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Dear Friends
Welcome to The Urban Worm newsletter, and thank you so much for joining us, for believing in the humble but mighty worm!
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Finally, we’ve arrived. Congratulations for enduring the most emotionally challenging month of the year, it’s all up from here. Although it’s not quite officially spring, we can feel it on the horizon, the anticipation of the glorious sun on our face, and on our plants!
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Worm Moon
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Our favourite full moon of the year ‘Worm Moon’ is begins to grace us on 24th March, and reaching peak illumination at 3:00am on the 25th marking the season of rebirth, renewal and regeneration. The soil comes alive and so do we. Although officially the worm moon refers to the emergence beetle larvae after the thaw of winter, and not earthworms, it nevertheless is a marking of Spring.
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Holy Cow!
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Have you ever cuddled a cow? We had a super special opportunity to get up close and personal with some very chilled and happy cows at Ahimsa Farm last month. Ahimsa Farm is a slaughter free dairy with a waiting list of over 1500 customers, and we know why, the milk, butter, cheese and yoghurt is seriously delicious. Farming is undoubtably one of most challenging industries to navigate however it is inspirational to see the entrepreneurial spirit of Ahimsa offering glamping onsite and cow cuddling sessions. We look forward to working with Ahimsa in the near future and we invite you to get involved and join a volunteering day.
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Tatiana Kaisari at Ahimsa, making cheese
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Harvest Time
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It is time to revel in the fruits of your labour - well the worms labour to be more accurate, but you’ve kept the food flowing and the conditions right so let’s call it teamwork. There is a reason those in the know call worm manure ‘black gold’ and it’s not just because it is the best poo in town, it’s because it can be an arduous task to harvest, but worth every hour.
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There are several methods for harvesting, but if you want the job done and dusted in a few hours you want to go for the ‘dump and sort’ method. Firstly, remember to drain the excess leachate if you have a tap on your worm farm to avoid a heroic wet mess. Remove any unprocessed food from the top and create small mounds on a vinyl mat/ tablecloth. Worms are light sensitive and will gradually travel to the bottom of the mound. Wait 30 minutes before tapping worm manure from the top and the sides, when you start to see worms stop and wait another 30 minutes and repeat the process until you have a ball of worms and worm manure.
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Use your worms to start another worm farm, and get the growing season off to a healthy start with some worm power. Sow seeds direct, mix 10-20% with a potting compost or top dress plants.
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Sh*t Faced!
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Apologies for the expletive but we just couldn't resist.
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If it’s good enough for the plants its good enough for the face. Our Magic Manure aka worm manure is full of minerals and nutrients essential for healthy and glowing skin so why on earth not?! Skin is the largest organ of the body and must be treated with the utmost love and respect, with the general rule if you wouldn’t eat it then it shouldn’t be lathered on your body. Fortunately eating soil is a thing, it is the right of passage for all children, and in sub Saharan Africa it is the custom for pregnant women to keep baby healthy and boost the immune system. It is now well understood within the scientific community that children that ingest mycobacterium (abundant in soils, and a natural antidepressant) have robust immune systems and a strong sense of self.
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One For The Photo Album
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Anna's secret beauty regimen revealed!
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Taking full advantage of the divine fruits of nature we mixed 10% locally produced honey (great for healing wounds with exceptional anti-ageing properties) with 90 % Magic Manure to make our very own ‘Sweet & Soil’. Cover face in ‘Sweet & Soil’, relax for 30 minutes, rinse with clean warm water and look at you glow. You are very welcome!
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Thank you for your support friends, catch up next month and and enjoy the lighter and longer days ahead.
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Anna & The Urban Worm team
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