they decompose very quickly.
• Worms lay eggs every two to three months and each egg has 2-3 worms within it. Their eggs are yellow and are shaped like the top of a matchstick.
• It takes 3 - 4 weeks for an egg to hatch.
• Worms are important for turning waste food, plants, leaves, cardboard, newspapers, parings, flowers, tissues, etc. into compost .
• Sun can paralyse them and slowly kill them as it dries out their skin which needs to be kept cool and moist. If their skin dries out, they die.

" If a worm is cut close to its head, it dies but if it's cut close to the end of its tail it can survive.
" The worm population increases when the worms are happy in their environment.
" The worms can be left for a couple of months without food depending on how much food is in the wormery already. However, it is important not to overfeed them.

• All worms have a three layered body.
• Earthworms are cousins of Tiger Worms.
• Worms can live for a couple of years.
• Every single piece of soil has been through a worm at some point!
• Worms eat animal droppings!
• Food waste needs to be buried well under the cardboard and leaves or it will attract fruit flies and cause a smell!
• Worms sterilise each piece of soil that passes through its body and it's clean enough to touch with your bare hands.
• When something is composted it turns black and crumbly.
• The bedding put into the wormery needs to be moist.
• You should put in about 1 small bucket of food waste each week.
• Make sure there is enough food for the worms during school holidays!
• It takes about a year for a wormery to compost waste. When compost is made it is moved to take up one side and fresh bedding is placed on the other side. The worms will eventually move over and begin composting the new bedding.