Worms and that funny word ‘permaculture’

Read another story.... Sue's Report The Wastedaq Education projects So I'm a member of Wastebusters... Vege Gardening Guide Composting vs bokashi vs worm farm Worms and that funny word permaculture What's coming up? Wanaka Wastebusters staff-members --------------- Christmas 2008 Spring 2008 Autumn 2008 Christmas 2007 Winter 2007

By Frankie Dean (Aspiring Beginnings teacher)

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder – taking another look at worms

So what do worms and permaculture have in common? Well, permaculture is a system of good design for gardens and properties based on a set of principles allowing us to work with nature.

Let’s start with worms and apply permaculture principles (in italics) to them. People, especially small ones, love to observe and interact with worms – come and see our worm farm at Aspiring Beginnings any day!

We obtain a yield from them – vermicast, the liquid and more worms. It’s a small and slow solution dealing to produce no waste (they eat up our veggie scraps).

Turning waste into plant food is using valuable and renewable resources and having the worm bin close to the house or laundry helps us to integrate rather than segregate. Worm farms are also great for today’s smaller sections and town houses where a compost pile would be impractical – creatively use and respond to change.

Or as an alternative to composting – use and value diversity. Instead of thinking ‘yuk’ we can love our worms for the fabulous plant food they provide free of charge – value the marginal. They also leave us with the feel good factor of using and keeping food scraps out of the landfill and therefore reducing greenhouse gases – catch and store energy.

Lastly, worms are like people: if we neglect them they perform poorly, take care of them and they prosper. So take a look at your worms and accept feedback.