Fifth “Backyard Farming” Lecture - Worm Composting For
Gardens
Joan O’Connor of Joan’s Worms tending to her composting
worms.
The Chichester Garden Club (CGC) and Chichester Agricultural
Commission (AgCom) are presenting this spring’s fifth session of
“Backyard Farming” lecture series “How to Raise Worms for Your
Garden” by Joan O’Connor of Joan’s Worms on May 27 at 7pm, Town
Library, 161 Main Street.
These educational events are free, open to the public and are
part of Chichester’s YEAR OF THE FARMER promotional endeavor.
According to her website, Joan O’Connor has a mission:
Demystifying the Art of Vermicomposting (worm composting).
She has been quoted saying “As long as you don’t freeze, bake,
or drown the red wiggler worms (eisenia fetida), they are the
most efficient yet simplest way to turn organic waste into rich
garden compost.”
In 1999, Joan purchased a 640 square foot one-room school house
in Henniker, NH. A strong proponent of recycling as a way to
improve and enrich the soil, she began to study the art of
vermicomposting. She discovered equipment needed for worm
composting was minimal and ideally suited for a business to
pursue out of her small living space. A plastic storage bin 8”
- 16” deep, newspaper, peat moss, vegetable and fruit scraps,
egg shells, coffee grounds, tea bags and paper towels - seemed
to be all that was required. The natural process is worms eat
the scraps to make the rich castings (worm poop) and the
composted material is used to enrich garden soil.
Worms, after all, eat more than their own weight in food every
day.
In the beginning, Joan’s worms ate only a few scraps at a time,
but as they multiplied and multiplied, they ate larger and
larger amounts of food. Her worm crop became so bountiful, she
began selling them. Today, she can barely keep up with the
demand. There is little competition for her line of work – at
least in NH. Joan notes that the Canadians are already using
worms to devour their municipal waste – an idea she would like
to see come to fruition in NH.
The “Backyard Farming” lecture series is part of the CGC’s
objective to encourage more flower and vegetable gardens in
Chichester, to promote the love of agriculture with emphasis on
gardening, civic beautification and environmental responsibility
through education and example, while the AgCom’s objective is to
protect farmland, support the local agricultural economy,
preserve rural character and promote local agriculture to
community members and visitors. And as ambassadors of the
farming community, AgComs acts as educators, advisers and
promoters to help keep agriculture viable in New Hampshire.
Questions or to RSVP, contact Ann Davis
[email protected] or 603-903-3891
