Hand of Will Allen with Worms

I remember when I was first introduced into vermicomposting by Will Allen and the good people at Growing Power. Using worms to turn waste into rich soil, ‘black gold’ or castings, fascinated me. I wanted to spread the good news to everyone. However, when I got to Guatemala and was talking with people of the San Juan Coffee Cooperative, I found out that the use of worms to enrich compost was an ancient form of growing. Will Allen and Growing Power had just introduced to more persons and help spread this ancient wisdom of growing organic foods.

So I was not surprised today when I called Will Allen on his cell phone , as he was traveling through the south, to find out that using cow dung to make vermicompost was being done in the USA as well as India. Since Will was driving in his car I asked him if I could speak with him when he returned to Milwaukee. He said that was possible and I should call his secretary to schedule a possible conversation. I also asked him for worms for the project. Worms were previously free at Growing Power but now cost. He said Growing Power had plenty of worms we could purchase but since he had plenty of worms and castings, he was not interested in investing worms in the project. He also mentioned that worm castings made from vegetable waste were more valuable than those from cow dung.

Since he was driving I did not pursue the conversation, but if we have a chance to talk this week I will respond this way:

1. Most of us do not have the access to great quantities of ripe vegetables that Growing Power does.
2. Thanks to many grants and volunteers, Growing Power can produce all the worm castings that he needs. However, for most of us, especially the poor, we cannot and castings are too expensive to purchase.
3. Dairy farms produce large quantities of much enriched dung. Dairy cows are feed a very good diet of soybeans, alfalfa, corn and other high-protein items so they can produce more milk. Thus their manure is as rich in good enzymes as vegetables.
4. This method of using cow dung for vermicopost can make high quality worm castings valuable to low income persons while, at the same time, bringing together the rural farmer and the urban grower.

I hope I have the chance to talk to Will this week before going up north to deliver worms to our new adventure.

Will also mentioned that I should develop my own worm depository, a place to grow worms. I said that I have done this for a few years but that the growth of the worm population has not kept up with my expanded use of this method of growing. Today after using worms and compost from my worm depository to add to the new front lawn garden, I replaced the compost on the depository and expanded it somewhat. I also started a new one, without worms yet, in another spot on my property.

Yes there is “nothing new under the sun”, but the treasures we already hold need to be shared.

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