April 2009

Click HERE to see the blog about a comparison of worm videos: Kingston Worm Farm's and one about the alleged "snow worm"/

April 13, 2009

By Christopher Dunagan

Paula Listle of Kingston was searching for a home-based business that her daughter, who has Down syndrome, could learn and eventually take over for herself.

Growing worms in bins might be just the thing, Paula decided. Her daughter Esther quickly took a liking to the wiggly critters. Over the next nine years, the business grew and branched into education, serving elementary schools in Kitsap, Jefferson and Clallam counties.

On Monday night, the Listles were honored with a Kitsap County Earth Day Award by the county commissioners. Among other winners were South Kitsap School District, Bainbridge Island Rotary Club, Emu Composting Facility and two elementary schools — Capt. Charles Wilkes on Bainbridge Island and Sunnyslope in South Kitsap.

Toni Fuller of Kitsap County Public Works praised the Listles for their mission-oriented enterprise, which won an award in the "environmental leadership by a business" category.

"Everyone who goes to the Kingston Worm Farm in search of a way to reduce their waste and be more Earth-friendly leaves with inspiration, new knowledge and the ability to make a difference in the environment," Fuller said.

"We always enjoyed gardening," Paula Listle said, "and this was a good excuse to get ponies or horses for the girls."

Esther is now 11. Her older sister Hannah, 19, also has become part of the business.

Major customers of the worm farm turned out to be livestock owners, who learned how to transform manure into valuable compost, which is readily sold to gardeners.

Each year, the worm farm has grown, said Listle, who brings worms into classrooms for science lessons about how nature recycles dead plants and animals.

"People are amazed when they learn that a pound of worms can eat a pound of food in a day," she said.

As Esther became interested in the operation, she didn't want people to take her worms away, Listle noted. "It was tough, but now she knows they're going to good homes."

Click HERE to see the original article in the Kitsap Sun!

Click HERE to see the video segment on Kingston Worm Farm!

January 27, 2009

Port Angeles, Wash. - Twenty pounds of composting worms were delivered on Friday, January 23 to Hamilton Elementary School as part of a county wide composting project. The red wriggler worms will help speed up the composting of food scraps from the school cafeteria and the vermicompost will be used for school landscaping.

Jack Caldicott of the Clallam County Citizen Waste Reduction Group and Lisa McCoy, Hamilton second grade teacher, worked together to set up the worm composting system. Paula Listle of Kingston Worm Farm delivered the specialized worms. Funding for the worm bin and worms is provided by the Department of Ecology Coordinated Grant Program with a 25% matching amount from school's PTO. The grant funding is coordinated by Helen Freilich, Waste Reduction Specialist for the City of Port Angeles.

“The goal of the grant program,” explained Freilich, “is not only to reduce the garbage from your school and teach students, but also to educate the community about food scrap composting.”

“When the bins are fully operational, they can produce 75 pounds of compost per week,” reports Jack Caldicott. “We expect we will have no problem keeping these worms happy and productive. “Food scraps will come from the kitchen as well as leftovers from the student lunches.”

The Citizen Waste Reduction Group was formed in May of 2006 to address recycling and waste reduction issues in the county. For more information about the group or food scrap composting, contact the Solid Waste Division/ Recycling at 360-417-4874 or email recycling@cityofpa.us. Media release, courtesy of Helen Freilich, City of Port Angeles.

Click HERE to see the original article!

Spring 2007

Click here to see the Kingston Farmer's Market newsletter featuring an article on Kingston Worm Farm.  See page 9.