SADP Nepal

Come on children today we are doing an interview with Mr. Slimy the Earthworm for our newsletter Organically Yours (OY).  Now come along.  No funny faces.  I know you all think Mr. Slimy is yucky, right?  Now just because he lives in dirt and eat leaves and your leftover, you cannot consider him yucky.  Let’s go! We have a job to do.  Let’s see what Mr. Slimy has to say for himself.

OY: Hello there! Mr. Slimy! I have a few questions for you.

Mrs. Slimy: Oh are you talking to me? Sorry but I am not Mr. Slimy.  I am his wife Mrs. Slimy. Mr. Slimy is heading away from the sun in that pile of compost.

OY: Sorry to bother you Mrs. Slimy. Can we talk to your husband for a minute?

Mrs. Slimy: Sure.  Let me get him for you.

OY: I see you are wearing dark glasses Mr. Slimy.  Are you feeling the heat too much and also you seem to be running away from the sun.  Can you tell us something about it?

Mr. Slimy:  Aha! I was wondering when you would ask that.  Let us first discuss my name shall we? Actually I am called Slimy because I have mucous all over me.  That’s the thing that keeps us (earthworms) moist – so we can breath through our skin! Does that make sense to you?

OY: Yes it makes good sense and also explains why people call you Slimy.  No offence though! You sound interesting and I am sure your work is even more interesting. Can you tell us more about yourself and your work?

Mr. Slimy:  Now that you ask me, I have to tell you that I am not very pleased at people calling us “lowly worm”.  They don’t understand the service we are providing them.  I wonder if they even think that way at all these days. Well there were some who really liked us and appreciated our work in the past. Did you know we’ve been around for 120 million years? More recently in the time of the Egyptian Pharoahs, Cleopatra said we were sacred. Aristotle, the philosopher from Greece, called us “the intestines” of the soil. The famous scientist Charles Darwin, you know the Victorian naturalist, who formulated theory of evolution.  Yes the same one studied us for 39 years in the last century! Do you know why? Darwin in ‘History of the world,’ said, “…….it may be doubted whether there are many other animals in the world which have played so important a part in the history of the world as these lowly organized creatures.”

Ah regarding my job. I am satisfied with it.  Well it’s a dirty job but someone has to do it and it’s us, who do it. We’re the underground farmers who turn the soil over like a plough. In just eight ropani of land there can be a million or more of us, eating 10 tons of leaves, stems, and dead roots a year and turning over 40 tons of soil. Imagine us all over the world — billions and billions of earthworms, tunneling through soil, chewing up fallen leaves and animal remains, pushing heavy stones. And don’t forget our droppings! It is called castings or vermicompost (worm compost).  It contains the recycled nutrients from everything we eat. Our tunnels add air and our castings work as fertilizer for the land. We change the dirt under human’s feet into fertile land fit for cultivation. That is the reason why the farmers consider us as their friends.

OY: This sounds like dangerous work.  What do you have to say about that?

Mr. Slimy: You bet it is. We worms face possible death or mutilation every step of the way. You can only imagine what we go through every day dodging bird beaks, gardening. And oh the little bugs we call “Dhamira” in Nepali and ants they give us a real headache. There are tons of others that are real threat to our lives don’t get me started on it. It will never end. Know what one of their favorite foods is? Us!!! No wonder, majority of us probably don’t make it much past a year!  After all this we, worms, don’t get the respect we deserve! Just imagine what we have to go through. Too bad us worms don’t get bravery medals for those who die in line of duty. Then again there are pleasant moments too though they are short lived ones.

OY: What do you mean by pleasant moments? Would you mind elaborating?

Mr. Slimy:  Ah yes.  I remember the moment I met my wife.  It was in a pile of vermicompost.  We were on duty to make more compost.  Then one day I was chewing on one of the wonderfully tasting apple core. I was on one side of it and she on the other side.  Gradually as we ate we moved towards the center and that’s how we met. She was pretty shy you know. She still blushes when I remind her of that moment. Of course how can I forget the feasts that we have every time someone adds organic leftovers for us to eat.  Those are indeed delicious, much different than the ones that use chemical fertilizer. I hate vegetables with chemical fertilizer. Now I call that downright YUCKY!!! I wonder if the people are aware of it too. Now that you raised the issue, I realize the amount of vegetables with chemical fertilizer given to us to eat has decreased.  My folks are becoming aware of the change in taste.

OY: You are lucky you met such a wonderful slime and such a nice place to call home.

Mr. Slimy:  Yes actually we both are lucky.  Wanna know why? Not because we found each other, rather we live in a farm that is well taken care of.  We are fed regularly.  They take care not to harm us when the remove the excess compost and also they let us go to the bottom during the whole process.  They do not use gardening tools so that really saves us.  Look they have even plastered the floor for us. How thoughtful. Now if only they could take care of the rats that would be wonderful.   Anyway, you have a home and a cover over your head and good food to eat and of course a loving wife what more would you ask for right?

OY: I agree. Is there something else that you want to tell us?

Mr. Slimy:  By the way let me give you a scoop here.  We earthworms carry both male and female reproductive parts.  Shocked?  Don’t be because we both produce baby earthworms and still are husband and wife.  The thing is she (my wife) likes to call me her husband that’s all and I am glad to have her as my wife and companion.

OY: You lucky slimes!!! Did I tell you, you have a big heart to tell me all about yourself?

Mr. Slimy:  No problem I do have a big heart. Not just one; five of them.  Shocked again? Looks like I am enjoying shocking you. You might be thinking why five hearts?  Now you will need five of them to manage excess calcium in your diet if you eat a lot of dirt. Remember our staple food is dirt!

OY: Thank you again for providing me with the opportunity to interview you.  I am sure our audience will like what you had to say.   Who knows may be improve the way they look at you, now that you have spoken about yourself and your feelings.

Thank you guys. Goodbye now and take care.  This is Organically Yours reporting from the compost pit.

How do you like the interview? Do you like it?  Were there more things that you wanted to know? Let me know and if there are more things to know, we will catch up with Mr. Slimy again soon.

Usha Pokharel
usha at pokharel dot net