Worm & Peace

Soil...what is it good for...absolutely everything!

Many people come to our home in rural Northumberland from towns & cities and the first thing they say is, “Wow, what an amazing view?”

They’re right, it’s beautiful here; there’s the view of the sea with the lighthouse out at a distance on Coquet Island. There are green fields, fairly mature trees, grazing sheep and stunning yellow rapeseed crops depending on the time of year.

St Cuthbert came to Coquet Island more than 1300 years ago; but today there are a few more visitors on this amazing island. Each year in spring and summer Coquet Island becomes home to 35,000 nesting sea birds, some coming from as far away as Africa. Lying just one mile off the coast of Northumberland, near the fishing port of Amble,

We’re very lucky to live where we live, but…and it’s a sizeable But… when I walk these same green fields, I’m met with more than a twinge of sadness. I don’t see ‘countryside’, I see a working factory.

The land is bereft of wildlife and the soil is long dead.

It’s not just me being poetic - it’s rare to see butterflies and bees in any real numbers. On one really sad occasion, I saw a bee but it was on its back being carried on a credit card by a dog walker who was taking it home to try to resuscitate it. Whatever they spray on those fields, it’s not in the interests of wildlife.

The UK in 100 Seconds

The green agricultural and pasture lands that surround our home are perhaps synonymous with England. This type of land covers over half of the UK and is represented here by 55 seconds of walking ( or 62 seconds if you include sheep-grazed moors). In contrast, more abundant natural ecosystems literally go by in the blink of an eye.

At first inspection, forests look well represented at 10 seconds of walking but truthfully, given that most of that is commercial plantations, it’s more truthful to say 2.5 seconds - 2.5% is what we have left of native woodland ecosystems. Most of UK woodland is owned by private owners (73%) and is for sale in the form of timber - predominantly its non-native coniferous species and the planting of which often involves clearing ancient woodlands in the process.

No wonder we all feel like we have to be useful in order to be loved in the UK when all our land is set up for this. It’s the Uses & Benefits soup we all drink.

Dark Satanic Mills

William Blake’s poem, ‘And did those feet in ancient time’, more commonly known as the hymn, "Jerusalem" is regarded as the unofficial anthem of England. Proudly sung before cricket and rugby games across the land we seem to have missed the reference to ‘dark satanic mills’ which highlighted the blind and evil nature of the industrial revolution.

The green and pleasant fields, that once provided an escape from the industrial machine have now been subsumed by it. Horses & plough have been replaced by diesel & glyphosate.

John Constable’s ‘White Horse’ 1819. You wouldn’t risk allowing your horse to drink from rivers or streams surrounding farmland today because of all the chemical run-off

“And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England’s mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England’s pleasant pastures seen?

And did the Countenance Divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among these dark satanic mills?

Bring me my bow of burning gold;
Bring me my arrows of desire;
Bring me my spear; O clouds, unfold!
Bring me my chariot of fire!

I will not cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand,
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England’s green and pleasant land.”

-William Blake

What’s the big deal with soil?

Well, for a start, a quarter of all known species live in the soil and without soil organisms, no plants could grow, and no people could live.

It’s kind of a big deal actually.

Nematode, South Devon Four out of five animals on earth belong to this group

Soil is the most diverse habitat of all. If you dug out a square metre of healthy soil you’d have up to 1.5 kilograms of living organisms including; nematodes (threadworms), earthworms, springtails, mites, insect larvae, etc. Zoom in even further and you’ll find myriads of microorganisms: Bacteria, protists, fungi, and many more.

Soil Organic Carbon (SOC)

Not only does soil sustain life, but it’s also doing its best to pull carbon out of the atmosphere and store it underground. Soils represent the largest terrestrial organic carbon reservoir.

Depending on how they are managed, soils can either break down too quickly and release this carbon thus contributing to climate change or they can mitigate climate change by holding onto the carbon and releasing it at more manageable rates.

Dirty Tactics

Soil that is no longer living soil is actually dirt. It has the minerals (the structure of soil) but none of the life that makes up a healthy thriving soil system.

It’s this dirt I can pick up as I wander the fields surrounding my home and it crumbles like desert sands in the winter months long after the crops have been harvested.

After years and years of intensive farming methods, the land is literally exhausted. With my post-viral fatigue, me and the land are at least walking hand in hand together.