Wormery Project

By Claire Tancell

Why are earth worms important?

Earth worms help to mix up and break down things in the soil. Worms do this by eating soil and rotting plants then leaving behind worm casts either in the soil or on the surface. These worm casts are very smooth and contain nutrients that plants can use to grow. Worm casts make the perfect surface for all kinds of seeds to germinate. Worms are sometimes called “nature’s plough” because of the way they mix up the soil.

What is a wormery?

A wormery is a temporary home for worms with clear sides to let you watch the worms at work. You can make one quite easily using soil and worms that you have collected from your garden or school grounds. Ask permission before you start digging. Remember to put everything back as you found it and to return the worms when you have studied them for a couple of weeks.

What you will need

The soil can be any garden soil and the sand any that you can find. It is best to use a plastic spoon that can be thrown away or one that is not used for food. Remember to wash your hands thoroughly after handling soil.

Finding worms

The best place to find worms is near the soil surface after it has been raining. If the soil is dry and there is no sign of rain, you could try watering it well and waiting for about an hour for the worms to surface. You will need two or three for a wormery of this size.

Making your wormery

If you are working inside, first cover you work area with newspaper and lay out all the things you need. Take your jar or cut-off bottle and add a layer of soil about 5cm deep. On top of this add a layer of sand about 1 cm deep. Shred up some newspaper into smallish pieces and add a thin layer on top of the sand. Dampen the paper with a little water.

You must keep your wormery damp as worms breathe through their skin and they can only do this if there is a little moisture. Make sure the soil is just damp and not soaked or there will be no airspaces left for your worms to breathe.

Keep adding layers in this way. When you have finished, it should look something like this.

Photos above © ClaireTancell

Take a closer look

Before you add your worms to your wormery, take a minute to look at them carefully.

Photo: © Michael Demidecki

You will see that the body is divided up into about 75 or more segments. The head end is pointed and burrows first through the soil. Earthworms have no teeth but they can suck up very soft food or nibble at it with their lips. ..

The skin of the worm is smooth with pairs of tiny bristles that help it move through the soil. You will need a magnifying glass to see these. Put a worm on the paper and listen. You may be able to hear the bristles making a scratchy sound as the worm moves.

Worms have no eyes or ears but they can sense light and will normally wriggle into darkness if they are uncovered. Behind the head of mature earth worms and about one third along the body is a smooth area called the saddle which is used in egg laying. Worms are both female and male at the same time.

Photo: © Michael Demidecki

Looking after your wormery

When you have put the worms gently on the surface of your wormery, place it in a cool dark place. You can feed your worms by sprinkling a little food on the soil surface. They will like to eat:

1. Fruit and vegetable scraps and peelings (they don’t like orange, lemon or onion)

2. Cold teabags

3. Egg shells

4. Small pieces of damp cardboard (make sure it isn’t printed with lots of glossy coloured ink)

Check on your wormery every few days. You will notice that the food is gradually pulled down into the soil and that the layers you made become mixed together. You can see what an important job worms do in keeping our soil in good condition for plants to grow.

When you have finished, you can empty the whole contents of your wormery onto the garden and start a new wormery!