Jock Robie will lead an indoor Worm Bin Harvest workshop, Tuesday, Jan. 13, at 6 p.m., at Merryspring Nature Center. This session is for any interested alumni and new students, according to Merryspring, in a news release.

Attendance is free and pre-registration required by emailing info@merryspring.org or calling 207-236-2239. This workshop is generously co-sponsored by Camden Riverhouse Hotel. 

It will be run as follows: 

1. Harvest for Alumni of Previous Workshops:

The instructor will inspect worm bins, demonstrate and assist with harvesting, and answer any questions. The instructor will bring six harvest kits for alumni to use harvesting their own worm bins. New students are welcome to observe and ask questions of the instructor and alumni.

After 20 to 30 minutes with the harvest well underway the instructor will take the beginners to another section of the room and conduct the “Workshop for Beginners.” 

2. Workshop for Beginners:

The instructor will demonstrate and assist as beginners set up their own worm bins (limit five households – one worm bin per household.) After the worm bins are assembled then the instructor will give his “Worm Talk.” The talk covers the following subjects:

• What is Vermiculture and Worm Composting and how is it different from regular composting?

• Why do it? What are the benefits?

• What are the main things to consider before trying?

• What is important for worms to thrive?

• What are the main problems encountered and how to avoid (or correct if necessary.) 

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The instructor takes contact information (phone numbers and email addresses) from each household and then stays in contact with them for a year or more until they reach a point of self-reliance. The instructor returns 3 to 4 months after the initial workshop to assist with the first harvest of each student's worm bin. All the alumni of the workshop gather for their “First Harvest”. They are sometimes joined by “senior alumni” that are there for their 2nd, 3rd….Harvest. 

Merryspring is your community nature center offering walking trails, cultivated gardens, wildlife, and ecology and horticulture educational programs all year round. The park is located at the end of Conway Road, just off of Route 1 in Camden behind Hannaford Shopping Plaza. For more information on this program, please contact info@merryspring.org or call 207-236-2239.