“I had a son who was not very big on school at all, and it was a real struggle to get him through school,” she says. Hands-on STEM education hits close to home for Darla – it’s what led her to a career in education, inspired by some of the teachers who made a difference in her sons’ lives as they experienced their struggles adjusting to traditional classroom instruction. But at Wichita’s Riverside Leadership Magnet Elementary, it’s getting students excited about science through an experiment made possible by fourth-grade teacher Darla Brown and an educational grant from Koch. You will be amazed at the impact such little critters can have on your garden.There’s nothing quite like the sticking power of hands-on education – even when “hands-on” means sifting through fistfuls of red worms and composting material.įor some people, that’s enough to make the skin crawl. Use worm castings as a slow release organic fertilizer for your container gardens. Use extra worms (these well-fed worms have been multiplying) for fishing or share with friends who want to start their own worm farm. Then start the process again by reassembling a fresh new worm bin. Harvest the outer layer of castings and repeat until only the worms remain.Shine a light on the cones for 5 to 10 minutes to drive worms down into the piles.Dump the compost out of the bin onto a plastic sheet.Add fresh bedding every four months or when you have more worm castings than bedding.Moisten as needed to keep bedding moist, but not soggy.Continue this pattern placing the raw materials in an unused portion of the bedding. Place the next installment of kitchen scraps next to the first.Bury kitchen scraps, coffee grounds and filters with the bedding in one corner of the box and cover loosely with black plastic.Occasionally add a pulverized egg shell for calcium and grit. Mix in a couple of handfuls of soil the worms need for grit.Add peat moss or leaf mold to increase water retention. Drill holes in the bottom of the container.Kitchen scraps (lettuce leaves, broccoli stems, coffee grounds, egg shells).One pound of red worms can process about a half pound of kitchen scraps per day.Plastic box (about 2x2 feet for 2 people or 2x3 for four people, 8 to 12 inches deep.Worm Composter Use worms to turn kitchen scraps into compost.

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