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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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We trust this finds you well, and that your summer thus far has been filled with moments and joy, opportunities for growth, and of course multiplying the worm population! We can proudly report that our worms are absolutely living their best lives in their new home (our fancy new Continous Flow Through or CFT designed by WormGear in Detroit), all thanks to our Martin's masterful cooking up of the compost for feedstock. This summer has certainly been fraught with challenges and deep lessons of the most unexpected nature, but with the humble worms (and microbes) by our side we are reminded of the transformative power of nature, and life.
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Birthday News!
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It has been three years this month since we came off social media and set up this little newsletter, and here we are with our 36th monthly edition, we haven't missed a beat and we hope you have enjoyed our little slice of worm life. To celebrate this milestone and to thank you coming along with us on this wonderful journey, we're offering a whopping 30% off Magic Manure throughout August from our online shop. Just use the voucher code BIRTHDAY-3 when you check out to get your discount.
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Did you know?
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New Worm Order News is 100% written by humans... we have never used AI writers and we never will. As we will demonstrate in the coming months, it is really important to know where your stuff is coming from! (OK, maybe we should admit to about 75% inspiration from worms for transparency, but we do all the actual writing - guaranteed).
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To Compost, Or Not
To Compost?
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This is quite the discussion point within the worm farming community, especially with large scale production. Do you take your organic waste, destined for your worms, and 'pre-compost' it first before feeding to the worms? As small scale worm farmers and worm lovers we understand that pre-composting is not a prerequisite for keeping your worms happy, in fact the very the beauty of the worms is that we can make exceptional quality worm compost on the tiniest of scales - no garden required. Worms are for everyone, no matter the size of your home - plus they travel pretty well too (see below!). For large scale production and consistent, predictable biology in the manure, pre-composting can be an important part of the process.
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Thermophilic ‘hot’ composting demands consistent volume of material, hard labour, and the right balance of greens and manures (bacterial food) and browns (fungal foods) to get the biology working its magic. The sweet spot of optimal temperature for the hot compost is a constant between 55°– 65°C with plenty of rotation to make sure the whole batch gets a good cook. But if your compost pile hits 70° or above you are losing the beneficial microbes: balance and monitoring is paramount.
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To keep our worms in the luxury they deserve we have been making a carefully balanced 40:60 mix of bacterial and fungal foods; and following the same principle as the worms, moisture is key: microbes swim, they can’t walk. We make sure both the pre-compost and the worm beds are consistently reading 60% moisture. Our new prized possession (the CFT) can process up to 8 tonnes of organic material a year, and Martin has absolutely mastered 21-day compost cooking. He has produced more than a tonne of feedstock so far since installing - and the worms are loving it. We're looking forward to next Spring when we'll be supplying you with the best black gold that plants can only dream of.
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New Friends of The Worm
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This month Anna was invited to speak about the mighty but humble worm in the 'Listen To The Land' programme at Scoon Palace, Perth for the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust's Scottish Game Fair. We also set out our stall in the Education & Activity tent next to the wonderful team from the local Perth & District beekeepers association, where we made new friends in a fabulous exchange of knowledge, with a little bit of bartering magic manure for a jar of prime honey. What Martin doesn't know now about staying calm in a swarm isn't worth knowing. Both in the education tent and at Anna's talks we found a keen audience eager to hear more about what the worms can do as an integrated part of conservation policy, and made new friends along the way. Hello to new subscribers from Perthsire! We loved making your acquaintance, and hope to be back soon.
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Old Friends Reunited
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The Urban Worm has been on the quite the journey over the past 12 years, and we’ve been blessed to have some very special people join and build with us along the way. And when they drop in for a catch up it always makes our month. Playwright Martyn came to us a volunteer 8 years ago, and then joined the team as Chief Worm Tech, before the infamous lockdowns pulled the rug on everyone’s world. Martyn always brought wise philosophical debate to the workshop, and he’s still totally channelling the holy Jesus energy (with a little bit of Jean-Paul Sartre). Thank you Martyn, we wouldn’t be where we are today without your piece of the puzzle.
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One For The Photo Album
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As we know the beauty of worms is the small (and portable) scale, and we love it when worm farmers send us their holiday pictures. Thank you Jacqui Bolland, on tour with the worms in a motor home in Ellesmere, Shropshire.
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That’s all for this month friends, thank you as always, your support means the world.
Have a great month ahead and enjoy the rest of the long summer days.
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Anna & The Urban Worm team
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