Ana Maria Quintero

I graduated with a degree in Geography from the Honors Program at USF. While I attended the school I was the vice president of the garden club and one of my duties as vice president was caring for our worm farm where I became enamored with composting red wiggler worms right away! At the same time that I was caring for the worms I was putting together my honors thesis “The Politics of Organic Food Consumption, Recycling and Solar Power Use” where I did research on waste management and realized that food waste management is a crucial problem that is not being addressed in a sustainable manner in the city I live. Therefore I decided to create Laica Worms & Vermicast LLC with the purpose to use worm farming practices as a way to address food waste challenges. Laica supplies composting Red Wiggler Worms (Eisenia fetida), worm castings (vermicast) rich in nutrients for plants, worm farming education and the service of setting up worm farms of any size. For my clients, I solve their food waste management issues and empower them to transform that food waste into organic fertilizer for their plants. Through a partnership with SUAC I am teaching students of local schools entrepreneurship through worm farming and I also use social media platforms such as youtube, instagram, facebook, tik tok, patreon, and buy me a coffee to teach worm farming around the world in Spanish and in English.
My detailed Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) set me apart from others because they are set in place to care for Red Wiggler Worms that are kept outdoors in a tropical environment and battle pests without using any pesticides, herbicides or other chemicals. I have spent the past 8 years doing research in worm farming and learning from experience what type of procedures are needed to ensure long term survival of these composting worms and how to motivate them to reproduce and create new generations of worms. Laica’s SOP has been replicated many times in multiple locations with 100% success.
I have had the opportunity to teach worm farming to all ages from kindergarteners to seniors. Some of the schools where I have taught worm farming are: Alfred Adler Charter School, Plato Academy, De La Fontaine Montessori, and John Hopkins Middle School. I have also taught worm farming for members of The Garden Club of St Petersburg, members of the Sustainable Urban Agriculture Coalition, Living Roots Eco Design Nursery, Eckerd College, University of South Florida, as well as on private sessions at gardens and gardener's homes, among others.