We've made it to session 5 of the Daisy Flower Garden Journey!!!
For more resources on the Daisy Flower Garden Journey check out previous sessions....
Session Five and Take Action Project
I've managed to get this journey finished in 6 sessions, including the Court of Awards ceremony and garden party for the last session!
Session 5 is all about the take action project the girls completed as part of the journey. We started the meeting off reading Chapter 5 from our Garden Journey books. Our troop did the worm composting bin for their project but there are endless ideas that you can consider. We did think about doing a community garden at the school but that didn't work out like we had hoped so we went to plan B.
Here are some ideas you can suggest to the girls to get them thinking. Remember: let them decided and keep it girl led.
Ideas for the take action project for the Daisy Flower Garden Journey
Worm composting bin
Create or spruce up a community garden at a local school, church, park district.
Grow ladybugs
- Find a need or issue in your area and have the girls brainstorm ideas to solve it.
Now for the worm composting bin!!!
What you will need:
- two 10 gallon rubbermaid containers w/ lid.
- Food scraps and other organic materials (see list)
- newspaper and cardboard
- water
- drill with small 1/8 drill bit
- Something to separate the two bins on top of one another, you will want about 2-3 inches. We used scrap wood left over from our deck (use resources wisely). You can also use large rocks.
- Red worms about 1/4 to 1/2 pound (we purchased ours from Bass Pro Shop but you can buy them in bulk online)
- dirt... don't buy dirt just what every you can find in your yard. You will want a couple of small garden shovels full.
Ahead of time
Have your Girl Scouts start collecting food scraps ahead of time. Here is the example of the letter I sent home during session 4. Download here: ----->>> Worm composting letter
Prepare your bin
- Decide which bin you will use to put your actual food scraps and worms in. Drill small 1/8 drill bit holes at the bottom to allow for excess water to drain out. Drill larger holes at the top on the sides of the bin, between 1 inch to 4 inches from the top. This will allow for ventilation.
- Take your second bin (bottom bin) and put in your material you will use to separate the two bins. You want to offset the bins by at least 3 -6 inches. This will allow the liquid from the composting bin to drain out so you don't drown the worms. This liquid is also considered compost tea! We used two pieces of scrap 2 x 2 wood, large rocks work as well.
- Place your bin with the drilled holes inside of the bottom bin. Save the lid and you are ready to start adding your goods.
Add your goods!
Now that you have prepared your bin you are ready to get the composting environment started for your worms.
- Add some bedding... What is bedding? It's your paper scraps such as shredded newspaper, paper bags, cardboard. YOu will want to lightly dampen, not soak, with a sprinkle of water.
- Add dirt. This will help the worms with digestion and help the "process" along.
- Add your food scraps... please reference the list provided on the letter on worm composting. I had each girl tells us what her scraps consisted of and add them in. Sprinkle lightly with a little water to moisten.
- Add your worms. For the girls that are not scared of worms (courageous and strong), which ended up being all of them by the time we got down to the last of the worms, have them hold the worms and add them into the bin themselves. Advise them to be gentle and quiet as you don't want to shock the worms. There were girls that were afraid to touch them but after seeing the rest of the troop participate they mustered up the courage. Make sure each girl gets a chance even if she turns down on the first try.
- Cover with bedding. Don't be afraid to be liberal with this. You want to add enough to keep the bugs and flies away from your composting bin. Add some bigger pieces of wet cardboard on the top.
- Put the lid on and let it chill! By chill I mean don't continue to move your bin around and place it in a quiet place. I put it in my garage for the first two weeks. I recommend also putting it in the garage and leaving the light on for the first couple of days.
What I noticed, and I'm glad I put it in my garage to start, was that some of the worms started trying to escape. Some worms trying to escape is normal. You've taken these little creatures and put them into a new environment and potentially shocked them with the move so naturally you will have your rebel worms trying to leave. If you noticed that there are too many trying to leave you will need to troubleshoot your bin for potential problems.
Things to remember:
Temperature: 35 to 80 degrees - covered from sun and rain.
Feed your worms, about every 2 weeks or as you gather new organic matter.
Too wet = worm evacuation. Bins and bedding should not be dripping.
Flies = not enough bedding/ Continue to add bedding to the top to keep the environment happy.
Stenchy = too much food. If your bin starts to smell like something is rotting, you have a problem. Your worm bin should smell earthy, not stenchy. LOL
Do you have any other suggestions for the Take Action project?
At the end of the meeting I handed out special invitations for the last session and final meeting for the year! Here is a copy of the publisher file--->> Court of Awards Ceremony and Garden Party Invitation.
