It has been two years and I have seen only a dozen worms. The leaves seem to do the best job of breaking up the soil. When mixed with our clay the compost seems to reharden in time. We buy compost by the truck load from the city of High Point and compost the leaves that fall each year.

We have spent the last two years trying to till and introduce amendments into this, whatever it is. When dry the clay is a brick, when wet, sticky and slippery. The dirt around our house is clay fill dirt brought in from who-knows-where. When the bulldozers moved in here they moved the dirt around to the point where the old landscape is barely visible. Draw pictures of what you find and decide if your soil would be good for growing plants.“Our house is in what used to be the Pine Forest part of the camp as a scout troop we use to camp here. Go outside and find some worms! Dig up some soil (with permission) and find the different organisms that live in it. By combining household waste (vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, eggshells, shredded newspaper) with plant material from your yard (dry leaves and twigs) to create your own compost pile (see more information below). You can be part of the decomposition process as well! Composting is a way people can help speed up soil decomposition. They all work together to aid in a process called decomposition, the natural breaking down of organic material into soil. Other important organisms in soil include bacteria, fungi, and insects.

They eat the soil, creating tunnels for oxygen to move through, and then put out additional nutrients in their waste. In The Diary of a Worm, we see how worms take part in creating healthy soil. Soil is the foundation for growing healthy plants and living organisms in the soil are an important part of keeping it full of nutrients for plants to thrive. Read The Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin or enjoy the story online.

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