Biome in a Box! Let the composting begin!

in Garden Buzz by Britt — April 23, 2010 at 4:00 am | 3 comments

The Worm Watcher was created by former middle school science teacher Regina Ridgway who loved using worms in class as a teaching tool. After being laid off she decided to create her own composting worm watching box and started her own company in the process! The Worm Watcher is “Unlike traditional composters, this one works year-round making compost and does not require turning or tumbling, so gardeners don’t need to travel outside in nasty weather to compost their kitchen scraps (no dairy or meat.)…”

As Regina Ridgway puts it, “Put 500 red wiggler worms in a sturdy clear box with vegetable scraps, rotten tomatoes and just about any other kitchen garbage you can think of. Then watch. And wait. You’re about to receive the best fertilizer you’ve ever put in your garden”  How fun for soil lovers who want to compost their own fertilizer tea!

But Regina doesn’t offer up any, sturdy clear box, she’s offering up her supremely well engineered fun box.  There are so many ways on can do this but this baby offers seeing the entire process in action along the way.  Like an ant farm, the Worm Watcher is an observable biome in a box.  Not only does is harvest 2-3 pounds of garbage a week it is also odorless!

“…Within 90 days, students see the entire process and life cycle of worms, making it a great teaching tool for science teachers or environmentally conscious parents to talk about sustainability, green choices, and natural cycles in soil that bring us healthy food”

For those of us considering using it in home, she explains, “Just dig a little hole and bury your food waste in it, making sure to cover the waste with soil. As long as you bury it, there will be NO smell. It’s that easy! Just bury your waste each week and watch it disappear!”

The tea, she continues, can be added “…to ten times as much water and spray it on your plants. Don’t use it straight-it’s so rich and full of nitrogen that it can burn your plants! You can even use it to fertilize a lawn.” That’s pretty cool but for me the selling point is still that it’s odorless!

I ran into Regina at the Mid-Atlantic Home and Flower Show a couple of months ago. She was working hard explaining all the benefits of the Worm Watcher to anyone who came over.

It was great to see the passion in her execution. She illustrated the joys of composting perfectly. She and her crew were thrilled to be there and you could tell.

Rich Bundy is a co-inventor of the WormWatcher who retired from the Jefferson Laboratory.  Their wonderful helper Andon Zebal is a part-time graduate of William and Mary and is developing a eco-business with Chiapa, Mexico.

Regina has also been busy getting the worm watcher into schools around the Virginia. As a previous science teacher she loves the idea of her biome in a dome being used for educational purposes.

Worm Watcher also has it’s own blog and it’s great! Seriously.  Visit http://wormwatcher.blogspot.com/

Well, thanks to Regina for being so inspiring and getting the word out on composting through education in both schools and in the home!  For more information just visit www.biomeinabox.com and check out her great blog!

‘Til Tomorrow…

Britt : )

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3. Let the fun begin at Green Animals Topiary Garden!
4. A hanging Global Terrain at the Philadelphia Flower Show! Part IV
5. Some Garden Shopping Buzz from The Mid-Atlantic Home and Garden Show!

Tags: Biome in a Dome composting Feature featured Worm Watcher