Composting Mr Bloom: Here and There

# Hello! My name is Mr Bloom

# And I'd like to come to see you soon

# I'm out on the road, you see

# Here and there so that we

# Can get together and have some fun

# I'll help you out if there's work to be done

# So where is it you like to go?

# Call me up and let me know

# What is it you like to do?

# I'll pop along and do it too

# Cities, towns or countryside

# I can travel far and wide

# I'm all about and everywhere

# I'm here and there

# Here and there

# I'm here and there. #

Oh, hello, there, tiddlers, how are you diddling? Mr Bloom here.

And I like going out and about.

I like going here and there, doing lots of fun things

and finding out about new places.

What do you like to do where you live?

Perhaps you like to ride your bike in the park

or go for walks in the woods with your family?

-BELL RINGS

-Ooh, brilliant.

Someone's got in touch. Let's see who it is.

Hi, I'm Cian and this is Tegan and April.

ALL: And where we live is brilliant!

We live close to Snibston Discovery Centre.

This whole place used to be a coal mine.

People used to dig deep down to look for coal.

My grandad used to be a coalminer.

See you on the other side.

It was hard work and very dark in the mine.

Also at the museum is a cool outside place to play.

I can climb up high. Then come back down on the slide.

My dad used to drive this bus.

It's good when things are not used any more.

They can be put in the museum for everyone to see.

We love Snibston! So many things to see.

ALL: Please come and look around!

Well, sounds good to me. I'm on me way!

# Whereabouts will I end up next?

# Let's put my route finder to the test

# It could be a beach, a village or a city.

# Museum or a school, a garden so pretty

# A church or a station a river or town

# I just cant wait till you show me around

# Tiddlers, I'm on my way

# So where am I today? #

The Discovery Museum. Now that sounds interesting.

Vroooom!

Compost Corner! That's a surprising thing to have at a museum.

It's a curious place, this.

Oh, look, look, I've spied the tiddlers an' all!

-Hey, hello there, tiddlers!

-Hello, Mr Bloom!

-Oh, it's nice to see you.

Thank you for inviting me to the museum. What are you up to?

-We're doing composting.

-Composting! I like a bit of composting.

-And Tegan, who have you got helping you?

-This is Rod.

Nice to meet you, Mr Bloom.

It's always nice to meet a fellow composter.

-Can I have a look in your bin?

-Oh, please do.

Oh, we have lots going on in here. That looks good.

Tegan, do you know how this composting bin works?

The waste goes in the top and the compost comes out the bottom.

That's right. Well done.

That compost can be put on plants and will help them to grow.

Rod, let's see how much you know about composting.

How does all the waste get turned into compost?

There's lots of creatures that live in the compost and in the soil,

like slugs and snails, and most important, lots and lots of worms.

Most of them eat the food and what comes out the other end is compost.

That's how compost gets made.

The other animal that you find in compost bins ever so often are ants.

Oh, yes. What are they doing, Tegan?

-They are crawling on some sludgy thing.

-Yes.

Just look at them in the compost bin with those old bananas and pea pods.

-And in this one we have some very small flies.

-I can see them.

-They are little dots moving.

-Oh, yes, they are tiny, aren't they?

And you get fruit flies that live on the skins of bananas and things.

I don't know about you, tiddlers, but I think that's pretty amazing.

Are there other ways that we can do some composting?

-We could do grass boarding.

-Grass boarding! Come on, let's go.

Right, Cian, tell us about this grass boarding.

You put cardboard and grass on, and it turns into compost.

Right, so it's building a big cardboard and grass tower.

-A skyscraper.

-A compost skyscraper. Hey, that sounds good to me!

Well, tiddlers, all this talk about composting

has got me itching to do some.

-What do you reckon, shall we have a go at some composting?

-ALL: Yes!

We are going to make a rot pot, a compost bin in a bottle.

We are going to put plant material in here

and it will rot down and turn into compost. Like this one.

And then, we can plant a seed in it and it will grow

-and then we can plant that in the garden.

-Very good.

What do you reckon, tiddlers, shall we make some rot pots?

-ALL: Yes!

-Yes.

Gloves are very important.

We should never handle compost material with our hands,

and a grown-up needs to cut the top of the plastic bottles.

Who would like some mouldy lettuce?

-Me!

-There you go. Have some old lettuce.

Cardboard and paper in compost bins contains lots of carbon which

stops it going wet and slimy.

That is good for us, isn't it, tiddlers,

-cos we do not want it to be too smelly, do we?

-No.

So, what have you got in your hotpot, Cian?

-Hay.

-Grass.

Petals.

And it is good because, otherwise, all this stuff that

could be thrown away, we are using it, aren't we?

Yes, we are turning it into compost.

-We are going to use it to make new stuff.

-Yes.

-So we can do some planting in it.

-Some useful stuff.

Rod, how long will it be before these rot pots

-are ready for planting?

-They normally take about six weeks.

Six weeks?

In a nice sunny position it will sink down as it rots,

and then you top it up with more material.

It will be ready to put the plant in.

Hey, well, well done, tiddlers, you finished your rot pots.

They smell pretty bad but they look cracking.

And the bean in that rot pot is ready to plant.

-Do you know where we can plant it?

-Plant it in my garden, Mr Bloom.

Well, that sounds like a good idea to me, April. Let's go.

So, we've got our flowerpots,

we've got the plants, we've got the rot bot with the bean plant in it.

What's the last thing we need?

-Compost!

-Compost!

-Compost. Well, tiddlers, let's get planting.

Pop it in your pot.

And then poke a bit of compost back down the bottom.

You have to fill it up to the same height of the plant.

That's right, and then it'll be nice and level,

and that means it'll be a happy plant.

Yeah!

Hey, well, that was top planting, tiddlers. We got everything done.

And what we've learnt today is that some things like household waste

can be turned into compost.

That's pretty useful, isn't it?

Ey up. Looks like the route finder's got something for us.

Ah, yeah, look. It's showing us some other things can be reused, too.

Things that can't be composted might be able to be recycled.

This tiddler is sorting through some things that can be recycled.

There's paper, plastic and metal.

This machine separates things that can be recycled.

They're then crushed into massive blocks

and then they're ready to be turned into new things.

Perhaps a cardboard box or a can of drink.

Hey! These tiddlers are recycling.

They're turning plastic bottles into this brilliant greenhouse. Mm!

Fantastic for growing plants.

With our hands washed, it's time for a picnic in the sunshine.

-Hm! Oh, that was a nice picnic. What do you reckon, tiddlers?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

I am full. But I'm looking here, and there's a lot to tidy up.

So, what do you reckon we could do with these plastic bottles, April?

-We could put them in the recycling box, Mr Bloom.

-Ah!

-That was just what I was thinking. Cian, do you want to do that?

-Yeah.

Off you bob.

-All done?

-Yep.

-High-five.

Now, we've done the plastic, but what about all these food scraps?

What do you reckon we could do with those, Tegan?

-We could turn them into compost.

-Exactly! We could compost them.

How could we compost this? What could we put it in?

-A wormery!

-Right, then. A wormery it is.

Worms are super composters,

and a wormery is a compost bin where loads of worms can live.

Rod shows us how to make one using a plastic dustbin and some flowerpots.

Then it's time to add the worms. Wow!

They're wiggling away, aren't they? Ooh! They're very wiggly.

-And they look very happy to me. What do you reckon, tiddlers?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Hello, worms! Do you think they're hungry?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

That's the food. We never put oranges or onion in there.

But we do need to put some paper, and then cover it up with cardboard,

to keep it nice and damp and happy.

Just need to put the lid on, then it's finished. There we go.

-The wormery's done! Hey, April, are you pleased with it?

-Yeah.

Oh, well, I'm glad, and when the worms have made the compost,

it'll be great for April's garden.

And I'm also glad that you guys invited me

-here today cos I've had a cracking time. Have you had fun, too?

-Yeah!

Well, that is brilliant.

But you know what, it's time I hit the road now,

so join me again soon when I'll be...

-Here and there!

-You're right. Bye-bye, tiddlers.

-Bye!

# Where is it you like to go?

# Call me up and let me know

# What is it you like to do? I'll pop along and do it too

# Cities, towns, the countryside I can travel far and wide

# I'm all about and everywhere I'm here and there. #