You enjoying the springtime? Did you know that while we play in the sunshine, underneath our very feet earthworms are busy digging up the soil and keeping it fresh and fertile for all the plants?

That’s a big job!

So in honour of the humble earthworm, I have a mission for you. Find your nearest grown up, click on the ball of friendly worms below, listen to the 3minute recording, and then try answering these two worm questions:

1. How many years have earthworms been around?

2. Where did earthworms first come from?

Email us your answers at fun@secretseedsociety.com – you might even win a prize!

Squiggle wiggle,

Peter Parsnip

PS – Myth busting: lots of people think if you cut one worm in half you get two worms… in fact you’re much more likely to get two halves of one dead worm. Don’t try this at home!

Who is who? Join your favourite characters from Seed City to their names and colour them in! You could win a box of goodies to help you grow your own food.

There are three Age Groups: Under 5, Under 8 and 8+

Prizes in each group:

To enter: when your picture is finished write your Name, Age, Address and e-mail address on the back and send it to:- Peter Parsnip, 23 High St, Yelvertoft, Northampton, NN6 6LS. Or scan it and email to fun@secretseedsociety.com

Closing Date is April 8th 2010. That’s just after Easter so make sure you get yours done and post it off so Peter can see it!

Winner will be contacted via email, and a selection of pictures will be displayed here on the Secret Seed Society website for everyone to see.

Did you like Chrissie Cress’s story? Have you made a muffin yet, just like Chrissie and Peter? Here are some more muffin recipes to help you!

Go Bananas!

If you are vegetarian or vegan and only eat veggies try putting a ripe banana into your mix instead of using eggs. Yummy and healthy too!

How to use it: 1/2 banana blended until smooth or mashed well= 1 egg.

What you can put it in: Quick breads, muffins, cakes, pancakes, and banana bread of course!

Seed Agent Tip: Make sure bananas are nice and ripe and have started to brown.

Apple Crumbly Muffins

If you like apples, try this sweet muffin recipe out:

Makes 4 deep or 8 small muffins

Dry Ingredients

Wet Ingredients

Extras

Equipment

1. While you are preparing, heat oven to 190C/375F/gas mark 5.

2. In a large bowl mix dry ingredients

3. In a small bowl whisk wet ingredients with fork.

4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients – but leave out the apples!

5. Stir with wooden spoon until no lumps of flour remain, nice and smooth.

6. Mix in the apple bits and any other extra ingredients you have chosen.

7. Put thin layer of oil on the muffin tin using your fingers or kitchen paper.

8. Spoon the mixture into muffin tin.

9. Cook for 30min depending on oven.

10. When they have risen and their tops are golden carefully remove tin from oven and place on a surface that won’t melt. Ease muffins out of tin and onto a cooling rack.

Ready to eat! These muffins should be eaten same day as baked (its a hard life!)

You can make your own sprouting jar with a jam jar conversion kit – a piece of net and a rubber band.  The book The Mighty Messenger starring me, Mingo Mung comes with Mung Beans, the jam jar conversion kit, instructions and a recipe.

This is what mung beans look like when they are ready to eat, shiny white skin like my face, curly bits like my hair and green shells.

Sprouting with Mingo Mung

So you sprouted your little pack of mung beans, how did you like them? Did you pop them in to your mouth as soon as they were ready? Or did you choose some delicious ingredients to mix them with? However you ate your mung beans, they aren’t the only things you can sprout, have a look in your store cupboard and see what else might sprout.

What else can you sprout?

I asked Shena to take a look in her kitchen cupboard, this is what she found…

Lentils sprout really easily and have a great flavour. You can also try peas and other beans like aduki, you may discover more mung beans, chick peas too. Have a go! Some beans can’t be eaten raw, kidney and black eye beans. If you are unsure as to whether a seed or bean can be eaten raw have a look here. Let us know what you sprout.

If you can not find anything in your store cupboard visit Secret Seed Society Shop there are variety packs of beans and seeds and gadgets so you can sprout for all the family.

Why should you sprout beans and seeds?

Inside every bean and seed is the secret to life. A seed contains so much goodness that it can grow into a whole plant, so seeds are very nutritious. The magic of seeds is that all that nutrition is locked away and preserved. Once you you sprout a seed you unlock it and your body can access that goodness easily and without the farting that beans that aren’t sprouted are famous for! Yes, no farting!

Morgan won herself a pack for her portrait of Chrissie Cress

How to Put your picture in the Seed Agent Gallery

1. Choose a vegetable.
2. Decide on the character of your vegetable
3. Give your character a name
4. Draw your character
5. Take a picture / scan it in and send it by email : fun@secretseedsociety.com or post to: Seed HQ, 23 High Street, Yelvertoft, Northampton NN6 6LE.