Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Debbie Mcdonald <belynor@sbcglobal.net>]

I've just hit this thread. I recently moved to 45 acres in an area considered 
"sandy loam" in north east TX. When I first started walking the land, as 
there was nothing here but what I loved about it, BIG huge old growth 
trees(for TX), two spring fed ponds, a creek running through in two places 
from run off from two places, a lake on the next door property and this one 
from the pond and some pasture area(eight? acres), I had hooved animals:) . 
The bulk of the land is higher up and has some pasture area which is SAND 
because of farming for crops then pasture. There is vetch in spring but a few 
problem weeds(horse nettle, grass burrs). In the woods(big trees mostly as I 
said, not dense small growth), I could pull up a handful of soil to 
sniff(heavenly organic matter) and very close underneath was WORMS.  I used 
to live west of here and practiced as organic as I could afford for almost 
twenty years and you could dig in my front yard of clay mostly, some
 sand spots etc. YOu didn't get worms except in my flower garden where I used 
a large cover of oak leaf mulch every winter to keep plants that were not 
supposed to overwinter here, to overwinter. The mycorrhizal fungi was rich in 
those beds as I did not disturb the ecology, practicing no till. I used to 
try to make visitors to sniff the majic but they were always a bit uneasy as 
they did not understand, why should they sniff dirt.
 I imagine the time of year matters with the dryness that occurs off and on.  
    

--- On Tue, 11/10/09, Dieter Brand <diebrand@yahoo.com> wrote:

> From: Dieter Brand <diebrand@yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Earthworms in Clay
> To: "Healthy soil and sustainable growing" 
> <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
> Date: Tuesday, November 10, 2009, 1:33 PM
> Mitch,
> 
> Earth worms love clay soil; they don’t mind if it is
> hard.  I remember a Swiss study that showed that there
> are more earth worms in soil compacted by tractor wheels
> than in soil that is relatively loose.  I have heavy
> clay soil which is stone dry for most of the year. 
> When the soil gets too hard for them to move, the earth
> worms will huddle up into little balls inside spherical
> cavities in the soil to pass the dry season in a state of
> dormancy.  As soon as the soil gets wet again, they
> start moving about and multiply.  They do find food
> even though there is no recently decomposed organic matter
> visible to the eye.  But you may find that they don’t
> like the fungal environment of forest soil.  They
> don’t of course like sandy soil either.
> 
> Dieter
> 
> 
> --- On Mon, 11/9/09, Smittyctz6
> <cityhomesteader@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> From: Smittyctz6 <cityhomesteader@gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Earthworms in Clay
> To: "Healthy soil and sustainable growing"
> <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
> Date: Monday, November 9, 2009, 3:23 PM
> 
> 
> Worms are funny creatures.. Only
> the Good Lord knows why they do what they do, but count it a
> blessing they are there.  When we moved here the land
> was shot, not a worm to find even in our wood let.
> Now it is teaming with all sorts of soil building critters.
> I used remedial wood chips and Horse Bedding to build the
> soil.  That an let the leaves lay where they fell. My
> Paw paws, Persimmon's, bush cherries, beach plums, and
> service berries are taking hold down there now. I have red
> currents and a zillion mushrooms of all kinds down there.
> 
> 
> On Sun, Nov 8, 2009 at 4:26 PM,
> Emery Mitchamore <emitch@att.net>
> wrote:
> 
> 
> After an extreme drought
> the last few years, rains resumed and we received about
> 20" of rain in Sept and Oct.  After waiting a
> while, I resumed the planting of my Forest Garden.  I
> found many fat earthworms in every spot, in heavy clay that
> I had assumed was devoid of organic matter.  What does
> this mean?  Do I actually have earthworm food in there?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> E. E. "Mitch"  Mitchamore
> www.hillcountrynatives.biz