We're Becoming Worm Farmers

Thanks to our composting intern, Alexander Thompson, we now have two vermiculture bins on the land!  These bins are unique for Grenada and we are excited to promote vermicomposting to local farmers.

Worm composting bins on our cocoa farm

What is vermicompost?

Vermiculture is worm farming!  Vermicompost is a composting system that cultivates a large worm population within the compost.  Worms help break down the materials quicker, aerate the soil and turn the compost into rich organic matter. 

Why use vermiculture?

The water run off (“worm tea”) and final compost (worm castings) generated from the vermicompost bins are one of the most nutritious and beneficial fertilizers available. This compost has significantly higher beneficial microorganisms and bacteria, and is considered a perfect organic fertilizer. Farmers can save a considerable amount of money on fertilizers and avoid putting harmful chemicals into their soil.

Benefits of worm farming:

• Aerates soil
• Increases plant growth and yield
• Reduces waste going to landfills
• Replaces chemical fertilizers
• Improves root growth
• Provides worms for fish bait or chicken feed
• Protects plants from disease 

Our bins:

Our two worm bins were made inexpensively, with materials accessible in our community.  Our goal is to demonstrate vermiculture as a beneficial practice any farmer here could adopt. Once the bins are made, they are easy to maintain. Our staff adds partially broken down compost and moistens the soil every few days, and the worms do the rest of the work! Water that drips down to the bottom bucket – "worm tea" - is diluted and used to water our vegetables. It is extremely nutritious, and helps protect plants against diseases. After a few weeks, the broken down compost can be removed from the bin, and used to fertilizer cocoa trees and vegetables, or boost our regular composting system.  New decomposing material is added to the bin and the hungry worms gravitate to the new material.

Our worms:

Our worms were collected during an expedition to collect seaweed for our extensive composting system.  These worms don’t grow to be as large as traditional earthworms, but are aggressive composters and native to Grenada.

Worms from CFFI vermiculture bins

We're excited about this new addition on our farm and can't wait to try out the fertilizer when its ready!