From Friday to Sunday, NC State’s Compost Learning Lab received a series of renovations from several students and a group of NC State-affiliated volunteers, the Extension Master Gardeners.
Renovations involved reroofing a multipurpose teaching shelter, as well as installing two types of insulation in the on-site worm barn, a home to approximately 30,000 worms.
Garnett Bullock, a senior studying sustainable materials and technology, has cared for the worms since 2014 and was one of many people participating in the renovations.
“It was great to see a lot of people coming together and doing the best that they could to make that work,” Bullock said. “Over the time that the lab has been up, it has gone through a lot of seasons and changes, but it’s a lot more prepared for whatever is thrown at it now.”
For Bullock, the new insulation was a great asset to the worm barn, as he had previously struggled to protect the worms from harsh temperatures.
“I’ve been having to wrap these worms in their containers with blue board insulation — really anything that I can get my hands on to keep them from freezing,” Bullock said. “In the winter time, the worms didn’t have anything other than the insulation that we were able to put on their bins.”
The worms in the worm barn are used for vermicomposting, the process of breaking down organic matter through the worm’s digestive process, rather than through microbes as in traditional composting. The compost is used for fertilizer, erosion control and many other applications.
The Composting Learning Lab has hosted members from across the United States and from dozens of other countries, world-renowned for its pioneering work in vermicomposting education and research. According to Rhonda Sherman, an extension specialist in the Department of Horticulture Science, people from 109 countries have contacted her about her work with vermicomposting.
“For the past 18 years, I’ve held the only training on commercial vermicomposting that I know of in the world,” Sherman said. “I think from all of the people who come and get training, people are trying it, but I think a lot rush into it without having a full understanding.”
According to Sherman, vermicomposting is a delicate process that requires specific environmental conditions in order to obtain positive results. The worms used must keep their skin moist at all times and live in a temperature between 60 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit to produce the best vermicompost, according to Sherman.
Since the worms that Sherman raises are cold-blooded and cannot regulate their internal body temperature, it is imperative that they stay in an optimally regulated environment.
“Their metabolism slows down to deal with the temperature fluctuation,” Sherman said. “Then, they’ll eat less and reproduce less, which means that there’s less [vermicompost].”
With the weekend’s renovations complete, the Compost Learning Lab will be able to better conduct its vermicomposting operations and on-site classes.
Once further funding becomes available, Bullock says that windows will be installed to complete the insulation of the barn and is excited about the new prospects that lay ahead for the Composting Learning Lab.
“It was huge as far as creating that environment that [the worms] need to stay alive for an extended period of time,” Bullock said. “You need to have a place where you are confident in its ability to keep living organisms alive.”
The Compost Learning Lab hosts annual trainings, classes and tours. To learn more about vermicomposting, sustainable composting or its applications, visit the Composting Learning Lab’s website.
