Does anyone out there remember the Outer Banks Gorilla Gram Service back in 1980 something? The guy in the suit is named Chip Py. But this article tells another story, it tells about Chip’s other, greener side.
His mom, Lucille Py, a former nursing director of Britthaven, was an avid gardener, and the backyard sanctuary she created naturally influenced Chip. Today, Chip is right up our organic alley.
He now lives in Washington D.C. and has taken on a species of another sort, albeit a lower life form than the gorilla, but with a potential reach capable of greater impact. Chip isn’t in costume this time though, but he is up to his elbows in worm castings which play a critical part in the process he’s developed to produce an undrinkable tea that is an organic fertilizer and pest repellent.
His Global Worming Worm Tea is a natural alternative to garden chemicals made from worm excrement.
The way Chip explains it, the Red Wiggler worm eats one and half times its body weight every day. Chip has constructed large wooden boxes that he fills with organic leftovers and lots of worms. These fat and happy worms excrete a soil-nutrient material known as worm castings. This is why wise farmers have historically wanted healthy worm populations living in their fields. Worms are at the bottom level of the food chain but are critical to healthy soil.
Through a brewing process which runs distilled water through Red Wiggler worm castings, the nutritious elements and microorganisms of the castings are captured in a concentrated liquid form.
If plants, lawns, and gardens drink this “tea”, healthy microorganisms are put back into the soil where they thrive and multiply, creating a much healthier growing environment.
While Chip makes his Tea in a concentrated form, it is an all-natural soil amendment, meaning a person can’t over fertilize or “burn out” the plants in one’s yard or garden. He mixes his bottled concentrate with distilled water and applies it directly at the root base of the plants to enhance the health of the soil. He also says it can be sprayed directly onto plants and will act as an insecticide. Apparently, pests are not tea drinkers. It also can be added to a compost pile to accelerate the composting process.
His brew, when used in place of commercial chemicals and fertilizers, not only benefits plants and soil, it contributes to a healthier environment for all. Now that’s something to beat your chest with pride about. For more information go to