Aa'll Tell Ye Aboot the Wyrm
I will tell you a story about a giant worm
Claire’s given me my latest Shilbottle Soil Web brief wohoo! 🥳
‘The life cycle of a composting worm’.
Oh! 😅
I’m not sure how exciting I can make this but here goes… 😆
The Lambton Worm
Me being me, I thought I’d talk about composting worms whilst also referencing a mythical giant worm; The Lambton Worm is a a popular local legend that I grew up with here in the northeast of England.
Look out for the guest appearance by the Lambton worm and the dude in the cool spiky armour (John Lambton) later in the article.
Soil-Care Because We Care
Taking care of our soil so that it’s a living-breathing ecosystem full of life and not just a pile of dirt means finding ways to continually cycle nutrients through it.
Talking of cycles…
we feed the soil,
the soil feeds the plants
and the plants feed us.
Nature’s Way
Composting is a natural cycle…things die, leaves fall, tree trunks rot and it all goes back into nourishing the soil…so why do we need to get involved at all?
Probably because we’re outstripping the supply Mother Earth can keep up with.
The Human Story
From another perspective, the Earth is 4.5Billion years old and it seems infantile to imagine even our most ambitious composting plans is the thing she’s been waiting for.
For me, and I don’t know how controversial this is, ‘environmentalism’ is more about coming into ‘right relationships’.
To put it another way, I don’t think we have to save the planet as much as we have to save ourselves.
Climate Crisis
I don’t have the energy to be a climate change denier. I’m more than happy to accept human fuckery is causing all sorts of issues on the planet including climate change.
I do think it’s likely the establishment will use whatever opportunities are at their disposal, including environmental issues, to hold power and maintain the status-quo.
Fear is the greatest tool the powers that be have at their disposal and we have to bring the fight into territory that suits us and not the worm if we have any hope of killing this many headed corporate dragon.
Just as John Lambton was advised by a wise woman, the only way to defeat the worm was to cover his armor in spearheads and fight it in the river.
The river was believed to be a source of power and magic. It was thought that the river had the power to purify and cleanse, and that this power could be harnessed to defeat the terrible Worm.
During the duel, John Lambton found that the creature couldn’t regrow any heads he’d chopped off…like he had done on land… as they were washed downstream.
Similarly, we must consult our wisest versions of ourselves. The wise woman in the story represents our feminine nature of emotion and intuition.
The river represents waters ability to cleanse and purify and we too must go through a period of cleansing. Learning to live without patterns of behaviour we picked up by a sick and dying culture.
The river also signifies the choosing of a battlefield that suits you and not the enemy.
And we must be prepared to stand in the river of Love which is our own special source of magic.
SOS
Whilst the enemy wants us to tear each other apart arguing over climate change and immigration issues heightened through ecological disasters. The real fight is for salvation.
If we are to save anything then it’s our Souls.
The Earth’s Doing Just Fine
If it helps, here’s just a few reasons why we don’t need to be anxious or neurotic about the human impact on earth…
1. The eruption of the Toba supervolcano in Indonesia around 74,000 years ago, which caused a volcanic winter that may have led to a bottleneck in human evolution.
2. The Chicxulub impact event around 66 million years ago, which is believed to have caused the mass extinction of dinosaurs and many other species.
3. The Permian-Triassic extinction event around 252 million years ago, which is believed to have wiped out up to 96% of marine species and 70% of land species.
4. The Siberian Traps volcanic eruption around 252 million years ago, which is believed to have triggered the Permian-Triassic extinction event.
5. The Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event around 66 million years ago, which is believed to have caused the extinction of dinosaurs and many other species.
6. The eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia in 1815, which caused a volcanic winter and led to widespread famine and death.
7. The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, which caused widespread devastation and loss of life in multiple countries.
As I see it, the earth occupies a different sphere of influence (the heavenly bodies) than we mere mortals do. One we have no hope of understanding or should be meddling in - good or bad.
We need to worry less about international flights, electric cars, eating meat, recycling, and worry more about how we relate. To ourselves, to the planet and to each other.
In a word I guess I’m talking about kindness. Although that word is much maligned by a western mindset.
Environmentalism should be a natural by-product of change. Not the driver of change.
Right Relationship with Gaia
Coming into right relationship with the earth means stopping and noticing all the things she does for us already - with our feet, or if we lie down our bodies, we can feel the support every moment of every day.
It means agreeing to be a caretaker and if we own the land not to make decisions future generations may have to rectify.
Right relationship with your partner is seeing and being available to your partner’s needs and so to with the earth.
Composting shouldn’t need to be something we’re told to do, it’s something that is obvious to do because when we listen with an open heart to the earth she tells us.
Composting becomes less about solving problems and more about fascinating in our experience on this crazy planet.
And so ladies and gentlemen with our listening hearts engaged, without further ado, I bring you the lifecycle of the compost worm…
Eisenia fetida - The Humble Compost Worm
Also known by the common names of manure worm,[2] redworm, brandling worm, panfish worm, trout worm, tiger worm, red wiggler worm, etc., is a species of earthworm adapted to decaying organic material.
Different to earthworms, these worms thrive in rotting vegetation, compost, and manure. They are epigean (earth’s surface dwellers), rarely found in soil.
Here is a general overview of their life cycle:
Egg stage: Red wiggler worms lay their eggs in capsules called cocoons. Each cocoon can contain between 1 and 20 eggs. The eggs are small (about 1.5 mm in diameter) and are initially white or yellow, but turn reddish-brown as they mature. The eggs hatch in about 2-3 weeks, depending on temperature and moisture conditions.
Juvenile stage: When the eggs hatch, tiny worms emerge. These worms are only a few millimetres long and are not yet sexually mature. They eat their eggshells and then begin feeding on organic matter in the compost.
Adult stage: Red wiggler worms reach sexual maturity in about 2-3 months. At this point, they are about 5 cm long and have a distinctive reddish-brown colour. They have a lifespan of about 1-2 years but can reproduce for most of their adult life. They are hermaphrodites, which means they have both male and female reproductive organs. When two worms mate, they exchange sperm and both lay eggs.
Reproduction: As mentioned, red wiggler worms lay their eggs in cocoons. The cocoons are roughly the size of a matchstick head and are lemon-shaped. Each cocoon contains multiple embryos, which will hatch into juvenile worms. Under optimal conditions (such as in a compost bin with plenty of food and moisture), a single red wiggler worm can lay several cocoons per week, each containing anywhere from 1 to 20 embryos. Overall, the life cycle of red wiggler worms is relatively short and can be completed in just a few months. This means that they can quickly multiply and help break down organic matter in compost bins, making them an ideal choice for composting in the UK.
Whisht! lads, haad yor gobs,
An' aa'll tell ye aall an aaful story,
Whisht! lads, haad yor gobs,
An' Aa'll tel ye 'boot the worm.
This bit 👏🏻
We need to worry less about international flights, electric cars, eating meat, recycling, and worry more about how we relate. To ourselves, to the planet and to each other. 🪱