Students learn the importance of permaculture

Katherine Lepri/Contributing Writer

Katherine Lepri/The Beacon

It is a sticky Friday afternoon and more than 60 students are in a garden listening intently to a man enthusiastically discuss the importance of earthworms.

“Live soil produces live and healthy food which produces healthy people,” says Marcus Thomson, a local permaculture teacher. “And earthworms play a primary role in that.”

Students cluster together around Thomson as he continues his lecture. Worm composting, he says, creates nutrient-rich, crumbly compost that your plants will love.

“This is the largest workshop yet,” says Dr. Mahadev Bhat, faculty advisor for the Garden Club and co-director of the Agroecology Program. “There is double the amount of participants from the garden’s last workshop.”

The purpose of the workshop is to educate students and give hands-on experience about the different aspects of permaculture, the development of agricultural ecosystems with the intention to be self-sufficient, and how it can apply to sustainability.
Participants of the workshop learned how to construct their own worm-composting unit using accessible materials that are available to anyone at their local garden store or Home Depot.

The students watch Thomson as he begins to drill holes into the small plastic storage bin. He says the holes are for air filtration and drainage of the water collecting in the unit. Drainage is optimal so the worms don’t drown, Thomson says.

Grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture supported the workshop. The purpose for these workshops, according to the Agroecology Program, is to provide students with specialized skills and training.

The worm-composting unit was created about three years ago. Braian Tomé, a senior in the environmental studies program who is currently studying abroad, was the person who vigilantly maintained the garden’s vermiculture unit for the past three years.

“Everyone could use a little training on this practical application that is discussed in class,” says Miles Medina, manager of the Organic Garden, explaining why vermiculture was the topic of the first workshop. “Tomé is the one that knew the most about it, I wanted everyone to be able to handle it while he was gone.”

“The practice is scientific,” says Bhat. “You need to know exactly what to feed, how much to feed, when to feed, what type of base you need to have, what depth you need to maintain, the temperature that you need to maintain [the unit].”

According to Bhat, Facebook and Twitter helped to make this event.

About to leave, Bhat looked over and realized he didn’t know half of the students who were crowded around Thomson.

“That’s great,” Bhat says. “The more that get to participate, the better it is for the program and for students.”

Both Medina and Bhat agree that the workshop was a success.

“It went really smoothly,” Medina said.

“I think it’s good for beginners to learn about how they could do little things to contribute to make the world a better place,” said Adis Alvarez, a junior environmental science major and treasurer of the Garden Club.

On the Organic Garden’s Facebook page, students are already requesting to know when the next workshop will be.

Medina said another workshop may be in the works for the end of October at the garden.

-life@fiusm.com

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