WormMan Newsletter No.21 – dated 13th of March 2011
The balmy sunny days are getting cooler, and now is a good time to be planting out veggy’s. WormMan has moved headquarters from Shamwari Restaurant to 2 Spoons Restaurant – No.4 Normandy Road, situated in a delightful leafy suburban home in Alexandra Park, where the fundamentals’ of organic farming will be on display.
WormMan Newsletter No.20 – dated 18th November 2010
The MilkZim initiative:-
The world fossil fuel supply of Oil is past its’ peak and by the year 2012 the demand will outstrip supply. Therefore the price of crude oil per barrel will rise to crazy numbers such as $200 a barrel from today’s price of $71 making the price at the pump per litre from $1,20 to $3,50 per litre and will continue going up. This means that when this time comes, rationing becomes a reality. The first lot of fuel will have to go to the farming communities to grow food. The next allocation will have to go to manufacturing and exporting and the next lot will have to go to the supply and delivery of food. (Source:- www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net) Consider as well, that 20% of the costs of the food we put on the table, is derived from oil and to add to the world’s problems, it is estimated that in 2030, the population of the world will have doubled and already, the output of oil is declining!
I found on the internet a number of useful hints for eradicating the perpetual enemy……ants. Try sprinkling ‘grit’ wherever you see them, be it at their ant-holes or on the path that they use in numbers. The ‘grit’ can be maize meal, maize crushing’s, flour, wheat or soya grindings. The finer all these I’ve mentioned, the better but must not have come into contact with water in any way. Mix in with the grit a little borax and icing sugar and voila! What happens is that the ants can’t resist this feast; they devour it and then die from over-eating – simple but very effective. Quantities? Just be like a farmer……a pinch of this…a pinch of that!
With the horrific news of what is happening re the ‘Gulf Oil disaster’, it makes us realise just how fragile the world we live in really is. So, you may say…what can we do about it? We can start looking into our own lives, our own everyday living and start converting all the ‘rubbish’ from our gardens into something of value for starters. Most of that ‘rubbish’ is in fact, ideal for making compost. Soon, WormMan will be able to provide a service to your own homes whereby we will help you get started with your own compost. Now you will be in a position to grow your own organic veggies. Once you can do this, life offers a number of choices. Obviously fresh grown veggies are number one, but what about growing enough to make your own de-hydrated veggies? This is so simple and effective and can be done with almost every type of vegetable. For instance cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, onions, green beans, marrows, the list goes on, but the method is the same and of course, winter is the right time of the year to do this. Take a cabbage for instance – Step 1:- Slice the cabbage into thin slices – spread it on a table in the shade and if possible have a fan blowing over the contents. Stir the contents occasionally and at this time of the year, a couple of days is all you need. Pour the dried contents into a plastic bag getting out as much air as possible and place in the deep freeze. I have dehydrated food here that I did over three years ago. Try it! You never know when that needy day hits you.
More and more interesting people are calling in to see us at Shamwari Restaurant, which really does please us and even if it is for a quick chat, it makes our day. Myra Stidolph is giving me hand at Shamwari and our next ‘Field Day’ is on the 23rd June at 10am.
In 2006 whilst in the UK, I purchased the book ‘Square Foot Gardening’ which at that stage had sold well over 1 million copies. I realized at the time, just how his principles could suit us in this country both in the urban and rural areas. I made the mistake of lending this book to a well-known landscaper and a few months down the line, I asked her for it back. She explained to me that unfortunately, there had been a robbery in her house and the book was gone…….it just shows you how popular the book is! Somehow, in my mind I could only think of the principles and referred to the book as 4 Square Gardens, a mistake on my part for which I apologize to the originator of this wonderful concept – Mel Bartholomew. The loss of the book was a blow to me and eventually, I bought the new updated version which turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the simple reason, so much in the Square Foot Gardening concept over the years, had improved.
That’s all from me – keep going and also look up our website www.wormman.org
Eric Harrison
WormMan Newsletter No.17 – dated 21st April 2010
WormMan Newsletter No.16 – dated 19th March 2010
Shamwari Restaurant on the corner of 2nd Street and Maarsdorp Ave. is where WormMan has leased a section to display their products and the first batch of Four Square Gardens are up and running. There is no better way of exhibiting what compost can do for the growing of food than the 4SG’s and the kits are available on site. On the 16th & 17th of this month, the first practical course involving N.A.D.F. farmers was conducted at Shamwari. This was a great success and is likely to become a regular occurrence as people become more aware of organic farming. After the meeting, the group travelled out to the Foundation Farming Centre and once again, they were treated to what can only be described as ‘incredible’, what has been done there with ‘Zero Tillage’ and the usage of organics in crop growing.
WormMan Newsletter No.15 – dated 16th February 2010
The WormMan team took off on a trip to South Africa which turned out to be a real eye-opener. The first stop was at the ZZ2 headquarters near Mooketsi in Limpopo Province where we were hosted by Johann Noffke and Geoff Miller who took us on a quick tour of their compost making setup. This huge operation where they grow 2000 hectares of tomatoes at any one time has now become reliant on the art of composting as well as the use of EM’s (Effective Micro-organisms). The EM’s are pretty new to us, and we had interesting discussions on this topic, so much so, that we realize that this is something we will be dealing with big time in the near future. We were also interested to hear of how ‘Compost Leachate’ has made a big come-back in farmer’s plans compared to ‘Compost Tea’, according to one of their American consultants. This is great news, as it will be much cheaper in the long run.
WormMan Newsletter No.14 – dated 10th December 2009
The first of the rains started at the end of October, bringing much welcome relief to most parts of the country. With the rains, there usually comes a fresh intake of varying types of pests, ants being one of therm. Here is an article sent to me by Gay Wilde of Bulawayo, which affects just about all of us at some stage or other.
Organic control of Ants
Hosts – Honeydew and insects.
WormMan Newsletter No.13 – dated 4th November 2009
Life gets busier by the day here in the WormMan office. October saw some momentous developments in the company which has increased the work-load tremendously.
Some of the events that took place were:-
1) The acquisition of a stand at the Harare Show Grounds:- This will enable us to carry out composting and various other functions such as training schools as well as working hand in hand with other NGO groups. Eventually we will have our own wormery situated on site. A Joint venture with Carswell Meats. This company has access to tons of cattle manure both in Harare and Masvingo and run their own abattoirs at those centres. It is expected that a large amount of compost and vermi-compost will come from that source. Other cattle-farmers have indicated their willingness to join up with the WormMan crusade.
WormMan Newsletter No.12 – dated 9th October 2009
Last week’s Newsletter had so much important information from Duncan Carver and Bentley Christie’s newsletter, that I felt it has to be passed on as soon as possible in order for it to make an impact on people dealing in vermin-culture.
In Newsletter No.11, we compared in broad terms, the three by-products of worm farming; worm-castings – leachate and worm-tea, with regards to the following:-
1. NPK value
2. Microbial value
3. Best used for
4. Dilution rates to be used.
WormMan Newsletter No.10 – dated 1st September 2009
EXPERTS PREDICT DROUGHT!
On Monday the 20th July, the headlines in the Herald sent a shiver down my spine as I soaked in the implications – the last thing we need now is a drought. However….. to be fore warned, is to be forearmed. So, do something about it, now!
Interesting facts about Eisenia Fetidas (Red wrigglers/tiger worms)?
Ideal breeding temperature range:- 20º C – 25ºC
Reproductive rate:- just under 2 – 3 young per worm per week under ideal conditions.
Average number of young per cocoon:- approximately 3 – 5
Emergence time from cocoon:- Approximately 32 – 73 days in ideal conditions..
Time to sexual maturity:- Approximately 56 – 70 days under ideal conditions.
Source:- Kenneth Cheung.
WormMan Newsletter No.11 – dated 30th September 2009
It’s been a hectic month with more and more work piling up as people begin to realize what organic farming can produce. So much interesting information is coming in, that it is hard to keep the newsletter short.
From Gay Wilde in Bulawayo:-
COMPANION GROWING
Hi Eric,
I get my information from a book called Companion Planting by Margaret Roberts. She lives and works in the Cape.
Garlic
WormMan Newsletter No.1 – 15th January 2009
Dear Members
Our organization continues to grow and sometime this month the Sustainable Agriculture for Central Africa manuals will be out. There were a number of changes we had to complete but it is the type of manual that will always attract changes.
WormMan Newsletter No.2 – dated 10th February 2009
For us in WormMan, a very momentous decision in our short history was reached last week when we decided to work in parallel to Environment Africa. Not only have we now a bigger platform to work from, but much will be gained by EA’s huge data base of organizations, all of whom, are working for a better environment.
WormMan Newsletter No.3- dated 28h February 2009
By the time you receive this newsletter, the manual ‘Worm Farming – The Sustainable Agriculture Way’ will be out and I hope it is of help to those keen on seeing a brighter green future and want to do something about it.
Moving the WormMan location from the Avondale suburbs to Noah’s Park out at Umwindsidale, twenty-four kilometers east of Harare was completed last week, much to Joan’s relief – she can now get her tiny garden flat back into shape.
Last Saturday morning we started our first demonstration of compost-making down at the Monavale vlei before a lively bunch of residents from that suburb who have formed COSMO, (Conservation Society of Monavale). COSMO is a community driven group of homeowners & workers who have garnered the financial support from the UNDP in protecting the rare species of birds and small creatures found in the vlei.
WormMan Newsletter No.4 – dated 15th March 2009
Moving the WormMan location from the Avondale suburbs to Noah’s Park out at Umwindsidale, twenty-four kilometers east of Harare was completed last week, much to Joan’s relief – she can now get her tiny garden flat back into shape.
Last Saturday morning we started our first demonstration of compost-making down at the Monavale vlei before a lively bunch of residents from that suburb who have formed COSMO, (Conservation Society of Monavale). COSMO is a community driven group of homeowners & workers who have garnered the financial support from the UNDP in protecting the rare species of birds and small creatures found in the vlei.
WormMan Newsletter No.5 – dated 15th April 2009
The first of the COSMO vermi-culture two day course started on Saturday the 4th of April at 0800hrs, attended by about 45 people. This followed the two day composting course we had done in March and from all accounts, this was an extremely successful exercise. Many of the participants could not believe what they saw, their previous efforts in making compost varied from a pile of debris hidden somewhere in the far corner of the garden, taking anything up to a couple of years to make. Well, this was soon to change. As it turned out, we had to turn the compost heap over four times in the first week and what were fairly tall heaps when we made them, had now shrunk right down to about 400mm in height. The result however, it certainly looked and smelt good.
WormMan News-letter No.6 – dated 4th May 2009
What a month this has been, our feet haven’t touched ground, but I must say, things are starting to look better in what WormMan is doing.
Mike Donald reports from Nacala in Northern Mozambique that he has at last managed to get his little ‘Worm Bank’ to survive the heat and the worms have settled down very nicely. This is not something new, as we have noticed that almost at every place where we have started a new project, the worms take a little while to settle. Mike now has fifty Propagation boxes and once he has the hang of it, this number will increase. Mike’s target is to supply other would be ‘Joint Venture’ partners as well as some of the NGO’s in the area. Further south, his father Chris, has started his Worm Bank in Mutare and will soon be supplying the Chimoio area as well.
WormMan Newsletter No.7 – dated 1st June 2009
Whatever happens in our country, life goes on regardless and we have to live. The sooner
we all become self sufficient in food production, the better. Regardless of where we live, be it in the bush or
in the towns – we still have to eat. So – what is the plan? How about this?
