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🎃 October 2025 edition
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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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Winter Worm Wear
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Winter is on its way and we have officially moved into the cool weather wear zone (for us and the worms). It is that time of year when we need to be thinking about keeping the worms as comfortable as possible now that the temperatures are starting to fall. If you have a small portable worm farm we suggest bringing into a shed or greenhouse, or even better the house if the family don’t have any objections... granted not everyone is keen.
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New employee Poppy assisting with materials inspections
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To keep the worms happy in the barn over winter we have insulated the CFT with a giant bag of wool gifted from our lovely friend (and worm farmer) Janey. The leftovers will be put into the hot compost mix as a great source of nitrogen, and then, in 21 days, this will be transformed into a worm feast. Thank you Janey!
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Our CFT worm farm fully lagged for the winter
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Change The World
Great innovation and progress are typically born of necessity, and the world is overflowing with ideas and developments that we in the UK can learn from. The Churchill Fellowship can make it happen, no matter your sector or field and no matter your qualifications or experience. If you are committed and passionate, and want to make the UK a better place you have the making of a Churchill Fellow. The Urban Worm would not be what it is today without the support of the Winston Churchill Trust.
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We’ve now got two Fellows on the team, Martin was awarded a Fellowship in 2019, and after a long, long wait (we know the story) he finally travelled to Asia in late 2023 to learn about indigenous microbes and their broad applications in organic farming throughout the Philippines and the wider region. His knowledge and experience has been invaluable at the worm farm, and we’re excited to see the results in next year's harvest. Congratulations Martin, we are very proud of you!
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We cannot recommend the Churchill Foundation highly enough for anyone who has a passion - whatever the field - and could benefit from learning abroad and bringing valuable knowledge and skills back to the UK. Perhaps now is the time for you... applications opened last month and the closing date is 4th November 2025.
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Worms On Tour
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It’s all about the farmers who feed us, and we love nothing better than sharing the magic of worms with the guardians of our soil. Last month we had the pleasure of travelling to Three Hare Farm in Bristol who hosted a session organised by Bristol Avon Rivers Trust Farm Cluster. As seasoned worm farmers you will know that the only obstacle to building a worm farm is your imagination, and using obsolete materials to upcycle even better.
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Old IBCs can usually be found knocking around on farms so we thought this would be a suitable project for the farmers. Adopting the horizontal harvesting technique we inoculated the first IBC with 4 kilos of worms and municipal compost as starter bedding. When the first IBC is full and has been fully processed by the worms the second IBC will then have more starter bedding and the worms will migrate over via the little worm highways (aka 1 inch plastic tubing).
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This method relieves the labour from separating worms from the worm manure, and, of course additional units can be adapted/ added to suit space and requirements. All being well Three Hares Farm will have themselves 1000 litres of worm manure ready for next spring.
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Meet The Team
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Here's the latest member of the team at Worm Farm HQ, Poppy, who has been appointed Chief Morale Officer for all her hard work keeping everyone chipper. Her regular working days bring an extra buzz to the workplace, and she spends the best part of her day checking in on everyone and boosting productivity with her energetic encouragement.
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Experimental Video
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If you're reading this you're probably already convinced about the magic of worms. But sometimes we meet a sceptic (it's true - it can happen!) and they need a bit more convincing. Here is a brilliant video that might help, as gardener and vermicompost producer Jordan Mara conducts an experiment to test whether worm castings really work.
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And that’s your New Worm Order fix for this month friends. With the drop in temperature we expect a little less from the worms from now until Spring, and if the worms slow down it gives us the green light to take things a little slower and gentler too. Be like the worms. We wish you a happy (and cosy) October.
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Anna & The Urban Worm team
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