Benefits of the Garden Wormery
The biggest benefit of a wormery is the vermicompost, or worm manure. Vermicompost is an excellent fertilizer for plants and gardens, and research suggests that there is no alternative quite like it. Unlike animal manure, it has almost no scent, and it can be used on almost any type of plant. Some of its key characteristics include:
- Improving the soil (making it more fertile and aerated)
- Increasing the level of moisture retention (which means it takes less water to grow the plants)
- Promoting healthy roots
- Adding important enzymes and microorganisms to the soil
- Increasing the yield of the garden or plant
- Producing larger, tastier fruits and vegetables
- Helping to keep diseases and pests at bay
- Attracting natural earthworms already present in the soil
The benefits of a wormery aren’t all about the plants, however. While the primary purpose is to increase the quality and yield of plant life, wormeries are also a great way to save money, improve the environment, and help kids to learn about the ecosystem.
Saving Money
One of the most important aspects of any composting system is the amount of garbage reduction it offers. Kitchen scraps and other biowastes take up a large portion of the average family garbage output – in fact, experts estimate that 20 million tonnes of food is thrown away every year in the UK alone! With a wormery, you should be able to reduce your annual garbage output and make use of that waste.
Because you can make a wormery out of many materials you already have at home (an old plastic bin, shredded newspaper, etc.), you can also access rich fertilizer for almost no money. When used for personal or community gardens, the benefits mean more produce for your kitchen table at a fraction of the cost.
Improving the Environment
At an individual level, creating and maintaining a wormery means that your garbage output is reduced. When done at a larger level (such as for agriculture), the results have a much more important impact. The amount of energy necessary to run a wormery is fairly low, and the greenhouse gas emissions are greatly reduced.
Vermicompost is also incredibly good at replacing harmful insecticides and pesticides. It is a natural alternative to chemical plant fertilizers, which could, if applied on a world-wide level, play a major role in reducing the impact of farming on the environment. It is also becoming increasingly popular in third world countries, where soil quality has a negative impact on the viability of farming.
Helping Kids Learn
Perhaps one of the most important aspects of a wormery, however, is how it can benefit kids. Not only do children learn about the importance of recycling food waste and giving back to the earth, but the science of composting and vermiculture offers countless opportunities for education. From animal life cycles to the minerals in soil, kids get a hands-on learning approach to science.
Some of the learning opportunities in a wormery include:
- How worms eat and break down plant matter
- Worm life cycles and reproduction
- Caring for living organisms
- Building and construction of the wormery
- The role of bacteria fungi in decomposition
- Temperature and volume regulation
- The chemicals and minerals that remain after the decomposition is complete
- How these chemicals and minerals benefit new growth
- Planting and growing a garden
This is a learning opportunity for many parents, too. Although wormeries tend to be easy to build and run, you may discover just how important it is to be mindful of your waste products as your worms set about the task of decomposing it all for you!
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