Counting worms - a lesser known Easter tradition...

Easter Monday and we were about to be descended upon by the masses clamouring for food.  What better time, I thought, to go on a worm hunt.

To be fair, I wasn't needed inside as MM was doing the cooking.  He usually does, and particularly on the big occasions - I don't think he can resist the general hero-worship that seems to be lavished upon a man capable of plating up a roast dinner.

So I took Ava and Oscar outside for some serious scientific research.

We were taking part in the OPAL (Open Air Laboratories) Soil and Earthworm Survey.  It's part of a five year programme 'to bring scientists and the public closer together' - not in a 'befriend a boffin' kind of way - although I quite like that idea - but more in terms of understanding environmental issues and appreciating the value and relevance of scientific research. 

I'm not sure Oscar and Ava appreciated these finer points - to them it was a chance to get really muddy and hunt for worms.

We did find three in our sample site.  That sounds quite pathetic and I am, to be honest, a little distressed.  I had hoped that we might supplement our numbers by finding some deep-burrowing critters.  For this you apparently need to mix mustard sachets with water and pour the resulting mixture into the pit (if nothing else, this has given the children new and exciting things to do with condiments).

We did this, poured it into our small pit and waited.  I fully anticipated a mass of worms arising from the earthy depths like a scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark.  But nothing happened.  The kids soon got bored and wandered off.  

I became strangely obsessed.  In fact, rather embarrassingly, I was still crouching over the pit, calling to any shy worms, when our guests arrived.  Now that took some explaining.

Still, the kids had a great time and they picked up a surprisingly large amount of information in what seemed like just a fun activity.  We conducted soil pH tests, soil texture tests, they assessed the area, filled in the form and even identified their finds as blue-grey worms (Octolasion cyaneum) - or as they like to call them Muffin, Sam and Rudy.

They even went on to build the worms their own mini town from various plastic cooking implements (this was not an official part of the survey but proved equally popular).

Comments

[belinha]

Hi!Just find you in FMB!What a lovely blog!I've been reading these green adventures with lots of pleasure.Very nice blog,very fresh.

[myla]

Hi Dawn, I absolutely adore the way you write -- I've been clicking around here for the last 30-45 minutes or so (found you on YouGrowGirl), and just had to say thanks for all the lovely posts!