PHOENIX — Can you actually save money by gardening and composting?
We went to the Arizona Worm Farm at the base of South Mountain to find out.
Zach Brooks, the man behind the worms, is the owner of the 10-acre property in Phoenix.
“So here at the Arizona Worm Farm we breed about 100,000 worms a week,” said Brooks.
He tells us that when trying to garden, your first crop will be your worst.
“The average first-time gardener tends not to save money because they have to buy soil and they have to buy the starts,” said Brooks.
He also says people won’t have to buy fertilizer again if they use worms to compost their green and brown waste in something as simple as a plastic bin.
“The worms eat them. They turn into the world’s best fertilizer,” he said.
Brooks says this recycles your waste and takes up very little space if you don’t have room for a full garden.
“This works in almost any space that we’ve got. If you’re on the third floor of an apartment building, you can do this in containers,” said Brooks.
Another way to save money is opting for a scrap garden where you’re literally planting certain scraps.
“If you take a slice of tomato, and you just put a slice of tomato on soil and water it, you’ll grow tomato plants. So, there’s a lot of cool stuff. You can take celery after you eat the celery. You can put the bottom in and then it’ll turn,” Brooks explained.
If you are still stumped about where to start, the Worm Farm offers classes to help.
“The fee for our classes includes the worms, and it includes the habitats and so if you come down here and take one of our classes almost everybody has success,” Brooks said.
The Gardening 101 and Intro to Composting classes cost $25.
Red Wiggler worms are sold in bed run bags for $45 each.
To learn more about the Arizona Worm Farm and the classes offered head to arizonawormfarm.com.