Sunday 10 April 2016

Beneath the surface














enclosing wall, built in 1770




I had a productive morning in the garden yesterday, emptying the wormery and spreading the lovely worm compost over one or two of the raised beds. The worms are no more, so I cleaned out the wormery completely and I've ordered a new batch. They are quite amazing little creatures, turning vegetable matter into crumbly fertile soil teeming with microbes. The compost worms are different from earthworms, although earthworms are equally hardworking, taking organic matter from the surface and distributing it through the soil. What goes on underground is complicated, vast and essential to healthy plant life. Good soil is built over years of caring for it, adding manure and compost and avoiding chemicals, which can disrupt the healthy balance of organisms.

In the afternoon we went for a wander at the local deer park. It was first enclosed for hunting at the end of the 13th century, and is the last remaining medieval deer park in the area. A wall was built around the outside in 1770. The land is fantastic, as you would imagine with a place that has had minimal human interference. There are many ancient trees and I was impressed with the amount of dead wood that had been left lying around - great for insects and those who feed on them. We saw two or three green woodpeckers and a greater spotted woodpecker as well.

The mounds are anthills, literally thousands of them. They form on undisturbed land over many years and are made by yellow meadow ants. They're great for biodiversity as the mounds and the ants support other creatures and plant life. In fact the ants are a major food source for green woodpeckers.

All of the dead wood is great for fungi as well. I like to go in the autumn and see what's growing. All of that unseen life, teeming below the surface of things. There's so much more than meets the eye in these amazing ecosystems.

31 comments:

  1. I did not expect those bumps to be anthills! I always learn something when I read your blog CJ, thank you. And isn't it lovely to see the bluebells popping up in the woods all of a sudden? xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love the wall. Where I grew up in the eastern US, we had lots of neat old stone walls everywhere, dating back to the 17th century in some cases, built by Dutch settlers. I loved finding them in the woods unexpectedly. I like the idea of a wormery. I didn't know there was such a thing. I miss worms everywhere after a rain, that's one thing we don't often see in the desert.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for helping me appreciate more about your lovely photos. I did not know that there are yellow meadow ants, or that ant hills can be grassy mounds! Interesting! Recently, at a local parking lot, I looked down at the curb after a rain shower and saw a trail of 6+ inch long worms...head to tail wiggling their way in a southerly direction for 20 feet or so. Fascinating...and I am so curious to know why they behaved that way. Over the last few years I have been reading more about permaculture in your British setting. Observing what grows naturally here and then building my gardening efforts around what I am learning is a process I find interesting and a bit perplexing sometimes too, when what I think should grow...doesn't! Happy gardening, CJ! xx

    ReplyDelete
  4. I thoroughly enjoyed following along when you visited the deer park! Your land there is so picturesque! It's amazing to me that I snapped a photo of the exact same bluebell that is growing in my yard. Something so odd is only ONE bluebell lives here.. there has never been more than one. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Just look at all those anthills - I'll never approach a grassy mound with carefree confidence again! Happy composting. xx

    ReplyDelete
  6. Loved taking the stroll with you through the deer part, such a beautiful and very interesting place to stroll. Amazing what's going on under the surface if only we looked for it. Great post.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hello CJ, informative post, I'm left wondering what the small building that looks like a mini castle is in the last image?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's a folly, added in the 19th century. There are people living there I think, it's quite a spot to live! CJ xx

      Delete
  8. A lovely post. We have a few anthills in a field close by but nothing on the scale of your photo. Sounds like you had an enjoyable weekend xx

    ReplyDelete
  9. I walk the dog where there are similar looking mounds but it never occurred to me they might be anthills - the dog has stomped all over them! I've often wondered about compost worms and whether to have a go at a wormery; I have to confess I thought they were the same worms as we get in the ground. As I'm an organic gardener I think these would be good for my garden too so will look online to find out about it. Lovely photos as always CJ, have a great week. Jxx

    ReplyDelete
  10. I wondered what the mounds were - not a place for a picnic!

    Love;y scenery and I love the ancient tree.

    ReplyDelete
  11. When I see an ant mound here I run for cover, more than likely they are fire ants and their bite really stings, much like a wasp. I love your walk and your perspective, there is always lots going on under the surface we can't see. Have a great week,
    Meredith

    ReplyDelete
  12. CJ, you have so many fantastic places to wander near you and I admire how often you get outside to explore with your boys. Those trees are amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Worms are certainly one of the gardener's friends. The compost heap on our allotment always seems to take ages to rot down. Maybe I shouds get a wormery instead.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Good post, and wonderful pictures. Well done with the compost and gardening. Flighty xx

    ReplyDelete
  15. These ant hills don't look like the ant hills from my childhood (these were forest ones, piles of pine needles and dirt), amazing structures disguised as little earth mounds. I also didn't know that compost worms are not earth worms, I am going on a google journey now to learn more. Have a lovely week. x

    ReplyDelete
  16. Lovely photos CJ. I must admit I am not an ant fan, my garden is full of anthills, in fact I often think where we live is just one enormous anthill. Yuck
    Jillxo

    ReplyDelete
  17. Beautiful photos. Your landscapes always give me the best sighs. I think worms are really amazing. (said in that first graders voice)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Those anthills, and that folly! I'd love to live somewhere unique like that in the middle of nowhere... the solitude. I do like people really, honest!
    Caz xx

    ReplyDelete
  19. Sounds like a great walk :)

    ReplyDelete
  20. The ant hills are amazing, just think of all thise millions of ants living in a parallel universe. One of my children's favourite films when they were little was Antz, highly recommended if your boys haven't seen it, I think it was released about the time my son started school in 1998 and it was quite subversive and educational in a fumny and life-affirming way. I keep my wormery outside the kitchen door and make sure the worms get something to eat every day. Small amounts of stale bread can be digested but definitely no citrus peel. You can siphon of the liquor and dilute to use as you would comfrey or nettle tea.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I wouldn't have known those were anthills, either, and the sheer numbers of them are incredible. I love a folly, I'd quite fancy my own if the backyard was big enough. What happened to the old worms in the wormery, did they decompose themselves into compost, or did they escape? xx

    ReplyDelete
  22. what a wonderful show and tell this week, CJ! I thought those mounds must have been big rocky things (technical term, that) that the grass had covered, over the years. how amazing! all that activity - but it looks so peaceful.
    I must get a worm farm one day!

    ReplyDelete
  23. I found this so fascinating. I have always been interested in composting and composting worms, but I truthfully knew close to nothing about it. Thank you for this insight! I hope you and your family are having a good week CJ! xx

    ReplyDelete
  24. Wow...a medieval deer park. I honestly did not know they existed. Very interesting!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Hey CJ,
    I think I'd like a wormery. I'm going to do some research. My compost bin is great, but I think I need an extra helping hand; so much waste comes out of our hoe and garden it can't absorb it all. I watched the programme on the Queen's garden last night. A lot of this post reminded me of it. The idea of an area of great diversity in a heavily populated area. Leaving the old wood to encourage flora and fauna was fascinating; all those different fungi! And I was rather taken with the moth of the silkworm caterpillar. And then I thought about how sad I will be not to see the contents of CT's moth box.
    Leanne xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll do a moth post just for you my friend :-) xx

      Delete
  26. Great post CJ with lots of things that I love in it. Watch out for blue butterflies around those anthills this summer- many species of blue flutters have a symbiotic relationship with ants, relying on them to feed and protect their larvae. Ploughing out certain species of ant hills back in the 70s resulted in the large blue flutter becoming extinct in the UK. Fortunately, we know better now. Keep up the good work telling everyone about worms, soil and the importance of dead wood xx

    ReplyDelete
  27. Great post, I am intrigued ny the ant mounds, I'd never have guessed what they were. Isn't it great to see all the spring flowers appearing, although we have sleety snow falling as I type! Have a great weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Ant mounds - I've never seen those before! And the bluebells over your way are much more advanced than ours up here, although I did spot a few in the woods this morning.
    We don't have a wormery. Not even a compost bin - yet. But we will. I really hate chucking all those peelings away...
    I think there used to be a deer park many centuries ago around here (if my research on places and their meanings serves me right). None of those wonderful old walls like you've photographed, though. I do love old brick walls, they remind me of 'The Secret Garden'.
    S x

    ReplyDelete
  29. This world of ours is an amazing living structure isn't it, just hope we don't completely destroy it with our human ways. I've been really pleased with the soil in my raised beds this spring, doing the lasagne method last year has produced some amazing compost :) xxx

    ReplyDelete