.
My wormery is very slow in producing compost for growing tomatoes etc. I am slowly dicovering why this so ... Also the material in the trays is very wet but I guess this is because the tea leaf bags are sodden. I have being putting absorbant paper into the trays to absorb the moisture, but otherwise they are well
All the best
Sean
Friday, 14 November 2008
Friday, 12 September 2008
The trouble with worms and birds!
-
What a wonderful series of diary entries
by you Sean!
It made me think of the new ways contemporary poetry is written! :)
They are fine
Fine
They are munching all of the tea bags
Seem to be thriving
Fine
Munching away
Doing well
Fine
They could eat for England
Fine
They are thriving
Munching away
Good
Hoping all your worms are protected from the Early Birds! :)
Posted by your snooping and keeping an eye on things webmaster! CM :) ps. Keep up the good work!
Cartoon sourced here
Need a Blog like this one for your own project!
Contact Charles on 07981 524 906.
What a wonderful series of diary entries
by you Sean!
It made me think of the new ways contemporary poetry is written! :)
They are fine
Fine
They are munching all of the tea bags
Seem to be thriving
Fine
Munching away
Doing well
Fine
They could eat for England
Fine
They are thriving
Munching away
Good
Hoping all your worms are protected from the Early Birds! :)
Posted by your snooping and keeping an eye on things webmaster! CM :) ps. Keep up the good work!
Cartoon sourced here
Need a Blog like this one for your own project!
Contact Charles on 07981 524 906.
Wednesday, 10 September 2008
My Wormery Diary - 10th Sept 2008
-
Latest Updates!!!
10-8-08 they are fine
13-8-08 fine
16-8-08 they are munching all of the tea bags
18-8-08 seem to be thriving
22-8-08 fine
25-8-08 munching away
29-8-08 doing well
01-9-08 fine
03-9-08 they could eat for England
05-9-08 fine
08-9-08 they are thriving
11-9-08 munching away
14-9-08 good
Latest Updates!!!
10-8-08 they are fine
13-8-08 fine
16-8-08 they are munching all of the tea bags
18-8-08 seem to be thriving
22-8-08 fine
25-8-08 munching away
29-8-08 doing well
01-9-08 fine
03-9-08 they could eat for England
05-9-08 fine
08-9-08 they are thriving
11-9-08 munching away
14-9-08 good
Wednesday, 13 August 2008
Wormery Update
Recently, I had a good look at the progress of the wormery and these are my findings:
The bottom tray is almost ready to be emptied in spite of the fact that there are still some worms present. These worms will I'm sure move on very soon to the upper tray.
When I take the material from the lower tray we will use it in the Centre's garden to enrich the soil. This compost is very rich and is excellent to help grow healthy fruit and vegetables.
The bottom tray is ready as I have said, but I am somewhat surprised that it has taken nine months to mature. Perhaps we need faster worms!
It is important to note that you cannot just throw any rubbish or scraps into the wormery. The worms are very fussy and they really only like to engage with the following:
Fruit, vegetable peelings, uncooked kitchen waste, coffee grounds and tea bags especially Earl Grey :)
They do not like fish and chips!
That's the latest update from me and the worms. Watch this space!
Tuesday, 12 August 2008
Up on the roof!
-
-
The roof of Camden Town Hall is covered in tomato plants, nourished by the waste from staff lunches that worms have made into compost. Tom Fewins, Public Affairs Officer, explains how this mini-ecosystem came about.
Thus begins the article on the website of the Improvement and Development Agency for local government (IDeA).
This article was brought to my notice and I thought it a good IDEA! to post details here on the Blog.
Our Centre also gets a mention in the article!
You can visit the article on their website by clicking here.
-
The roof of Camden Town Hall is covered in tomato plants, nourished by the waste from staff lunches that worms have made into compost. Tom Fewins, Public Affairs Officer, explains how this mini-ecosystem came about.
Thus begins the article on the website of the Improvement and Development Agency for local government (IDeA).
This article was brought to my notice and I thought it a good IDEA! to post details here on the Blog.
Our Centre also gets a mention in the article!
You can visit the article on their website by clicking here.
Letter of encouragement from Dave Wilson
-
Camden Council, 10th April 2008.
Dave is supporting us in our wormery venture. Thanks for the encouragement Dave.
Dear Sean
As you know I popped up to see the wormery last week. It looks like you’re doing a fantastic job. The bottom tray is almost ready to be used as compost. Once you can no longer recognise any of the material in the bottom tray and it all looks black then you can start using that compost on the garden. You will probably find that there are some worms in the bottom layer still but don’t worry too much about this, you can either put them in the soil or pick them out depending on how much time you have.
I’m glad that you have emptied out the top tray as the chips and batter in there were probably not great for the worms and also may attract unwanted pests.
Uncooked fruit and vegetable peelings are the best thing along with tea bags etc
You may find that now it is a bit warmer you start to get a few small flies when you take the lid off. This is normal – they are small fruit flies that feed off the acids produced by the fruit. If you find them unpleasant simply place some paper towels o the top layer and this should control them. You will never get rid of them all.
I hope that you are still enjoying the experience, I think it’s fantastic that you’re dedicated to it and if you have any further problems just let me know.
All the best
Dave Wilson
Assistant Policy and Projects Officer
Camden Council, 10th April 2008.
Dave is supporting us in our wormery venture. Thanks for the encouragement Dave.
Dear Sean
As you know I popped up to see the wormery last week. It looks like you’re doing a fantastic job. The bottom tray is almost ready to be used as compost. Once you can no longer recognise any of the material in the bottom tray and it all looks black then you can start using that compost on the garden. You will probably find that there are some worms in the bottom layer still but don’t worry too much about this, you can either put them in the soil or pick them out depending on how much time you have.
I’m glad that you have emptied out the top tray as the chips and batter in there were probably not great for the worms and also may attract unwanted pests.
Uncooked fruit and vegetable peelings are the best thing along with tea bags etc
You may find that now it is a bit warmer you start to get a few small flies when you take the lid off. This is normal – they are small fruit flies that feed off the acids produced by the fruit. If you find them unpleasant simply place some paper towels o the top layer and this should control them. You will never get rid of them all.
I hope that you are still enjoying the experience, I think it’s fantastic that you’re dedicated to it and if you have any further problems just let me know.
All the best
Dave Wilson
Assistant Policy and Projects Officer
Myra is presented with our Wormery
-
Here is a photograph of Myra at the Environment Champion's second birthday party. It was on that occasion, in November 2007, that Myra was presented with a wormery by Camden Councillor Alexis Rowell, Chair of Sustainability.
If you want to find out more about Camden Council's Environmental policies etc. Click here
For advice on Composting click here
To find out about Environment Recycling Champions click here.
Here is a photograph of Myra at the Environment Champion's second birthday party. It was on that occasion, in November 2007, that Myra was presented with a wormery by Camden Councillor Alexis Rowell, Chair of Sustainability.
If you want to find out more about Camden Council's Environmental policies etc. Click here
For advice on Composting click here
To find out about Environment Recycling Champions click here.
The beginning!
-
"A wormery will give us beautiful tomatoes, carrots, celery, leeks, turnips and basil. So please giv'us a womery so we can dig down into the soil and bring us the humus".
Thus I helped write our submission with Myra, our Computer Tutor when she entered Camden Council's competition to win a Wormery for our Centre.
Myra explains:
"More than a year ago, Camden Environment Champions were inivited to state in no more than 70 words why they felt their workplace would be a suitable site for a Wormery.
Sean, a UK Online learner, had previously talked about growing up on a farm in Ireland and leaving school at a very young age. When I spoke to him about the competition he was keen that we enter it, volunteering to get his hands dirty and be the Wormery guardian. Living in a high rise flat in North West London with no garden, Sean said he would welcome the opportunity to cultivate a Wormery. Encouraged by Sean, we submitted the following statement and it did the trick":
"A wormery will give us beautiful tomatoes, carrots, celery, leeks, turnips and basil. So please giv'us a wormery so we can dig down into the soil and bring us the humus"
Here is a photograph of me with David Wilson, Camden Assistant Policy and Projects Officer in the middle and Myra on the right. This was taken when David very kindly came to help us set it up and he has supported me in its care.
Julie Granger, Principal Energy Management Officer at Camden Council wrote in her newsletter:
"Congratulations to Champ Myra and the Charlie Ratchford Centre for winning the Wormery and thank you to Sean Grant (left of photo) for volunteering to become the worm guardian at the Centre. We will keep you updated on what they grow. Once again thank you to the Environment Policy Team for donating the Wormery and David Wilson, Camden Assistant Policy and Projects Officer for setting it up".
I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to manage the Wormery and I decided to let everyone know about the progress of this new venture through my new Blog.
I would like to thank the Charlie Ratchford Centre here and especially Myra Schehtman our Computer Tutor from Adult and Community Learning at Camden Council who inspired the whole venture and who has provided myself and my fellow learners with the opportunity to learn internet and email skills and what is now possible on the World Wide Web.
You can find out more about the wonderful work being done by Camden's Adult and Community Learning team, especially the team managed by Ashoka Norman, their Quality Co-ordinator, if you click here. Often known as UK Online Centres, these fantastic learning resources are offered at many Community Centres throughout the borough and I have learned so much at these sessions. More information is available about the Computer facilities at The Charlie Ratchford Resource Centre if you click here
-
In terms of thanks, finally, but certainly by no means least, I would like to thank Charles Molloy who has taken time out to advise and guide me with setting up this blog. This has been done with much patience and considering my lack of experience in blogging, Charles has made me feel able and confident very quickly. I know that Charles has worked with staff and users of Camden's UK Online service over the last few years and all I hear is praise for him. Do not hesitate to contact him should you need a Website, Graphic Design, Multimedia or Video Consultant! Charles has also many years of training and teaching Digital Media.
Over the coming weeks, months and years I hope to keep the world informed about our worms, our compost, and all the trials and tribulations we will no doubt encounter.
I am very happy for people to comment on what we post here, share their interests and ask any questions about the project.
Signing off for now
Sean
"A wormery will give us beautiful tomatoes, carrots, celery, leeks, turnips and basil. So please giv'us a womery so we can dig down into the soil and bring us the humus".
Thus I helped write our submission with Myra, our Computer Tutor when she entered Camden Council's competition to win a Wormery for our Centre.
Myra explains:
"More than a year ago, Camden Environment Champions were inivited to state in no more than 70 words why they felt their workplace would be a suitable site for a Wormery.
Sean, a UK Online learner, had previously talked about growing up on a farm in Ireland and leaving school at a very young age. When I spoke to him about the competition he was keen that we enter it, volunteering to get his hands dirty and be the Wormery guardian. Living in a high rise flat in North West London with no garden, Sean said he would welcome the opportunity to cultivate a Wormery. Encouraged by Sean, we submitted the following statement and it did the trick":
"A wormery will give us beautiful tomatoes, carrots, celery, leeks, turnips and basil. So please giv'us a wormery so we can dig down into the soil and bring us the humus"
Here is a photograph of me with David Wilson, Camden Assistant Policy and Projects Officer in the middle and Myra on the right. This was taken when David very kindly came to help us set it up and he has supported me in its care.
Julie Granger, Principal Energy Management Officer at Camden Council wrote in her newsletter:
"Congratulations to Champ Myra and the Charlie Ratchford Centre for winning the Wormery and thank you to Sean Grant (left of photo) for volunteering to become the worm guardian at the Centre. We will keep you updated on what they grow. Once again thank you to the Environment Policy Team for donating the Wormery and David Wilson, Camden Assistant Policy and Projects Officer for setting it up".
I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to manage the Wormery and I decided to let everyone know about the progress of this new venture through my new Blog.
I would like to thank the Charlie Ratchford Centre here and especially Myra Schehtman our Computer Tutor from Adult and Community Learning at Camden Council who inspired the whole venture and who has provided myself and my fellow learners with the opportunity to learn internet and email skills and what is now possible on the World Wide Web.
You can find out more about the wonderful work being done by Camden's Adult and Community Learning team, especially the team managed by Ashoka Norman, their Quality Co-ordinator, if you click here. Often known as UK Online Centres, these fantastic learning resources are offered at many Community Centres throughout the borough and I have learned so much at these sessions. More information is available about the Computer facilities at The Charlie Ratchford Resource Centre if you click here
-
In terms of thanks, finally, but certainly by no means least, I would like to thank Charles Molloy who has taken time out to advise and guide me with setting up this blog. This has been done with much patience and considering my lack of experience in blogging, Charles has made me feel able and confident very quickly. I know that Charles has worked with staff and users of Camden's UK Online service over the last few years and all I hear is praise for him. Do not hesitate to contact him should you need a Website, Graphic Design, Multimedia or Video Consultant! Charles has also many years of training and teaching Digital Media.
Over the coming weeks, months and years I hope to keep the world informed about our worms, our compost, and all the trials and tribulations we will no doubt encounter.
I am very happy for people to comment on what we post here, share their interests and ask any questions about the project.
Signing off for now
Sean
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