Ms. Fein's and Mr. Jacobs' Students Make Worm Salad and Learn About Vermiculture

Looking for worms!

On December 7, Mrs. Vander Veen taught Ms. Fein's and Mr. Jacobs' 2nd grade students about vermi-composting which is composting with worms. We have red wriggler worms living in our school worm bin.  The students first learned about rot and the process of decomposition that occurs with the food that is placed in the worm bin for the worms to eat.  They then contributed to the chart that listed what worms can and cannot eat. After writing in their journals, the students made worm salad with fruit and vegetable scraps which they fed to the worms. They had carrots for a snack in the garden and their teachers were given gummy worms to pass out later.

Ingredients for worm salad

A listing of some things you can and cannot add to the worm bin

5th Graders Save Heirloom Tomato Seeds

Today some of Ms. Conn's and Mr. Lantos' students learned how to save heirloom tomato seeds. We used open-pollenated heirloom tomatoes, not hybrid tomatoes. Seeds from open-pollenated plants will result in the same plant whereas a hybrid one could result in one of the parent plants.

We are fermenting the seeds by saving the seeds in a container with approximately 1/4 c. of water. We'll separate the seeds and dry them on a paper plate next week.

The students have planted heirloom seeds from Monticello in their Jeffersonian Garden. We are following practices that have been used by gardeners there and elsewhere to duplicate plants that the like.

Some students also planted radish and kale seeds in the Jeffersonian Garden.