Dear All,
Perhaps not true elsewhere but it was very dry here in what is
normally a wet time of year. Earthworms did not build their compost
structures by pulling petioles and other yard debris into the soil and
I saw almost no worm activity after the dry spell was broken. The
ongoing impact of this did not click until the corn season arrived.
Normally when I eat corn outdoors the cobs are swarming with
cluster flies as soon as the kernels are not excessively hot. This
summer I have eaten corn in the yard many times (top notch corn is grown
just a few miles away) and have not seen one fly near the cobs ; cluster
or otherwise.
And I dug a fair sized garden this year and saw very few
earthworms. So it suddenly clicked; unusually dry weather early in the
period of soil warming has ramifications which extend far beyond the
period when topsoil becomes moist.
Dave, Kentville
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