For the Love of Soil: Strategies to Regenerate Our Food Production Systems by Masters Nicole

Author:Masters, Nicole
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Printable Reality
Published: 2019-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

Image: Different worm groups and where they live in soil. Adapted from ”How do earthworms affect microfloral and faunal community diversity?” Brown, 1995[72]

Earthworms are not found in deserts or under ice sheets, but it never ceases to amaze me the places we do find them—in dry environments and in ice. Digging holes on a bush-clad farm near Wellington, New Zealand, we came across dozens of ruler-length white worms with bright purple steaks.

Accidentally cutting one with a shovel, I saw that they emit a bioluminescent yellow fluid. I thought we’d discovered a new punk alien species! With some research I found indigenous people had, of course, known of its existence for centuries and had used the worm, Octochaetus multiporus, for fishing lures to attract night-feeding fish. While digging soil trenches in Texas with the regenerative grazier and Brahman bull breeder, John Locke, the backhoe revealed apocalyptic scenes as it unearthed and exposed hundreds of writhing worms up to 600mm (2 feet) in length. These worms were impressive, but not quite to the scale of the Australian Giant Gippsland earthworms. I’ve never had the honour to see, or yes, even hear these giants, as they push their way through the soil. Measuring up to 3 ½ m (12 feet), they’re even bigger than the Texas variety.

Many major pastoral worms are European, adapted to a long history of agriculture. Many of these species were accidently introduced into new lands from the soil ballast of ships. Some regions around the world are naturally low in the large, deep dwelling anecic, earthworms, such as the nightcrawlers or dew worms (Lumbricus terrestris) and, my personal favourite, the blackhead worm (Aporrectodea longa). These major soil engineers have been carried across the continents to provide a source of fishing bait. Others were purposefully introduced in sods of soil to increase pasture production in Tasmania and New Zealand.

In some places, earthworms may be viewed as a pest, particularly in turf industries, with their expensive and carefully manicured sand substrate and in golf greens where worm castings disrupt a perfect putting score. Some of the nastiest residual chemicals like chlordane and endosulfan, were used on turf and school grounds to control earthworms; fortunately, public awareness about the environmental and human health risks of these toxic chemicals led to their bans. In the U.S, chlordane is still manufactured; however, it can only be sold to countries with more lax environmental laws. If you’re someone who likes to kill earthworms, you’re potentially not the audience for this book. You may, however, know someone who dislikes earthworm activity and the following advice may be helpful. One reason people kill earthworms in lawns, is the lumpy castings they deposit. Often these deposits are concentrated with clay and magnesium, making them hard. In these situations, gypsum and fine limes are great tools. For me, I’d rather remove the “perfect” showcase lawn than poison my earthworms…and my community. In the northern North American forests, which until 11,700 years ago, were under glaciers, the earthworms froze up or moved south.

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