Save our soils!

ERA talk, 23rd April 2026, James Skillicom

This was a notably interactive, informative and entertaining talk which was very warmly received. James, from Fairer World Lindfield, introduced us to the wonders of owning a wormery, while explaining why earthworms are so very important, finishing by outlining some steps we can all take to benefit worms and the soil they live in.

Soil is composed of many, many ‘mini rocks’ with air spaces in between. In fact, 50% of healthy soil is air. For hundreds of years farmers ploughed relatively shallowly and as part of a mixed farming regime, using crop rotations. All of this protected the soil, unlike many aspects of modern farming. For example modern heavy farm machinery compresses the soil, driving out the air. Those air pockets are crucial for all the micro-organisms that live in, and move around within, the soil. Fungal mycelia need the air pockets to grow through, as do the plant roots that they interact with. And then there are the master engineers, the earthworms, taking organic material down into the soil, keeping it open, allowing rain to percolate through it. Soil is complex and magical and yet we concrete over it, cover it with plastic grass, pollute it and compress it one way and another. As a result, our friends and allies the earthworms are in trouble.

Not all aspects of modern agriculture are detrimental to the soil and its worms. For example, it is now possible to analyse the soil in different parts of a field so that satellite controlled instrumentation can deliver only the right amount of agri-chemicals to where they are needed.

Closer to home, why not have your own wormery? With a wormery one can produce ‘worm tea’ which can be diluted and used as a plant food, as well as worm compost for adding to the soil one is planting into. Adding kitchen scraps, ground up eggshells and shredded cardboard will provide all that the worms require and when one layer is full you can simply add another layer on top of it and so on. When you are ready you can remove the bottom layer to extract the worm compost, while the worm tea will drain through the sump throughout the process.

One way in which earthworm colonies can persist through unfavourable conditions is by their eggs being able to survive in conditions that kill off the earthworms themselves. The eggs remain dormant yet viable, hatching when conditions improve to start a new colony of earthworms.

Worms have no eyes, but they do have photo receptors over their whole body, allowing them to avoid staying out in the sun where they might dry up. Given that they breath through their skins, drying can be fatal to them. As worms move through the soil they leave a slight slime trail which fungal mycelia subsequently grow along. It seems that everything about earthworms is in harmony with their environment!

There are something like 30 different species of worms in the UK and more than 7000 worldwide. Different species of worms live at different heights in the soil. Some are surface dwellers, you might see them when you lift a plant pot. Others live in the top few inches of soil, burrowing horizontally, while others live deeper down in the soil, coming up to the surface at night time by burrowing vertically through the soil. Some of the deep dwelling worms can live up to 7 years whereas the middle dwellers live for 2 to 3 years.

In the Middle Ages people exchanged gifts of soil when visiting others. A custom that will have resulted in greater biodiversity. We need to get back to valuing soil like they did.

Apart from getting a wormery, James suggested 2 further things we could all do to improve our soil and improve the lot of the earthworms: have a no dig garden and make worm bombs. See this separate blog for an explanation of, and instructions for making, worm bombs. A great activity for adults and children alike!