Worm and Snail Farms for Important and Useful Outdoor Activity

This summer, think about ways to get your child outdoors to play. Two fun ways to be outdoors with nature involve farming. Worm farms can provide fishing bait or monitory gain from selling to bait shacks or fisherman. Snail farms are great for scientific observation. Have fun and enjoy the outdoors.

Worm Farm

You will need 2 old buckets, dirt, 1 cup of dry-meal dog food, and 25 Garden worms.

Directions:

– Using a hammer and thin nail, make lots of small drainage holes on the sides and bottoms.

– Fill 1 bucket with good garden soil, add the dog food, and mix well.

– Sprinkle water on the soil until it is moist but not soggy.

– Find twenty-five worms by digging in your yard, and put them on top of the soil in the bucket. They will burrow into the soil.

– Place the bucket on bricks with a pan full of water under it to keep ants from eating the worms.

– Every three weeks, dump the top five inches of dirt out and mix it with a half cup of dog food.

– Empty the rest of the dirt out and put the dog food mixture in the bottom. Dump the rest of the dirt out, put the dirt with the dog food in the bottom of the bucket, and pile the rest of the dirt back on the top.

– Keep the dirt moist, not soggy or dry. Too much water is actually worse than dry. Check it at least twice a week.

– After a month, start a new crop of worms in the second bucket, by repeating the process.

– You should have hundreds of worms in twelve weeks.

Snail Farm

You will need a clear plastic bottle, clear tape, soil, lettuce or weeds, and snails from the garden.

Directions:

– Cut a small door in the side of the bottle about three inches by two inches so that when the bottle is on its side the door is at the top.

– Put damp soil in the bottle.

– Look for snails in around leafy plants, in the vegetable garden, or at the base of brick walls.

– Put them in your bottle and give them fresh food like lettuce and weeds.

– Seal the door at the top with some clear tape and punch holes in the tape for air vents.

– You now have a snail farm. Now you can observe their habits, but remember to put them back in their natural habitat in a few days. If you still want to observe, substitute new snails.

– Did you know: Snails have 25,000 teeth, slide on their belly, which is called a foot, and leave a slimy trail behind, which helps them slide without hurting themselves. The slimy fluid can also be used to seal the shell, so the snail can live up to three years, without food or water.