By Tyler Wright
Families will be able to learn how to turn their waste into vermicompost at Tecoma’s FLAME community garden on Thursday 20 April.
Upper Ferntree Gully local Jasmin Thomas will bring her up-cycled electronic creation – Tonyi the Worm – to the community garden, helping locals think about how to nurture the earth with their waste, rather than disposing of their scraps straight into the bin.
Having volunteered for the Hills Food Frontier, Jasmin and her family created Tonyi in 2019, travelling from the hills all the way up to Darwin in 2022 to conduct workshops at schools, kindergartens and other organisations.
“I took Tonyi a bit further because I had interest for kinder groups, preschool groups and other community events, for me to bring Tonyi along and do an interactive session,” Jasmin said.
The worm even interacts with workshop participants, with people able to enter food cards into its mouth, with a light and beep for positive reinforcement if the food is suitable for the invertebrates.
“I have a felt board presentation that is a really lovely introductory level for how our waste and the life in the soil is connected, with worms and humans collaborating,” Jasmin said.
“I notice the reaction from the children – a lot of the time if they haven’t connected that already, ‘I put a seed in the garden, the soil feeds that life and then it can grow.’
“There’s a real ‘aha’ moment for a lot of them. I find that really cool.”
Jasmin said some people that attend workshops who have tried to create a worm farm previously but the farm has become neglected, or have questions around how to contribute castings back to the soil.
“Even the educators, a lot of the time we haven’t grown up with it, so it’s a fun way to ask those silly questions and break the ice a little bit for something that people might have been intending to start but not know what’s involved,” she said.
“I want as many people to give worm farming a go… even if we’re using repurposed materials like pipes or buckets, there’s ways to go about it.
“I can give them some resources to help them get started and maintain it, and it’s an ongoing resource for the children to learn with.”
The workshop at the FLAME garden will start at 3pm.
Those interested are able to enter the garden through the gate in front of the Tecoma Uniting Church at 1566 Burwood Highway.
