TODAY :)

Today was terrible. We had to do a test for physics that was a total surprise to me and I'm pretty sure our whole group didn't do very great job on it, but on another note, we are making some progress on the bin.
We will be working on the paper this weekend and Leilani will be collecting data on the bins by noting any observations and food types. We hope to get some results next week so we can finish up our paper and such. Right now we are in a waiting formation for Noah to come to class and fix our problems. Our group has not had a group discussion for a while and so we haven't discussed the latest happenings as a group. Hopefully on Monday we will be able to talk as a group and get everything as situated as possible for the final stretch of this project. It's the last two weeks of school and we plan to make it a good one!

This video shows what we are basically doing and how our bin works.

SOURCE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9worzmeC0E

Thursday Post

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to post last night because I was sick as a dog, but I am posting now :). I wasn't in class yesterday because I had a day full of lovely Marcoeconomics, but I did hear we have a bit of technical difficulties with the barrel, but we won't get too into that. I did hear that Leilani is working with the issues and starting to collect data with our worms. We got to talk with Mr. Hutchison as well and he taught us a lot about what hydroponics is all about. Since we are planning on giving him our bin for his project, we thought it was a great idea to learn a little bit about it. We found out that by using this technique of growing plants he was able to make plants grow with just water (tap, rain, etc), a tiny bit of soil in a small tube, and some growing solution (which can be hand crafted at our school). We all agreed it would be great if we could create a full cycle of sustainability with our composting bin for his project because right now his purchasing the soil. By using our composter he would be able to save money and make this school just a little bit greener.  Right now we are slowly getting results and we hope to have some great findings by next friday. We are progressing with our oral presentation and written report and we hope to come back with more good news this afternoon :).

This is what Mr. Hutchison is constructing and testing for a possible class or big project next year.  It runs mostly on water and creates phenomenal results in plant growth if done right. 

Wednesday Post

Idk if its just me but when I try to post somthing the blog post just has this error thing. Idk if you posted anything yet but here is somthing for tonight w/ picture.

Another thing I learned from Mr. Omo is that there are two different types of earthworms.  Blue ones and red ones.  The blue ones are the kind that we see when we dig holes in the ground because they literally live in the earth and do their own thing.  The red ones are the kind that we have in our bin.  These ones composts from down up.  Everything behind them is pretty much things they have already eaten.  These worms are used by farmers to help make the soil richer.  They will start by putting the worms in one section of the place they want to plant things and move the worms slowly down the line because for example if they put the worms on the left of the planters box then at the end of a few weeks they should be on the right side and everything behind them is rich soil.  farmers continue with this process until all of the desired soil has been turned into nutrient rich soil that is great for growing plants. Here is a picture of our red worms:)

Red Worms

Sorry about there being no post yesterday. When I tried I wasnʻt even able to access the site yesterday it just said error.
Another thing I learned from Mr. Omo is that there are two different types of earthworms. Blue ones and red ones. The blue ones are the kind that we see when we dig holes in the ground because they literally live in the earth and do their own thing. The red ones are the kind that we have in our bin. These ones composts from down up. Everything behind them is pretty much things they have already eaten. These worms are used by farmers to help make the soil richer. They will start by putting the worms in one section of the place they want to plant things and move the worms slowly down the line because for example if they put the worms on the left of the planters box then at the end of a few weeks they should be on the right side and everything behind them is rich soil. farmers continue with this process until all of the desired soil has been turned into nutrient rich soil that is great for growing plants. Here is a picture of on of our red worms:)

Food For Your Noodle

Hey guys last week Mama Fuj took me down to middle school where I met Mr. Omo and got our worms. I learned so much stuff about using worms for composting and all about the different types of micro organisms needed to get the job done. This is a blog post of one of the many cool things I learned.
This insect is totally awesome because it works hand in hand with the worms. Its called a black soldier fly also known as BSF. This fly lays its eggs in the compost and its larva act and look like maggots that help to eat the food turning it into rich soil. Seeing this fly around your composting bin is a good sign because that means that there will be baby BFS in your compost helping to decompose the waste. At first to me i was kind skeptic about these insects because they look like they could sting and I didnʻt know what they did. Now I know that they are wonderful and im glad to see BSF larva in our compost. Here is a picture of one in our compost. I named it Jane. I hope it is a girl...

Almost Done...

Photo courtesy of Micah Chow's photobooth

Caption: Noah "BoltMan" Chow is absent

So today is monday and our final project is due on wednesday. Our final prototype is very close to being completed except for the fact that our "bolt" man is absent. The last thing to do on our prototype is to replace the screws on the hinges and latch with bolts. There are also some other small adjustments in the works. Noah went down to woods last class to complete the swap but we are unsure if he actually completed it. Once our barrel is completed Noah plans to bring it back up to Konia so we can finally assemble it next to Leilani's dorm.

Actually I lied Noah is here but he went down to woods before class started. I psyched all of you out but today we are expecting to have our final prototype completed!!!

New Updates

What our worms pretty much look like :)
SOURCE: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hale_popoki/41691706/

We are well on our way to getting this project on a roll! Noah is tweaking the bin a little bit here and there with the clasps and hinges. While Leilani got our worms, dirt, and fiber that the worms need. We also found out that we need some sort of drainage, which Noah is going to install by drilling a few holes on the opposite side of the door. We are putting a tray underneath the holes as well to collect water and make sure the worms do not escape. We also got word that Mr. Hutchison would definitely be interested in taking care of our bin after the project is over. He is constructing his aqua/hydroponics system next to Konia, which is perfect because then we wouldn't have too big of a moving problem. Right now, we are thinking about housing our bin next to Leilani's dorm so that she can feed the worms and then give it to her dorm advisor for the summer. Leilani was also able to contact Mr. Omo, who works at middle school, and get a lot of different tips and information as to how to run a worm composting bin. He is also the one who supplied us with the worms. We are going to start finishing up our visual for the oral presentation and then focus on the written report soon after we get our data from the bin. We are going to use the weight of the compost as our  main variable to see the effects of the bin and how much it will improve the school if at a larger scale. Leilani informed us that the little worms can eat three times their weight, which is pretty dang amazing! So, we are hoping for great results in the coming week or so.