Worms Wriggle onto Center Stage at Workshop

Cleopatra declared them sacred animals, Aristotle called them the “intestines of the earth,” and Charles Darwin considered them more important than horses.

So what is the wonder creature creating all this buzz? The worm.

About 40 people gathered at a worm composting workshop hosted by the city of Elk Grove on Saturday morning to learn more about the slimy animal and how it can wiggle its way into building nutrient-rich soils for gardens.

Or more specifically, they learned how to make and spread worm “poop,” as workshop facilitator Kate Waldo elegantly put it.

Using worms to compost diverts waste from landfills, reduces methane gases and produces some of the best organic fertilizers, said Waldo, co-founder of Worm Fancy in Citrus Heights.

“Healthy food and healthy people come from healthy soil, and worms can make that possible,” said Waldo, who started a worm composting supply business from her garage with a neighbor two years ago. She led the workshop for local gardeners at the Elk Grove Community Garden.

Cindy Nelson, program coordinator for the city’s waste and recycling department, said the city sponsors four basic composting workshops a year, where gardeners learn to transform food scraps and yard clippings into soil supplements.

Gardeners attending those workshops were intrigued by worm composting, or “vermiculture,” which allows worms to recycle garbage into microbe- and mineral-spiked earth. Worms are kept in a bin and fed kitchen and paper scraps, such as leftover or rotting fruits or vegetables and peels, shredded egg cartons, coffee grounds and stale bread.

stores give away coffee grounds for free to customers who want to feed worms, said Nelson.

A couple of pounds of worms, typically red wigglers, can eat half their weight in waste each day, digest it and leave behind fertile compost, or humus, in about 60 days.

The city held a worm composting workshop about a year and a half ago and interest was high, Nelson said.

“There was so much interest, we figured it was time to have another one, and judging from the turnout today, it was a good idea,” she said at the beginning of the workshop. The workshop filled up with pre-registrants, so the city allowed more people to attend.

Nelson said Californians throw away an estimated 6 million tons of food scraps a year, about 17 percent of the total waste stream going to landfills. While the scraps will decompose in a landfill, they don’t decay as quickly or thoroughly as when they are composted, and methane gas is generated from the rotting food, which contributes to global warming.

Throwing away food scraps also wastes valuable nutrients taken from the soil to grow plants, Nelson said.

“When we grow plants, we mine the soil of its nutrients, depleting the soil,” she said. “We need to nurture our soil, build it back up.”

Worm castings, a.k.a. poop, is organic fertilizer, packed with five to 10 times the phosphorous, nitrogen, calcium and magnesium of ordinary potting soil, Waldo said. It’s also a natural repellent for pests.

Vermicompost, the dark humus created by worms, can be used on houseplants, produce or flower gardens, lawns and shrubs, she said.

Waldo, a mother of two and an environmental engineer, became interested in vermiculture as a natural offshoot of her organic gardening and backyard composting. She started a worm bin in her garage, and her neighbor started helping her and asking questions. The pair discovered that there was no local outlet for worms or vermiculture bins or equipment.

The two women customized a low-cost bin system for worm composting made out of 18-gallon plastic totes, which they sell for $65 including one pound of red worms. They also sell worms for $26 a pound, castings and other supplies for worm composting on their website.