April is the month to learn about Vermicomposting! March 21, 2010

Upcoming events at the Thompson Worm Farm!

Check out our new Podcast: The Thompson Worm Farm Podcast

Event: “Chattanooga Green Festival”
Date: Saturday, April 10, 10:00am – 4:00pm
Location: Coolidge and Renaissance Parks
 

 The City of Chattanooga invites you to a celebration of Earth Month 2010. The CHATTANOOGA GREEN FESTIVAL will highlight sustainability measures for homeowners and businesses alike with educational displays, vendors and special events. Chat with the Director of the “Office of Sustainability,” or the experts on sustainability from multiple agencies. You’ll meet local businesses and organizations that are dedicated to improving the health of our environment. As an added bonus: Outdoor Chattanooga’s OUTDOOR EXPO & GEAR SWAP will feature exhibits dedicated to outdoor recreation & nature, and Chattanooga’s Parent Magazine is sponsoring a “SUMMER FUN ZONE” for kids. This is a special “green”day for our community. You don’t want to miss it!

 

Event: 2010 Spring Wildflower Festival & Native Plant Sale – April 9, 10, & 11

 

Come at 1PM on Sunday the 11th for a vermicomposing workshop!

Come choose from hundreds of native trees, shrubs and wildflowers – all for sale. Stay and make a day of it exploring our 300-acres of native woodland gardens and over twelve miles of hiking trails and paths.

The Spring Native Plant Sale features hearty native plants, guided wildflower walks, a variety of talks on gardening/wildlife/conservation topics and a few longer hikes exploring the Riding property, and live bluegrass music. Please come and enjoy the beauty of the emerging spring!

Hours: Friday & Saturday, 9am to 5pm, and Sunday, 1 to 5pm. Free Admission.
 

 

 

Event: SPRING PLANT SALE @ Crabtree Farms
 

Come see the NEW Worm Factory 360 and learn about Vermicomposting at the 10th Annual Spring Plant Sale at Crabtree Farms in Chattanooga.  Stop by the Thompson Worm Farm Booth. 

When:
Saturday April 17, 2010: 8-4
Sunday April 18, 2010: 11-3

Customers can choose from a wide variety of vegetable starts including heirloom tomatoes, herbs and annual flowers. All plants are cultivated in the greenhouse at Crabtree Farms using sustainable methods. Due to popular demand, Crabtree Farms will be offering over 6000 plants at this year’s sale. So no one will leave empty handed this year. Also, check out the new Sunday hours for the plant sale.
 

Gardening Talks:
Join us Saturday at the Spring Plant Sale for free Gardening talks; topic TBA

Plants for Sale:
There are many annual favorites, as well as several new varieties. All have been chosen for regional adaptation and performance. Mark your space in the yard and check out the bountiful selection at this year’s plant sale. Many plants available this year are hard to find locally. 
 

DIRECTIONS

From Downtown
Proceed South on Market Street
Past the Choo Choo, at light take Left on Main Street
Proceed ½ mile to light at Central, take Right
Keep left, Left onto Rossville Blvd.
Go 1 mile on Rossville Blvd.
Right on East 30th Street
Stay on East 30th Street, wind through residential neighborhood
East 30th Dead Ends at Crabtree Farm 
Drive up to Barn!

 

From 1-24
Take I-24 into Chattanooga to the Rossville Boulevard South exit
Go less than 1 mile south on Rossville Blvd. to East 30th Street
Right on East 30th Street
Stay on East 30th Street, wind through residential neighborhood
East 30th Dead Ends at Crabtree Farm 
Drive up to Barn!
 

Chattanooga Times Free Press on Vermicomposting September 19, 2009

Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009

As the worm turns

Vermicomposting ideal way to convert waste into fertilizer

By: Karen Nazor Hill
(Contact)

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While the thought of worm composting may sound gross to some, experts say it pays to get past the ick factor. Vermicomposting, as it’s formally known, is an excellent way to convert waste into fertilizer.

Mike Barron, Crabtree Farms greenhouse manager, even calls it the best fertilizer available for flower beds and vegetable gardens.

The ideal housing for a worm compost is a multilayered container, allowing easy placement of bedding materials, which can include shredded newspaper, cardboard and dried grass clippings.

“It’s on-site organic waste recycling — stuff you’d be throwing away in a landfill,” said Matt Thompson, owner of Thompson Worm Farm in Chattanooga. “The worms are making a natural fertilizer.”

According to http://www.worms.com, earthworms are hermaphroditic, meaning each worm is male and female and can produce eggs and fertilize the eggs produced by another worm. Under ideal conditions, the worm population could double each month.

Five tips on vermicomposting

1. Choose a container. Compost worms need a dark, well-drained environment with good air flow. This can be a plastic storage bin, homemade wooden box or a commercially made stackable composting system.

2. Prepare the bed. The bedding the worms will live in can be shredded paper, junk mail, shredded newspaper, coir (recycled coconut fiber) or peat moss. To prepare the bedding, wet with nonchlorinated water and let soak for 24 hours. The moisture consistency should be about the same as a wrung-out sponge.

3. Watch the temperature. Optimal temperature is 74 F, within a target range of 40 to 90 F. Temperatures outside this range will kill the worms. In most parts of the country, setting up your bin indoors will make this temperature range easier to maintain.

4. Use red wigglers. These worms are well-suited for the conditions of bin life. Earthworms from your garden are burrowing worms, not top feeders like the red wigglers. This means they will not do well in your bin, and they may try to leave your composting system.

5. Start feeding slowly. Worms will love fruit and vegetable waste, coffee grounds and filter, egg shells (dried and crushed), tea bags, breads, pasta and pizza crust. Don’t overfeed. Increase the quantity of worm food once you know how quickly they process the food.

Source: Matt Thompson/thompsonwormfarm.com

Vermicomposting workshop

Thompson Worm Farm is holding a vermicomposting workshop at 11 a.m. today and 12:30 p.m. Sunday during the annual Fall Festival and Plant Sale at Crabtree Farms, 1000 E. 30th St. Participants will learn how to set up and maintain a worm composting system, observe a working worm bin system and learn how to use vermicompost in a garden.

Free Vermicomposting Workshops in Chattanooga September 10, 2009

Come see our booth and the NEW Worm Factory® 360 at Crabtreee Farms on Saturday September 19th 9AM-1PM and Sunday 20th 11AM-3PM at the Fall Festival and Plant Sale.  Come learn about composting with worms at our free workshops!  If you start Vermicomposting now – and through the winter, you will be ready for spring seed starting with your own homemade vermicompost! 

Fall Plant Sale

Customers can choose from a wide variety of fall vegetable starts including lettuce mix, spinach, snap peas, and perennial herbs and flowers. Fall is the best time to plant perennials in your garden or floral beds. The winter months allow them to nestle in and prepare to burst forth in the spring.

Fall Festival
Celebrate All Things Local at the Fall Plant Sale. Shop local growers and handmade crafts and visit with outreach booths while basking in cooler weather. There will be free kids activities and farm tours. Kids which enjoy the Petting Zoo on Sunday only. Hay Rides for all ($2 fee per person).
Attend a free workshop:
Saturday 10am, Fall Garden Tips

Saturday 11am, Composting with Worms
Sunday 12:30, Composting with Worms
Sunday 1:30, Fall Garden Tips

DIRECTIONS to Crabtree Farms:

From Downtown
Proceed South on Market Street
Past the Choo Choo, at light take Left on Main Street
Proceed ½ mile to light at Central, take Right
Keep left, Left onto Rossville Blvd.
Go 1 mile on Rossville Blvd.
Right on East 30th Street
Stay on East 30th Street, wind through residential neighborhood
East 30th Dead Ends at Crabtree Farm
The gate will be closed but not locked. Please close it behind you.
Drive up to Barn!

From 1-24
Take I-24 into Chattanooga to the Rossville Boulevard South exit
Go less than 1 mile south on Rossville Blvd. to East 30th Street
Right on East 30th Street
Stay on East 30th Street, wind through residential neighborhood
East 30th Dead Ends at Crabtree Farm
The gate will be closed but not locked. Please close it behind you.
Drive up to Barn!

New Worm Factory 360 is Here! August 23, 2009

NEW Worm Factory® 360°

Unique Features:
New Thermo Siphon Design patent pending-  Air enters the base on all four sides
Worms burrow through the compost creating air passages rising heat and compost gases create a Thermo Siphon, pulling the air upwards through the trays
Air exits the four sides of the lid
Allows 10 times more air circulation than similar composters.

The Worm Factory 360 has a standard 4-Tray size which is expandable up to 8 trays, giving it the largest volume of any home composter.

Now only 1 step assembly out of the box.

The redesigned lid converts to a handy stand for trays while harvesting the compost

The accessory kit provides basic tools to make managing the Worm Factory 360 easier.

20 year warranty.
 

How It Works:
Simply add a handful of worms and your organic waste to the bottom tray. The worms will start processing the food. Once the bottom tray is filled add another tray. The worms migrate upward to the newest food source leaving the bottom tray full of nutrient rich compost.

As waste is broken down, moisture filters through the system, taking nutrient-rich particles with it. You can drain organic liquid fertilizer right from the spigot.

The Worm Factory 360 is made of #2 HDPE Plastics. The Worm Factory 360 is made in the USA. The Worm Factory 360 has been member tested and recommended by the National Home Gardening Club.

 

Description:
Composting with worms allows you to turn kitchen scraps, paper waste and cardboard into nutrient-rich soil for your plants. The Worm Factory 360 composting system takes the effort out of composting.

With a thermo siphon air flow design, the Worm Factory 360 increases the composting speed. Now you can produce compost much faster than traditional composting methods. Master Gardeners agree, worm castings are one of the richest forms of fertilizer that you can use.

The Worm Factory 360 can be used indoors or outdoors allowing year round production. Now composting is no longer limited to backyards. The Worm Factory 360 is odorless making it great for apartments, kitchens, garages, porches and more.

Features:
Year-round production
Odor Free operation
Available in four tray options
Expandable up to 8 trays
Easy to assemble and manage
Built in “worm tea” collector tray and spigot for easy draining
Includes a 16-page easy-to-use instructional booklet with photos and illustrations
Comes with “Quick-Tips” lid for easy reference
Houses eight to twelve thousand worms that consume 5-8lbs of food per week
20 year warranty on parts and workmanship
Made in the U.S.A.
Made with post consumer recycled materials.
30 year product lifespan.
 

Included:
4 Stacking Trays
Collection Base
16-Page Instruction Book
Ventilation “Quick Tips” Lid
Coir Brick
Worm Bedding
Spigot
Accessory Kit
· Hand Rake
· Scraper
· Thermometer

To order go to Thompsonwormfarm.com

Free Vermicompost talk in Chattanooga August 14, 2009

Join us at Crabtreee Farms on Thursday September 3, 5:30-6:30 to learn about composting with worms. 

 

Topics will include:

• How vermicomposting is different from backyard composting

• How to setup and maintain a worm composting system

• Observing a working worm bin system

• How to use vermicompost in your garden

• Question and answer time

 

Monthly Community Garden Meetings are held at Crabtree Farms to inform individuals interested in starting new community garden projects and to encourage networking among area community gardens and gardeners. The meetings are the first Thursday of every month from 5:30-7pm. They are free and open to the public; no registration necessary.

 

For more information or products check out http://www.thompsonwormfarm.com

Kids and Worms June 25, 2009

If you missed “Sqirm with Worms” kids vermicomposting workshop at Crabtree Farms, you missed a great time. 

We learned about worm anatomy, life cycle and how worms help us.

We also learned how worms are part of the natural recycling/compost cycle. 

There is no “waste” in nature, everything is reused.

 

Kids were able to hold worms and observe other worm bin creatures.

We ate “Worms in Dirt”!  – Don’t worry, it was Jello, Oreo and gummy worms!

If you would like to host a  kids vericomposting  workshop or you would like us to speak to your group about worms

or vermicomposting in the Chattanooga, Tennessee  area, check us out online at www.thompsonwormfarm.com

or Call (423)485-1079 and ask for Matt.

 

 

Special thanks to Melanie Mayo from Crabtree Farms for her awesome orgaization and planning of this event and also Brandy Davis, who’s knowledge and experiance helped make this event a “Best Bet”  according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

Campus Ecology – Campus Ecology – National Wildlife Federation June 16, 2009

Campus Ecology – Campus Ecology – National Wildlife Federation

“Your biggest waste stream that’s currently landfilled, and has a high methane generation potential, is food waste,” explains Dr. Sally Brown, associate professor at the University of Washington and renowned waste management expert. “Less than one percent of food waste in the U.S. is currently diverted from landfills.” At the household level, according to the EPA, food waste coupled with yard trimmings constitutes 24 percent of the U.S. municipal waste stream.

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Worldchanging: Bright Green: A Pound of Worms, and Other Key World Changing Concepts

Worldchanging: Bright Green: A Pound of Worms, and Other Key World Changing Concepts

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Squirm with Worms: Vermicomposting at Crabtree Farms June 12, 2009

June 20 2009 – Squirm with Worms: Vermicomposting at Crabtree Farms. If your child is squimish about squirming worms, bring them to this exciting workshop to learn about the world of worms & composting. Kids will study worms at work, make a worm salad to feed them, and learn about the composting cycle first hand!

Spring Saturdays for Kids info: 

Sign your child up for a kid friendly workshop. Costs: $10/per child, $8/per member child Times: 10:00-11:30 for grades K-2nd or ages 5-8 years 1:00-2:30 for grades 3rd-6th or ages 9-12 year Register: Click here to download the registration form and fax or email in.

New Accessory Kit Free in June May 26, 2009

JUNE 2009

For the Month of June – All 3, 4 and 5 Tray Worm Factory® Systems purchased from The Thompson Worm Farm will be upgraded to include the New Accessory Kit – FREE!
 

Introducing the NEW Worm Factory® Accessory Kit  

Three piece kit  Includes: 

Scraper
Our scraper makes is easy to scrape finished compost out of bins and makes rotating trays much faster, cleaner and easier 
 

Handrake
The hand rake comes in handy when stirring your compost, feeding, and checking on your worms.  Also helps when transferring worms from tray to tray.

 

Thermometer
With a color coded temperature guide, our thermometer makes sure that your Worm Factory® is working at an optimum temperature. 
 

 To purchase a Worm Factory® go to: thompsonwormfarm.com