Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Invite a Worm to Dinner

In honor of Earth Day, Organic Valley Family of Farms would like you to hold an Earth Dinner to celebrate the planet's bounty.

"Make it simple or make it splendid! From a potluck dinner to a masterful multi-course presentation--any style works for an Earth Dinner. The key is to know the origins of what's being served-how it was grown, where it came from, who grew it, its nutritional value. Each dish brought to the table provides an opportunity for us to talk about its origins and its connections to our personal histories through the activity cards provided in this package."

Yes, there are activity cards to spark your earthy discussion, including one that"makes players think creatively -- e.g., pretend you're an earthworm running for public office!"

I'll give you a little while to think that over.

Earth Dinner Plan Your Dinner

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Extinct taxonomists?

Speaking of extinct earthworms-and we were--here's a funny little story from a funny little planet about another vanishing species--oligochaetologists. Make of it what you will.

Berkeley Daily Planet

The Missing Tiller

An excerpt from an excerpt from a new novel on Upton Sinclair called U.S.! by Chris Bachelder, in which titles for a book on earthworms are imagined...and said book is then imaginatively sent to the remainder bin.

Sigh.

NPR : 'U.S.!': Resurrecting Upton Sinclair: " The strong, near-rotten smell in the car made me remember the way the summer rains would bring up long, knotty earthworms in the streets of my childhood neighborhood. It occurs to me now that I haven't seen worms like that in years. Perhaps the earthworm is a bellwether, a coal-mine canary, yet another harbinger of planetary doom. No doubt there will soon be a book, called The Missing Tiller, perhaps, or Dearthworm, blurbed as 'quite possibly the best of the disappearing animal books.' And the books about disappearing frogs, disappearing dolphins, and disappearing eagles will disappear to the discount table, three for ten dollars."

Monday, March 13, 2006

I Left My Worms in San Francisco

Join me at San Francisco’s Cow Palace for three worm workshops, with booksignings afterwards at the Builders Booksource booth. It’s all happening on:

Saturday, March 18, 2:30 pm
"The Secret Life of Worms" (Kids program)

Saturday, March 18, 4:15 pm
"Worm Composting 101"

Sunday, March 19, 1:00 pm
"The Secret Life of Worms" (Kids program)

For tickets & information:

San Francisco Flower & Garden Show