Getting all the good oil on worm farms

Coebin Green learnt all about worms at the Tauranga City Council workshop on Saturday. PHOTO/CARMEN HALL

Worm composting is becoming more popular in the city as people look to reduce their own household waste.

On Saturday more than 100 people, including children, attended a Tauranga City Council subsidised workshop to find out how a few hundred new pets could eat their way through leftover kitchen scraps.

I had always been meaning to sign up for the course but because of its popularity you need to register early. I did last year.

Part of the appeal is you actually get to go home with the three-tier worm farm, a colony of tiger worms and other bits and pieces to get you started - all for $34.50.

My family are not experts when it comes to composting but we recycle and I have kickstarted a small vegetable garden.

I had also heard about the wonders of worms and how unlike other pets they were relatively easy to look after.

They come with several fringe benefits and can make worm juice and enriched compost.

Tauranga City Council Resource Recovery coordinator Nicole Banks facilitated the workshop and says all of Tauranga's waste is trucked out of the region to the closest landfill in Hamilton.

The objective was to reduce that waste and data from a 2013 kerbside survey indicated 30 per cent of rubbish bag content came from kitchen scraps followed by 16 per cent from the garden.

She told the audience by worm composting, "you are turning organic waste back into dirt".

If you imagine a rugby field stacked 30 storeys high or able to reach the Sky Tower "that is how much waste is created in New Zealand every month".

Volunteer Sue Callaghan did a step-by-step set-up of the worm unit. She says she has been worm farming for more than a decade.

"The first workshop I came to was over 10 years ago as I had started up a worm farm but it was an absolute failure as I had no idea what I was doing. The workshop was brilliant because you got the right advice with the presentation and a pack to take home that explained any issues and how to fix them."

Sue has been volunteering at the workshop for five years and had three worm farms.

"I give a lot of the worm tea away and use it when I am watering the garden and if I am planting I will put in compost as well. It's perfect."

Gayna Paris says she is thinking of moving and having a more sustainable garden, so the worm workshop made sense.

"I haven't done it before and thought the presentation was very good. They told us everything that we needed to know and think it is great that they actually give us the farm and everything to start it up. I am now looking forward to setting it up."

Craig Green attended the workshop with his six-year-old son Coebin to seek advice.

"I basically bought a secondhand worm farm and attempted to get it up and running.

"I ran into a few problems so I wanted to find out what I did wrong. The workshop was really good so hopefully I will be successful this time."

TIGER WORMS
Tiger worms are not like earth worms and like to eat fruit and vegetables. They have no eyes, no ears and no teeth but a hard gizzard and strong mouth.

They have five hearts and a saddle in the middle of their back for eggs.

Water and air is passed through their skin.

Tiger worms are hermaphrodites Tiger worms' diet Fruit and vege scraps, Tea bags, coffee grounds, egg shells Newspaper, cardboard, paper towels, egg cartons.