The Birds are in the air, the Tractors are in the fields, and the Worms are here to stay!

It's time for the Wednesday blog post from Paynter Family Organic Farm! This week's post is similar to one we had on Facebook last May. Since the importance of these little fellas (Earthworms) is often overlooked, we wanted to post on here about them too. Anyways, on with the story...

This week has been wonderful! The weather has been great and we were able to get in the fields and work some ground. Since we utilize cover crops over the winter to reduce erosion and nutrient runoff, we must work the ground in our fields during the spring to prepare them for planting, requiring extra work and time in the busy season of spring. I added some videos to our new Vimeo account of Aaron working the ground in our North side field by the house. After he drove past, I walked out to see if there were any earthworms and yes there was!

A little background on the ground and the critters that have lived in it since way back...When some chemicals are applied to fields, they can kill the earthworms and bugs that naturally live and thrive in the ground. Earthworms actually improve crop production by digging tunnels that allow air and nutrients deep into the ground. They also eat and digest decaying matter, and then release it as fertilizer for the plants to utilize. Earthworms are a welcome sight for farmers, but yet seem to go unappreciated when chemicals are used. No need for the little guys to fear on our farm though.

The videos show what was brought up after Aaron worked the ground with the Steiger tractor. If you look carefully you can see quite a few of them.

Earthworms are always welcome and aplenty on our Organic farm!

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