A Worm Family And Their Distant Relatives

Whenever it rained, I walked funny. I wore my rubber boots with pride. I liked to play in the ditch behind our farm where I caught tadpoles in spring. But when it rained, I clenched my toes inside my boots, in case a worm would accidentally find its way into my shoe. The logic of a child. My grandma let me walk funny, she knew I would grow out of it.

Later, when I helped her work in our garden, I met big, fat worms and critters underground. I jumped backward with disgust but my grandma appreciated their existence. She told me about the worm family who lived in our grounds. They had partnered up with the rain and the sun and all of them made sure that our vegetables grew big and healthy.

What age do you have to be to believe a tale like that? I did have some doubts at first, but when I saw Grandma gently putting a worm back into the warm soil, I knew instinctively that these worms were good. I had no reason to fear them. Grandma didn’t lie too often. Only about the Easter bunny and the St. Nikolaus as far as I could tell, she told the truth — mostly.

And so I learned to respect the worm family in our garden and I didn’t harm their distant relatives in other areas of the world later on either.

The soil under your feet is not dirt — it’s a living universe that feeds the world.

Beneath every step you take lies a hidden world. Billions of microorganisms, hardworking worms, and tiny bugs and insects all play their part in the great cycle of life. Nature is amazing when we don’t interfere.

Healthy soil is the foundation of our food, our forests, and our future. Without it, there are no flowers, no fruits, no bees, no life.

So next time you’re in your garden, take a moment to honor the ground beneath you and use pesticides wisely.

Let nature thrive below the surface, don’t kill it just because you are bothered by some critters who lived there way before you did.

Now, in my early sixties, I have given up on our big garden, instead, we bought four wooden over-the-ground planters when these poor things were on sale. Last weekend we built them I stained them, and last Thursday I planted herbs and some veggies. Of course, we are too late, but we still hope to have a happy harvest, preferably before fall. 🙂

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Peppers and an eggplant, rosemary, and basil. Purple carrots and cherry tomatoes. Next week the seeds for my Austrian salad will come in (Feldsalat) and one planter will be full of it.

Every spring I get spring fever. It’s a sign of new life. Sowing and harvesting. Worms, bugs, and critters and all.

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