Kids can have a wonderful science project when they create a worm bin for their fruit and veggie garden. Red earthworms create food for the soil and nutrients for the plants called castings. Worm farms can found at the hardware store or garden center. Many bins are smaller than the one pictured here. Earthworms like a small shallow bin with aerating holes that is kept not too hot and not too wet with a cover. Kids can create high quality compost for very little money in a short period of time. Starting with a biodegradable material, like coconut coir, and adding organic waste from the garden and organic vegetable scraps from the kitchen, kids can feed and water their worms. Earthworms will feed in the top layers of the bin and will discompose the added daily organic kitchen scraps along with shredded newspaper and cardboard in three to four months. Place the bin in a shady protected spot, like against the house foundation or in the garage. Kids can harvest the rich highly nitrous castings by removing the top layer by hand or with a sieve or by moving the rich black soil to one side of the bin and adding fresh bedding and new organic scraps. Kids can also carefully dump out the bin, clean it, fill it with moist new bedding and fresh raw materials, and separate the majority of worms by hand back into the clean bin. Kids can mix a trowel full of the rich compost into the soil around their fruits and veggies to add vital nutrients and feed the many living things that are growing in the garden.
Cooking Magic for Kids 