THIS IS AN ACCOUNT OF THE EXCITEMENT BUILDING UP AT HOME.
Recounted by my husband Moahan
7 am this Sunday (the 19th of August 2007) morning....
The expectancy has built up enormously; as enormously as the rain clouds gathering above the
Except that; in my case, all of this energy is fixed on a tiny tap at the base of a black cylindrical object.
As I open the tap slowly, excitedly,.......wow !!!!
The first few drops of a rich brown liquid come out...
Hurray, that’s the first specimen of liquid fertilizer manufactured by home grown earthworms. Perhaps our ancestors felt the same way when they lit fire at home for the first time; but this was for me; a most extraordinary moment indeed.
I am now, a proud first-time-earthworm farmer.
It has taken me precisely my age minus 5 years to become an Earthworm farmer - and that has meant a wait of about 40 years. This story has more twists and turns than an earthworm can make going through a square yard in my back yard.
A month back, I discovered that there was this concept of breeding earthworms in a scientifically designed enclosure and I have been dreaming about this ever since. Two weeks ago, I bought the “can o worms” from the local hardware store and spent a few days reading the instructions. The missus is not particularly fond of the invertebrate wrigglies and it took a bit of authentic speaking to get her to at least explore the idea a bit.
After a bit of reading and some research – I found a worm supplier who was an hour’s drive away from home. Met him on Wednesday the 15 of August. (What an auspicious day – the day of
Bob is an amazing man whom I instantly accepted as a life long mentor. He must be in his fifties or sixties (very hard to tell) and he packs a lot of vigour and fun in his smallish frame. He told me that he has been breeding these guys for decades now and was one of the founders of the worm growers association of
He showed me a parabola chart that plotted the impact of season on worm breeding and shared heaps of dos and don’ts. Being a chemical engineer, he brought in a fair bit of technical speak into his articulation. He clearly is to earthworms what Irwin was to the crocs of
Bob even runs a vacation retreat for the worms. Say for instance, we have to go on a holiday – Bob will lovingly care for our worms until we get back for a very small fee of course. He said; “the worms come here for a retreat and they go back healthy and happy, much to the surprise of their owners..so, if you are going away for a few weeks, leave them worms with me..I often have a few dozen worm boxes underneath my home during Christmas when folks go on a vacation…no vacation for me and my worms….!”
Now, there are 5 principles he asserted; explaining them through a series of questions that he labelled personal.
1. Do you like to be kept covered in a tight space without air?
2. Do you like to live inside water?
3. Do you defecate in the same place where you eat?
4. Would you eat synthetic plastic?
5. Would you eat food that has become rotten and spoilt?
This humble friend of the farmer has the same characteristics that I have…for starters, it is a coffee lover! Now that’s what I call fundamental compatibility. It is non-interfering and peace loving. It feeds only on natural matter that must have lived once. To illustrate this; my mentor said “whilst they love cotton, they will not touch synthetics.” I was thinking about that.
….imagine…wearing a cotton shirt with earthworms inside the pocket…by the end of the day of course, there will be no shirt …ha ha ha
I now have many more things to do like bottling the rich organic fertilizer to distribute among friends who have gardens….design the best possible diet for them...give them some treats every once in a while and so on…
Let other men do other things……..
3 comments:
i am an earthworm farmer, using water run through the unit as nutrient and as a foliage spray for my exotic plants. at the moment i am using industrial canteen waste processed through earth worm pits as fertilizer. when the rain goes through the pit a sweet smell arises, the earthworm aroma!:) and viji has been coaxed to handle the waste without fear of the wriggleys. good on you mate. keep it up chitra
Congrats on your earthworm farm. Hope you enjoy years of fertilizer! Now that the heavens have opened up with much needed rain your gardens are bound to blossom.
Happy blogging!
Rajesh
Good Work!!! Wonderful to see folks taking up 'green' and useful hobbies. This will prove to be rewarding in more ways than one!!!Keep up the good work and may your little wrigglies grow in size and number!!!!!
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