Around the mulberry bush

Yes, it's right. I'm 34 and I have silkworms as temporary pets, a pasttime usually associated with school children. I haven't had silkies for almost two decades!

I got them from friends, who have children, and it is fun raising these silly worms. I've got only 20 of them as I like giving them personal attention. I remember reading something in an article in a National Geographic magazine from the late '80s about tickling silkworms with a feather to encourage them to grow nice and big; and this is what I did as a child. My silkies were always healthy and sizeable. I'm going to give it a try again - and I'll make them spin shapes.

My regular run routes pass loads of mulberry trees, so I have no shortage of leaves.

I'll post an update in a few weeks (I can't remember how long these guys take to get to cocoon spinnin stage?) to show you how big I can get them. Mmm... need a negative control to see whether my techniques work better than just shoving them in a box with food...