Wiggling Worms at Work

Wiggling Worms at Work

Down in the ground, under your feet, thousands of worms wiggle around flower bulbs and tunnel under trees. They twist and turn, eating almost anything in their way. These wiggling worms are at work.

Farmers plow their fields to loosen the soil. Crumbly soil lets the roots of plants spread out and grow. Worms also loosen the soil as they wiggle along. They are called nature's plows. As worms twist and turn, they push aside loose soil. This creates tunnels. Air flows along these tunnels. Rainwater trickles down. Roots drink it up. Moist ground helps plants grow better.

Worms tunnel in hard-packed soil by swallowing it. The soil goes in the worm's mouth, slides into the crop, then passes down to the gizzard.

Worms do not have teeth. Muscles, fine grains of sand, and small stones in the gizzard grind the soil. Worms digest leaf and plant bits that are found in soil, just as you digest a salad. What's left passes through a worm's body and comes out its tail end in the form of pellets, called worm castings. These castings make good plant food. They help fruits and vegetables grow bigger and better.

Sometimes worms crawl above ground. When they tunnel back down into the ground, they pull dead leaves and plants down with them. These plants make the soil better as they rot. Seeds come down, too. Some of these seeds send out roots. Seedlings sprout. Worms help new plants begin to grow.