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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (April 22, 2004)
A Worm's World For the earthworm, every day is Earth Day. THE EARTH MOVED ALGONQUIN BOOKS, HARDCOVER, $23.95. BY AMY STEWART. CHAPEL HILL. 2004. A uthor Amy Stewart grew up in Arlington, Tex., worlds away from any inspiration of green-thumbed gardeners or lush gardens. It was, she says, only when she moved as an adult to Santa Cruz, Calif., that she discov- ered gardening for herself. “This is one of the best climates in the country — well, next to Eugene — where everything grows,” she says. “Having a little land and a little time made all the difference. This is what got me into gardening.” Stewart translated this discovery into her first book, From the Ground Up: The Story of a First Gardener (Algonquin Books, 2001). And from within that first garden experience comes her latest book, The Earth Moved: On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms, where she explores the under- ground reaches of the simple earthworm. Stewart says, “The more I gardened, the more I started to pay attention to the soil, as much as if not more than to the plants. It became really clear that earthworms were a sign of soil fertility.” Her fascination with earthworms grew when she moved from Santa Cruz to Eureka, where she discovered an entirely different kind of earthworm in the soil. In The Earth Moved Stewart writes, “The first inhabitant of the soil to capture my atten- tion was an earthworm. I am a gardener, after all; I can’t miss the fact that gar- deners and earthworms work in tandem, tilling the soil, feeding the plants. … I Amy thought they might have a Stewart few surprises in store for me, so I began investigating their habits. I soon realized that they held the key to most of what was happening below ground.” Stewart begins her investigation with the late-in-life, though characteristically meticu- lous, study of worms by scientist Charles Darwin. From this jumping off point, she explores the worms in her own backyard compost bin, the worms eating Minnesota (non-indigenous European worms are eating layers and layers of duff in Minnesota forests, making it almost impossible for undergrowth to take root), and even the legendary giant worms — three feet and longer — of Oregon, Washington and Australia. She explains that worms are natural tillers of soil, that they are “ruminators; they sift through whatever sur- THE KIVA BOOKSELLERS, GROCERS, GROCERS WINE & WINE MERCHANTS MERCHANTS & BOOKSELLERS ■ Organic Produce and Natural Foods ■ Biodegradable Paper and Body Care Products By Bobbie Willis rounds them, they turn it over, explore it, move through it.” She describes how worms turn plant mat- ter into rich soil by writing, “Functionally, worms really do one thing: they digest.” The digested plant matter, called castings, serves as wonderful stuff for the gar- den. Stewart has a great voice for this kind of natural histo- ry writing. It is factual and well informed, but in a back- yard scientist kind of way. We as readers follow along easily, partly out of curiosity, partly out of something like neighborliness, as Stewart discovers and shares the microcosm of earthworms and bacteria and fungi in their underground community. This kind of writing, Stewart says, fits into a bigger sense of environmentalism in that it makes one really look at and think about one’s surroundings. “When you realize that soil is full of living creatures, billions of living creatures,” she says, “when you think about your soil as an ecosystem, you start to think twice about what you put into it.” In the end, Stewart helps us to see a thing up close, a thing that all along has been right under our nose, or rather right under our toes. She says the most surprising thing she dis- covered, and adopted as the book’s subtitle, was “thinking of earthworms in terms of their accomplishments.” In this book, Stewart dis- covers not only the worm and its subter- ranean world, but also a deep respect to match her fascination for how these simple creatures connect to our own sustenance and well being. ew Center for Family Therapy U N I V E R S I T Y O F The Center for Family Therapy (CFT) is an affordable counseling agency staffed with intern coun- selors from the Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) Graduate Specialization at the College of Education, University of Oregon. O R E G O N • Individual, couple and family therapy • Affordable sliding scale fee • Daytime and evening hours The MFT graduate program is nationally accredited with COAMFTE and approved by the Oregon Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and Therapists. Are You Ready for Change? For information or to make an appointment, call (541) 346-3296 ■ Large Selection of Bulk Foods, Herbs, Spices, Coffees and Teas ■ Earth Friendly Cleaning Products ■ Vitamins, Nutritional Supplements and Herbal Remedies Plant a Tree for Earth Day FREE TREE to any child under 16. One of the largest selections of trees and shrubs in Lane County! • Shade & Flowering Trees • Organic Fertilizers & Pest Control • Landscape Shrubs • Great Selection of Northwest Native Plants • Groundcovers & Vines • Family Owned & Operated since 1970 Bloomer’s Nursery 89719 Armitage Rd. MON-SAT 9-8 • SUN SUN 1 10-5 MON -SAT 9-8 0-5 125 W. 11th A ve, DOWNTOWN EUGENE • www.bloomersplantnursery.com 342-8666 North of Crescent & Game Farm Rd • 687-5919 • Open Daily 9-6, Sun. 10-5 APRIL 22, 2004 13
