Worms

As a country kid, we got dirty! I knew the hedgerow and the changes that took place with the seasons. I knew the names of different plants and trees. I don’t remember learning them, I just always knew. In hindsight someone taught me, and I feel I have to teach my kids. So the first thing we have encountered are worms, the gardener’s friend.

I think it is so important that kids especially girls don’t mind dirt and aren’ t ridiculously afraid of insects. Let me clarify I am not mad about spiders, especially the big hairy fellas but, I am not a girlie, girl. I will go out without make-up…less so as I get older mind and I don’t loose all sense of proportion when confronted with a little insect.

Growing up we didn’t have wii, two channel land meant TV was limited so out we went in search of adventure. Kids don’t come across worms in their daily lives they have to be encouraged to go in search of them. Crèche, town, even our gardens, unless working with soil don’t see many insects. However, like finger painting, if your set up for it, digging in muck is great fun and worth the mess. It is as good as playing with playdough, sand or paint and has added advantage of being outside.

So my four year old and three year old learned about the worm, and how it eats and poos the soil. My children are obsessed with the word “poo”, so I had a rapt audience. We talked about whether they were boys or girls, hermaphrodite was a great new word. The sadistic tendencies of children came out when we talked about what would happen if we cut a worm in two. I think they may have performed an experiment on an unsuspecting specimen, something I may have done myself, so I can hardly criticise.

So we went hunting for worms and made sure all the precious worms ended up in our raised beds. The competition for the longest and later the fattest worms began. The fun of this game quickly disappeared as my little boy does not take loosing lightly and his older sister takes every opportunity to flaunt her believed superiority. Sometimes I feel I could have a job in the UN.

Worms thoroughly researched ( my four year old averages 20 questions a minute)the next lesson will be on cutworms. A misleading name not actually worms but caterpillars that love to feast on plants. I think they have infested the roots of my strawberry plants. They are going to love picking out the little buggers.